Did you know that dogs can donate blood? No… well neither do over 90% of Australian dog owners. 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.

We do everything with our dogs and now, we can donate blood together too.

In partnership with the Australian Animal Blood Bank, we launched ‘Donate with a Mate’ – the world’s first human and canine blood donation drive.

We launched our Canine Blood Collection vans with a PR event in Australia’s busiest blood donation centre. Over the course of several days 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.

And just like humans get a cookie after donating, Dogs get a tasty pedigree treat and nutritious food as a thanks.

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. Soon the news broke out nationally, leading to thousands and thousands of people to register them and their pets at donatewithamate.com.au

Donate with a mate was no easy feat to pull off. We had to work with 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 blood donation 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 incredibly 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.

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