The Brief

In Australia, the pet food category is dominated by traditional advertising, selling rational benefits like taste and health. The most powerful aspect of cat ownership wasn’t being talked about – care. Whiskas wanted to stand out and talk about exactly this – their cat care and understanding expertise. We knew we couldn’t do this with traditional advertising. We needed something that spoke directly to our audience, let them engage with us, and unlocked our cat care credentials. Whiskas CATSTACAM let cats take photos from their point of view and post them directly to their very own Instagram account. All photos were branded by a hashtag. And whenever a photo captured curious cat behaviour, we were there to explain why via #AskWhiskas.

Creative Execution

We needed cat owners to realise Whiskas don’t just make cat food, they’re passionate experts who understand cat behaviour. So we created Whiskas CATSTACAM, the social campaign that helps cat owners better understand their cats by seeing the world through their eyes. We built some cameras that let cats take photos from their point of view and for the first time ever, post them directly to their very own Instagram account. To ensure we reached the right audience, we gave CATSTACAM devices to famous Internet cats and celebrity cat owners. As each photo shed new light on cat behaviour, we were there to explain why, with #AskWhiskas. Helping people better understand cats whilst proving our expertise in cat care and understanding. The campaign also consisted of an online film, Facebook gallery and digital out of home media. It ran as planned throughout March in Australia.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Whiskas is bought by 2/3rds of cat owners (Source: Nielsen). They trust its quality but don’t know what it stands for, other than the purple brand colour. It was in danger of losing relevance with a growing number of cat owners who had a better understanding of what other brands stood for. As leading experts in cat care and understanding, Whiskas knew it had something of real value to offer. Something that would help the brand stand for something of real value for owners – experts in cat care.

Results

The Internet went crazy for CATSTACAM. In just a few weeks: • We were featured on blogs and news sites all over the world. • The online film was viewed over 1.1 million times. • #Catstacam was one of the top three trending hash tags globally. • The campaign generated over 585 million media impressions. • Generated over $13 million dollars in earned media. • A 400% uplift in sales. • And #AskWhiskas was so popular it has become an ongoing social service.