The treats & care market was invented by the Pedigree DentaSTIX product. As the category became more saturated and new entrants arrived on the scene to grow the category, brand loyalty started to decline. So, we needed to reinvent our proposition.

Dog treating products are often considered functional, rather than a positive product for your dog. That in mind, we needed to find a PR-friendly way to relaunch Pedigree’s DentaSTIX and shift perception of both the product and the category.

The brief was to create a value-add; to create meaningful moments between dogs and their owners; to drive repeat purchase of the DentaSTIX product.

Reeling through thousands of dog & owner photos, we recognised they all had one thing in common: the dog never looks at the camera.

To demonstrate the irresistibility of Pedigree DentaSTIX and, in turn, solve the dog owner’s problem, we created SelfieSTIX - a specially designed phone accessory that attaches DentaSTIX to your phone, so you can capture the perfect dog selfie.

To accompany the clip, we created an app that took dog selfies and added fun filters to them. Facial recognition in humans is straightforward. But with the extreme variation in dog faces, the technology is much more sophisticated. This is the first time it has been used on dogs successfully.

The campaign was wrapped up with the tagline ‘Cleaner gets you closer,’ communicating the ability of Pedigree DentaStix to facilitate moments of closeness between dog and owner.

Pedigree DentaSTIX sat within the smaller ‘functional’ treating segment within a fast-growing care and treats category, but Pedigree wanted to relaunch DentaSTIX so it would cross over into ‘positive’ treating as well.

By creating a direct campaign that had a strong presence in social media, we were able to give DentaSTIX social currency as a treat. Our audience were all dog owners, with a slightly younger millennial skew, targeting those who were already in the habit of sharing pictures of their dogs.

Traditional media asked people to click through to purchase DentaSTIX and get their free SelfieSTIX online, or in store. The SelfieSTIX clip and app drove repeat purchase of DentaSTIX and encouraged people to share their perfect dog selfies in social media with #PedigreeSelfieSTIX.

To demonstrate the irresistibility of Pedigree DentaSTIX, we created SelfieSTIX. A specially designed phone accessory that attaches DentaSTIX to your phone - grabbing the dog’s attention, so you can capture the perfect dog selfie.

SelfieSTIX is designed to hold the unique shape of a DentaSTIX and clip onto any phone. If the dog snatches the treat, the clip stays attached to the phone so it doesn’t become a choking hazard.

SelfieSTIX was supported by the SelfieSTIX app, which allowed people to add fun filters to their dog’s selfies before sharing them, and an integrated campaign which directed people to get their free clip with any DentaSTIX purchase through Shopify or in store.

SelfieSTIX had strong sale increases globally. Below are a few results from individual markets:

- New Zealand +24% sales increase, beating category growth rates by 61%.

- Thailand +58% sales increase, beating category growth rates by 35%.

- Spain +29% sales increase, beating category growth rates by 35%.

- Portugal +20% sales increase, beating category growth rates by 31%.

SelfieSTIX is continuing to be rolled out in 32 markets, and so far:

- Each person on average applies 25 filters

- 66% of people with the app share images on social platforms

- On average they share 4.3x each

- Currently over 1M filters applied in over 40 countries