Deciding which pet to get is a big decision. This idea intercepts users during the moments of research and adoption, by targeting them with exactly what they were searching for in a dog, to help them find it in a cat instead. We connected with people via search and social, where people are organically searching for information about dog breeds, and in relevant real-world locations, eg outside pet stores.

Once we had them considering a cat, next we drove action, leading users to Mewozer.dog, where they could be matched with the perfect adoptable shelter cat for their lifestyle.

New Zealand is a nation of dog lovers, and like many countries COVID lockdowns saw a boom in dog ownership. But in New Zealand, WFH has pivoted almost completely back to WFO, and with that there’s been an increase in dogs being returned to shelters. A huge 33% of dogs are returned to shelters due to incompatibility with their owners lifestyles.

Meanwhile, March and April are the busiest breeding months for cats, meaning cat shelters across New Zealand are at bursting point at this time of year. WHISKAS saw an opportunity to tackle both issues at once, helping people find the right pet for their lifestyle and circumstances, namely a cat.

WHISKAS are on a mission to end cat homelessness by 2030. But with cat shelters in New Zealand at breaking point, they needed to find new potential pet parents who were willing to add a cat to their household.

But cats have stiff competition you may have heard of…dogs. Everyyyone wants a dog. In fact 1/3 of households worldwide have one. Yet, 33% of adopted dogs are returned the shelters by owners who weren’t prepared for the commitment they require. So, while many people might like to think of themselves as dog people, their one-bedroom, urban working lives just aren’t ready for one.

Enter the cat.

Everyone wants a dog. But people’s lives have changed in ways that don’t always align with responsible dog ownership. More than ever we’re living in apartments, giving up WFH, loving the idealism of dog ownership, without the commitment. Search data reflects this, with people searching for impossibly low-maintenance dogs: that don’t need exercise, training, or can stay home alone, inside a small apartment.

The perfect dog doesn’t exist. So, WHISKAS created it – The Meowzer. A new breed of dog designed to get more cats adopted.

By rebranding shelter cats as Meowzers, we showed the world that everything they’re looking for in a dog, can be answered by a cat.

Wherever people searched for dogs, they met the Meowzer instead. By cross-referencing their digital footprint and search terms we intercepted searches for dogs and presented the Meowzer. Our site then matched adopters with the perfect shelter cat for their lifestyle.

We analysed the types of dogs' people were looking for, alongside how and where they were searching for them - Google, TikTok and pet-platforms specifically. We found searches for impossibly perfect dogs such as ‘dog breeds that can be left alone’ and ‘dogs that don’t bark’ have nearly doubled in the past year, with keyword search volume platforms predicting these to increase at least another 20 – 25% by the end of this year.

This was our opportunity.

This insight enabled us to create a specific target audience, and shape how and where we engaged with them. Leveraging digital behavioural signals, we created an omnichannel targeting approach – talking to those people who are actively looking for a dog that doesn’t exist.

With every search for an unrealistic dog came a chance to intercept that picky dog searcher with the suggestion of a Meowzer instead.

To get dog lovers to reconsider a cat, we infiltrated dog social media. To launch the new breed, we did the unthinkable: we got the world’s biggest dog content creator to post about a cat, for the first time.

Cat owners were recruited to share the positives of their Meowzers on social media.

Dog owners were asked to share the realities of owning a dog, and suggest a Meowzer to those who aren’t up to the care a dog requires.

In search, we overlayed users’ digital footprint with their search behaviour to targeted them with a dog that was everything they were searching for- The Meowzer.

The campaign was supported with traditional and digital OOH in contextual locations.

All touchpoints led users to the Meowzer website, where a smart matching algorithm matched users with the most suitable adoptable cat in a shelter near them.

The Meowzer is a win-win for dogs and cats, by ensuring dogs end up in homes that can meet their needs, while overflowing cat shelters can find new loving homes for cats.

Our tightly targeted campaign enabled us to intercept 11.9 million searches for impossible dogs.

Better yet, this strategy enabled us to increase cat adoption consideration through our adoption platform 25x as a direct response to our interception.

And overall saw a 27% increase in adoption.