ALMOST HOMELESS

TitleALMOST HOMELESS
BrandSYDNEY DOGS & CATS HOME
Product / ServiceANIMAL WELFARE
CategoryF02. Low Budget Campaign
EntrantJ. WALTER THOMPSON Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation J. WALTER THOMPSON Sydney, AUSTRALIA
PR HILL+KNOWLTON STRATEGIES Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production J. WALTER THOMPSON Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Simon Langley J.Walter Thompson Sydney Executive Creative Director
Angela Morris J.Walter Thompson Sydney Executive Planning Director
Heather Morrison J.Walter Thompson Sydney Senior Planner
Anastasia Nielsen J.Walter Thompson Sydney Print Producer
Bruce Pywell J.Walter Thompson Sydney Senior Account Director
Paul Friedmann J.Walter Thompson Sydney Senior Producer
Sinead Roarty J.Walter Thompson Sydney Associate Creative Director
Georgia Arrnott J.Walter Thompson Sydney Creative
Jenny Willits J.Walter Thompson Sydney Managing Director
Amanda Porritt J.Walter Thompson Sydney Senior Account Manager
Amelia tipping Hill & Knowlton Head of Consumer
Sian Jenkins Hill & Knowlton Client Services Director

The Campaign

Human attempts to contact the Premier weren’t working. So we took dozens of rescue dogs to the street to protest in the centre of Sydney’s political hub when the public and politicians were on their way to work. We placed the dogs in individual makeshift cardboard boxes with signs saying #AlmostHomeless to create mass awareness about the shelter's plight and ask people to sign a petition to motivate the government to give the shelter a new home. The activation was supported by PR and online with video content and images of the individual dogs and the #AlmostHomeless which was used to gather online signatures to show public support.

The Brief

We had no budget to speak of. So we created a campaign execution that could be brought to life with found materials and amplified via PR and get social traction without any paid media. We raided recycling bins to find tattered, soiled and unbranded cardboard boxes. We hand-wrote the copy on them with textas and 'borrowed' the dogs from the shelter. We had sandbags to weigh them down and asked people to lend us picnic and doggie blankets. Sydney Dogs and Cats Home provided T-shirts, bowls and dog treats, which were already available from the home. We used the Home's volunteers to gather signatures and mind the dogs. We shot and edited the video content ourselves and paid $205 for a library track. As Sydney Dogs and Cats Home is a charity, we don't charge fees and the majority of the work was done after-hours.

Creative Execution

With time running out for the home, we needed to act fast. We took over the Sydney CBD with an activation to highlight the shelter's plight to the city population who perhaps without realising it, depend on them to take care of the animals they love. We placed dogs in makeshift cardboard boxes throughout Sydney CBD with signs saying #AlmostHomeless to create mass awareness about the shelter's plight and a call-to-action to sign a petition to motivate the government to give the shelter a new home. The idea was simple and easy to execute, which was crucial given the urgency. In fact we turned it around in a matter of days, including creating video content and images from the stunt to encourage people to share and sign the online petition. However the idea gave it impact and scale far broader than a simple petition would have achieved.

Results

It was hard not to notice the activation. We gathered 10,000 signatures at the activation and online. The activation was broadcast live from one of Australia's key TV stations (Channel 7) and covered on all major news channels that night. The ABC ran an in-depth segment and Sydney's most influential newspaper 'The Sydney Morning Herald' ran a key cover piece on the story. Celebrities like Jamie Durie (one of Australia's favourite television personalities and regular on Oprah) came down with his dog to show support – and people came in droves to pat the dogs and show their support for the Home. Within 24 hours, we got the 10,000 signatures we needed. While the video content was shared on the influential MamaMia blog and got 33K views that day. Most importantly we got the shelter's plight on the Premier's radar. He responded on national TV saying: 'If there is an opportunity to help, we're very keen do so.'

For 70 years, Sydney Dogs & Cats Home has been giving lost, abandoned and mistreated animals a second chance at life. The shelter's no-kill policy means they don’t put a time limit on finding strays a new home. But the shelter itself was being evicted to make way for an apartment black, so time was about to run out. In fact when they contacted us they had been told they could be evicted at any time with only four weeks’ notice. We needed to help an organisation which had rehomed over 200,000 dogs and cats find a new home themselves.

Create an activation to maximise public participation and get 10,000 signatures to lobby the government and get the Premier to make a commitment to save the shelter. The existing supporters and volunteers for the dogs home were already on board. Our challenge was to get the attention of the broader audience within the city. If we could convince a broader cross-section of the city population it would be more likely that local politicians would come to the table and help the home find a new plot of land. By targeting Martin Place in the central business district (which is also the Premier's office) we would be at a key cross-section of the city and have the biggest chance to make an impact, just yards away from the State Parliament. The budget was next to nothing, but the idea was simple and eye-catching and people simply couldn't notice the sight of

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