Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

Every day, dogs die from a lack of canine blood. This critical shortage exists for a very simple reason - people don't know their dogs can donate blood. ‘Donate With A Mate’ is designed to raise awareness and more importantly, to get owners comfortable with their four-legged friends donating blood. So, Pedigree partnered with the Australian Animal Blood Bank to create the world’s first human and canine blood donation service where they could donate side-by-side, keeping a reassuring eye on each other. This Brand Experience embodies Pedigree’s belief in making the world a better place for dogs.

Describe any restrictions or regulations regarding Healthcare/RX/Pharma communications in your country/region including:

We worked with the National Blood Bank, the Australian Animal Blood Bank and Animal protection groups to ensure the blood collected was going to be useable for vets around the country. Special permits were also obtained to orchestrate blood donation for humans and canines at the same venue.

Describe the target audience and why your work is relevant to them.

Our job was to raise awareness about canine blood and get owners comfortable with their dogs donating blood. So we targeted dog owners who were also blood donors because we knew they would have a much greater affinity with the idea.

Background

98% of Australian dog owners don't know that dogs can donate blood. So, when sick and injured dogs need emergency blood transfusions, canine blood supply levels are critically low and the consequences are often fatal for our four-legged friends. Pedigree believe in ‘making the world a better place for dogs’, and they approached us to extend this brand promise by bringing light to the little-known subject of canine blood donations. But raising awareness wasn’t our only objective, Pedigree wanted an idea that would increase the database of Canine Blood donors so that all around Australia when an animal needed blood, vets had the names of previously screened and vetted canine donors.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

In partnership with the National Blood Bank and Australian Animal Blood Bank, we launched ‘Donate with a Mate’ – the world’s first human and canine blood donation drive. We launched with a PR event at Australia’s busiest blood donation centre. Over the activation period scores of human/canine combos came in and donated blood together. This service is vital for the ongoing emergency care of dogs as canine blood only lasts a very short time once the donation is taken. Vets need ready access to donors in their local area and Donate with a Mate provides this ongoing awareness and access.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

For years now, dogs have become an extension of the family. We have the highest rate of pet ownership in the world with almost 62% of households owning a dog. We knew our target was highly engaged and motivated to do anything for their dogs. Dogs have to be over 20kgs to donate blood so we targeted large dog owner groups on facebook with emotive films that reminded them of the unbreakable bond between humans and their dogs. This lead to thousands and thousands of people to register them and their pets at donatewithamate.com.au

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Donate With A Mate was no easy feat to pull off. We had to work with the Red Cross, the Australian Animal Blood Bank and Animal protection groups to ensure that the blood we collected ongoing was going to be useable for vets all around the country. Our mobile Canine collection vans travelled around Australia and were paired with different Red Cross centres ensuring that scores of mates could donate blood together. In terms of amplifying the cause, Australia’s favourite celebrity vet Dr Katrina Warren was incredible happy to donate her time to be the face of the campaign. We received coverage on all major news networks and across the News.com.au web platform enabling the topic of Canine Blood Donations to reach millions of Australians.

List the results (30% of vote)

This campaign was truly the work of a client putting the welfare of dogs beyond profit and sales. The cause has received nationwide coverage, millions of impressions, a 512% increase in awareness and an 859% lift in dog donor registrations.