Pedigree taps Facebook for Pet Adoption Drive.

Background

Mars’ Pedigree brand dog food turned to Facebook to promote its annual Pedigree Adoption Drive campaign, which invited Facebook members to “Become a fan, help a dog.” For each new fan of the drive on Facebook, Pedigree donated a bowl of food to rescue groups and shelters.

Challenge

Pedigree’s goal was to raise awareness for homeless dogs and funds for the shelters that take care of them. “We were trying to create an online community for people who have a passion for pets,” said Lisa Foley, manager of interactive marketing at Mars Petcare U.S.

Strategy
On Facebook, fans clicked on the “Help Dogs” tab to tell friends about the campaign, find adoptable dogs and volunteer.
“We didn’t just support this online. We had offline media such as TV, in-store and video PSAs.”

Pedigree took an integrated approach. “We didn’t just support this online. We had offline media such as TV, in-store and video PSAs,” Foley said. Country crooner Carrie Underwood promoted the program in a PSA video on Facebook, YouTube and other online outlets.

Results

“When we started out we had 55,000 fans. Now we have more than a million.”

“When we started out we had 55,000 fans,” Foley said. “Now we have more than a million.” The Facebook page has more than 6,000 photos, 50 videos and thousands of comments. As of August 12, nearly 1.1 million bowls of food had been donated.

Key Takeaways

“We’ve learned that if you’re talking about something people are emotionally connected to, they’ll be more compelled to act,” Foley explained. “These people are not just ‘liking’ the page and then leaving. They’re incredibly active and return to it.”

Next Steps

Pedigree is testing different types of content such as video, photos, pet information and news about local events. “For us,” Foley said, “it’s about being in all the places where people want to interact with the Pedigree brand.”

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