Our communication strategy for the “rescue dogs movement” included 3 steps.

First step: get everyone talking about this issue. Header insertions in big German newspapers, ads at gas stations at the start of the holiday season, and an emotional TV copy helped to raise awareness. Second step: give the Target Group a clear call to action. POS advertising, branded busses, and regionally targeted online ads got people in touch with their local animal shelters. Store raffles, T-Shirt sales and donations online also got them active.Finally: prove the success of the “rescue dogs movement”, so that dog lovers were reassured: newspaper editorials, and a portrait gallery of rescued dogs on the Pedigree homepage closed the campaign circle.To prove the campaign objectives, local animal shelters and their dogs became the campaign heroes. Shelter telephone numbers and pictures of local dogs were prominently featured in all the campaign copy.

The Adoption Drive demonstrated that Pedigree loves dogs, and gave consumers a clear reason to support the brand. By mobilising the target group to buy Pedigree for a good cause, a short term sales growth of 8,6% was achieved. The penetration of the brand increased 4,8%. This was the first increase in three years and remained on a higher level after the campaign as well.The campaign target to donate 250k € to animal shelters was smashed with a donation of 400k €. But the best result for German dog lovers: dog adoption rates increased 20% during the campaign.