After generating significant public dialogue with a 90 second #MakeADogsDay film about a young man rewarding his elderly dog with an emotional “Bucket List” road trip, we then used Subaru’s social channels and news outlets to invite dog lovers everywhere to invent their own ways to make a dog’s day. Thousands of videos and photos were submitted. National news programs picked up the story, and Good Morning America even hosted a national on-air adoption segment. We then also partnered with REI on this year’s Black Friday #OptOutside initiative by dispatching a fleet of Subaru’s on Black Friday to help those who need to opt outside the most—shelter dogs and NYC dogs. This event further generated news coverage, public dialogue and led to the adoption of even more shelter dogs.

The #MakeADogsDay Initiative launched with a 90 second film featuring an aging rescue dog being treated to an emotional “bucket list” weekend, and supporting PR efforts. National network news programs were targeted resulting in a live adoption event being hosted on Good Morning America. New, original content was then created for online partners resulting in more than 100 million views, and dramatically increasing public dialogue. The primary PR efforts for #MakeADogsDay then centered around our Black Friday #OptOutside partnership with REI where Subaru provided a fleet of 30 custom vehicles to shuttle shelter dogs and NYC dogs out into nature on Black Friday. These contributed to a 440% increase in engagement awareness for #OptOutside as well more than 40,000 dog owners participating and inspiring donations to local animal shelters.

Media coverage and social sentiment were overwhelmingly positive. #MakeADogsDay’s original content and live broadcasts exceeded 100 million views. The joint effort between Subaru and REI secured an exclusive in The Village Voice, as well as coverage in AdWeek, Adage, MediaPost, MarketWatch, Creativity, Brand Channel, JustMeans, Inhabitat and others. We secured 19+ million earned impressions and 89+ million newswire impressions. Earned celebrity postings, including Ashton Kutcher, resulted in 17+ million social impressions. Facebook video views exceeded 3 million. There were more than 1.2 million visits to the dedicated microsite.

Awareness of #MakeADogsDay and its connection to pet adoption increased dramatically. In addition, #OptOutside experienced its highest awareness and participation in its history. It experienced a 440% increase in engagement awareness, including a significant spike when the Subaru event campaign launched. More than 40,000 dog owners participated by submitting Black Friday photos of their dogs, each one generating a Subaru donation to animal protection organizations.