Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

Many dog food brands already use dog influencers. Furry’s Kitchen is the first dog food brand to pull off a stunt that involves taste testing our dog food with not just humans but the harshest critics, top food influencers, proving the quality of our products. Our stunt activated the media as well as dog owners to rethink their dog's diet and consider Furry's Kitchen fresh dog food as the better diet for dogs.

Background

Although Singaporeans have high standards for our own food, not the same can be said for our dogs as the majority eat processed kibbles. Furry’s Kitchen is a dog food start-up that creates fresh food for dogs. With more established brands dominating the market, we need to create a campaign that proves the top quality of our dog food in a disruptive way.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

To show how fresh and tasty our dog food is, Furry’s Kitchen put it to the ultimate taste test with humans. We invited the harshest critics, Singapore's top food influencers, for a tasting without them knowing it was for dog food. They loved it. Within hours, they praised and recommended our dishes made out of dog food to their followers.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

We needed to prove the quality of our dog food so dog owners would consider switching to Furry's Kitchen. As it's common for dog food brands to use dog influencers, we knew we needed to do something disruptive to stand out as a fresh dog food start-up. So we put our dog food to the ultimate test with the harshest human critics, Singapore's top food influencers. In Singapore, many rely on food influencers stamp of approval for good food. Our strategy was to get well-regarded food influencers to try our dog food, proving its top quality. Leveraging on their credibility meant their followers would be convinced as well. As people think dog food is disgusting, we had to ensure the food influencers didn’t know they were eating dog food so that they came in with an unbiased view.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

We partnered with prestigious local chef Justin Quek to set up a restaurant inviting the harshest critics, Singapore's top food influencers, for a tasting without them knowing it was for dog food. They loved it. Within hours, they praised and recommended our dishes made out of dog food to their followers. The event was filmed and revealed as a digital campaign targeting dog owners on 8 December 2020. Our film was released on Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram. The campaign was further supported by shorter formats, GIFs, IG stories and visual posts, including screenshots of the food influencers’ glowing reviews.

List the results (30% of vote)

Furry’s Kitchen made the headline news in Singapore with several publications including Channel News Asia. The national newspaper, Straits Times, asked for a taste and Furry’s Kitchen was given the stamp of approval by their food critics on both a video and print feature. Many engaged with our video online, including the original food influencers who attended our initial tasting event, praising the high quality and how it was indiscernible from regular human food. Some even wrote about the positive experience on sites like High Net Worth. As a result, Furry’s Kitchen saw a 746% increase in online followers and our sales increased by 19.3%. Netizens even asked if they could feed their children our products, and that we should create a real restaurant. Thanks to the campaign, we proved that if our dog food is good enough for Singapore’s top food critics, it’s definitely good for your dog.