The Brief

On behalf of independent animal shelters – Save our Street Dogs and Animal Lovers League, the campaign aspires to provide mass exposure to the idea of pet adoption. Numbering in hundreds, it is hard to find homes for the homeless dogs by simply relying on the shelters’ social media groups. As many fans are already pet owners and do not have the capacity to adopt more.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

The strategy was to turn home furnishing shoppers into potential pet adopters, gaining recognition and consideration while they were in the mindset of completing their homes. This was achieved by assimilating homeless dogs into home-like spatial design of showrooms. To do that, we photographed actual homeless dogs that were ready to be rehomed and created life-sized standees of them. Thereafter, we collaborated with store designers of Ikea to pick and plan the best ways to fit these standees into the showroom sets.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The humble project drew worldwide attention. Earned media from around the world helped to shine a spotlight on the cause. A project that begun in Singapore has led to animal advocates in USA, Brazil, Poland and others clamouring for Ikea in their respective countries to adopt the project. The animal shelter received enquiries from as far as Finland. Most importantly, beyond thousands of likes and encouraging comments, within a month of launch, eight dogs have found homes.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Each week, Ikea attracts thousands of footfalls in its megastores, primarily looking for items to furnish their homes. It is the opportune moment to encourage consideration of pet adoption. By assimilating the pet seamlessly into the home-like showroom sets, we were able to spread the cause to anyone with a home. Not just existing pet lovers.