DRIVING DOGS

Gold Spike

Case Film

Presentation Board

TitleDRIVING DOGS
BrandMINI / SPCA NEW ZEALAND
Product / ServiceDOG ADOPTION
CategoryC04. Stunts & Live Advertising
EntrantDRAFTFCB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Entrant Company DRAFTFCB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Advertising Agency DRAFTFCB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Position
James Mok Chief Creative Officer
Tony Clewett Executive Creative Director
Peter Vegas and Matt Williams Copywriter
Peter Vegas and Matt Williams Art Director
Stephen Langdon - Live Event Photographer
Nick Mcfarlane Illustrator
Kelly Gillard Art Buyer
Toby Sellers Account Supervisor
Sarah Yetton Producer
Stephanie Hueber Account Manager
Regan Grafton Executive Creative Director
Marco Siraky Director/DoP
Blair Walker Head of Post Production
Sally Willis Account Director
Angela Spain General Manager - PR
Eloise Hay Account Manager - PR
Simon Teagle General Manager - Media
Rachel Leyland Media Manager
Communications Planning Director Rufus Chuter
Harri Owen Head of Digital and Content
Steph Pearson Digital Director
Mark Vette Director - Animals On Q

Execution

In New Zealand, the number of shelter dogs far outweighs interest in their adoption. As a long standing, but little known, supporter of NZ animal adoption charity SPCA, MINI wanted to change this. The biggest barrier to dog adoption is the perception that shelter dogs are inferior to store bought animals. Most adoption advertising reinforces this by painting the dogs as victims, alluding to a troubled past. Strategy: prove people wrong by showing how smart these dogs really are. Idea: teach 3 shelter dogs to drive a MINI. Yes, actually drive a real MINI. Sound unbelievable? We thought that’s what people would say. Dogs appear to drive in ads and movies all the time. But to change perceptions we’d need people to believe what they were seeing. This meant how media delivered the idea was as critical as the idea itself.