Why is this work relevant for PR?

The campaign was designed to change social perceptions rather than increase sales. The campaign leveraged a variety of PR tools to raise awareness about the convenient buying and dumping of dogs and to encourage attention to abandoned dogs. The phrase “Don’t shop dogs” was spread through various digital and social channels as a catchphrase. The release of the campaign theme song in collaboration with a K-pop band and the advertorial with a K-pop girl group and abandoned dogs created further spread of its message. These activities have contributed to make actual adoption of abandoned dogs.

Background

In 2019, the pet owner population stands at about 10 million in Korea. Korean Pet industry is worth about 2.6 trillion won. However, an uncomfortable truth lies that about 100,000 pets are abandoned every year. Only 12 percent of pet families stand by their dogs’ death. eBay, Korea's No. 1 shopping platform, launched a campaign to alarm consumers about the social phenomena of conveniently buying pets, pull their attention, and encourage them to act for abandoned dogs. It was aimed to contribute to sharing Brand's thinking on animal rights with consumers and to enhance brand influence in the pet product market.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The key idea in the campaign is "No shopping." eBay’s saying "Don't shop" was enough to get people's attention since it is the No. 1 shopping platform in Korea. “Don't buy dogs but shop for dogs.” Through this somewhat paradoxical message, eBay wanted to offer an opportunity to rethink the culture of adopting pets while increasing brand influence. The campaign video also used a dramatic twist. A child gets a puppy doll after begging and whining to his parents. The child and puppy doll have a good time together. After a while, however, the doll gets abandoned. It turns out that the doll has been actually an alive dog, not a doll. It created a shocking realization of the current culture of selling and dumping pets as easily as dolls.

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

Instagram’s year-in-review 2018 announced ‘#petstagram’ was the most popularly used #hashtag. Obviously, pet-related contents are everywhere on social media in Korea. Korean consumers tend to voluntarily promote brand’s message if they agree with its meaning. eBay established a campaign strategy of making the campaign slogan, “Don’t shop dogs,” to go viral naturally. With ‘#DontShopDogs’ hashtag, the campaign maximized voluntary sharing. Giveaways with the #hashtag phrase printed also led the second phase of its wider spread. Moreover, co-marketing with an NPO organization for abandoned pets and participation of K-pop stars built an even bigger spread of the campaign catchphrase.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

First, the campaign film was aired on major broadcasting channels and digital platforms to have greater exposure and attention. ‘#DontShopDogs’ #hashtag campaign was conducted simultaneously. Consumers who watched the video voluntarily made re-grams and re-posts. It led the second phase of its spread on web communities and portal web sites, creating even bigger buzz. eBay platform served as a donation platform for consumers, who received call-to-action message of the campaign film, to act. The platform implemented charity shopping of which proceeds go toward abandoned dogs. Advertorials of the campaign showcasing K-pop stars and abandoned dogs were made. Contents providing information on abandoned dogs help them find families. In addition, giveaways with the campaign message were distributed to encourage more participation and additional proliferation.

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

About a month after launching, the campaign video surpassed 10 million views on YouTube. Besides over 2,300 Instagram posts hashtagged with ‘#DontShopDogs’, it created a social buzz on Twitter, online portal websites, and web communities. Not only the general public but also celebrities mentioned about the campaign. It amplified the campaign's expansion. More than 50 media coverages, including TV broadcasting news, were made. CTR rate (Click-through-rate) reached a three times higher number than usual. Approximately 1.04 million users visited the website. 160,000 among them participated in charity shopping. The revenue was over 8 billion won creating solid value for abandoned pets since its portion went to the NPO. As a result, brand preference rose about 4.8 percent through the campaign. The campaign’s contribution was proven to help eBay become a beloved brand to Korean consumers.