SITUATION: Hau-Hau Champion is a dog food brand with the mission of providing every dog with the perfect food option. The brand's philosophy states that every dog has the right to enjoy great-tasting and healthy food. Every aspect of the brand’s operation is designed to make sure this way of thinking comes to life. Hau-Hau Champion hosts a vast range of products with varying options for different diets, breeds, and dog sizes. Finding the right food option for your pet has proven to be challenging according to pet owners.

OBJECTIVE: Hau-Hau Champion set its sights on finding new and innovative ways of helping dog owners find the perfect food options for their beloved pets.

BRIEF: Using tech and a strong insight to develop an innovative way to allow dogs to try their food before it's bought, and to match the trite and healthiest king of kibbles for each dog,

The idea took the form of a vending machine in the shape of a cartoonish dog house, providing an enticing product trial experience for the "consumer".

A canine face recognition system, powered by AI, scans the dog's head resulting in an algorithm recognizing the dog’s size. After this, the system selects the tastiest and the healthiest kind of kibbles according to each pet. The AI canine facial recognition ensures that the vending machine dispenses kibbles only to dogs, not, for example, to cats or children playing near the machine.

A sample of the selected food is served for the dog to try and react to. After every product trial, the machine disinfects the bowl with a sanitizing blue UV light, making the bowl ready and safe for the next customer.

By syncing their smartphones with the machine, owners could buy their best friend’s new favorite food with just one touch.

TARGET: Dog owners who face a barrier when thinking of buying new foods for their pets. Generally, they’re required to just take a leap of faith and buy a new food option for the pet to try. This approach has a major risk of resulting in a waste of money and food waste.

APPROACH: The main issue with this approach lies with the lack of communication abilities between the consumer and the shopper. Dog food ads are traditionally designed with the shopper in mind resulting in lackluster information for the owner to make a decision.

RELEVANCE: Hau-Hau Champion’s main target group was shifted from the owner to the pet. The brand had to find a way for the pet to be able to tell the owner whether the new food option was to their liking, this way lowering the barrier for the owner to try the new option.

PLACEMENT & TIMELINE: The Dog Vending Machine provided enticing product trial experiences to Finnish pets throughout February and March in Finland's largest shopping centers and along the most popular outdoor routes. This way the pet could lead the owner to the Dog Vending machine by relying on the senses the dogs utilize the most: hearing, smell, and taste.

IMPLEMENTATION: The Dog Vending Machine was accompanied by a selection of outdoor and social media ads that directed pet owners to the vending machine for free product trials. The execution was also supported by a strong PR campaign, which included, for example, Finland's largest commercial radio, whose morning show invited dog owners to try the machine.

Hau-Hau Champion is a part of VAFO Group, a leading European premium pet food producer. The Dog Vending Machine functioned as a pilot project for an even more large-scale launch to follow in all European markets.

Over 10 million media and social reach

+25% sales increase - compared to last year - equivalent to €650,000

35% of Finnish dog owners reached

Food was home-delivered from more than 2000 partner stores across Finland.

The machine served as a pilot project in Hau-Hau Champion’s quest to reduce the waste of dog food, and in the future, we’ll see it in use not only in Finland but also in other parts of Europe.