Pedigree Doggy DentaDash... for dog dental care

Insight
In Malaysia, only 46% of dog owners feed their dogs with commercial prepared food. So why would dog owners even care about dental hygiene?

Amidst the larger issue of educating Malaysians to take better care for their dogs, Starcom MediaVest was tasked to sell Pedigree's Dental Care products in a market where dental hygiene was not even regarded as important.

With Pedigree's mission, "We're for dogs", the agency set on a journey to increase the importance of dog's dental hygiene in order to sell more Pedigree's dental care products on a shoestring budget.

Strategy

Many Malaysian dog owners are unaware of the importance of their dog's overall health as things like nutrition; proper exercise and routine grooming are often overlooked. For many owners, having dogs are more functional. Dogs are used as 'guard dogs' for home security. The last thing on their mind is dental hygiene for dogs. Many owners seem to just expect dogs to have bad breath naturally. On top of this, as one would expect, dental hygiene for dogs is not really the most interesting of topics.

The strategy was to create a programme that would engage dog owners to start a dental care routine including wellness check-ups every 6-12 months. SMG treated the situation in the same way if it were tasked to market dental care for human beings - by getting them to understand the importance of dental hygiene, sending reminders that it was time to see a dentist on an ongoing basis, and most importantly, doing it in a fun and entertaining manner so to get them inspired.

Execution

The strategy was to make education rewarding and to turn this dry topic into something fun and meaningful. With a small budget, the team executed the strategy by using Pedigree's Facebook channel as the core platform to engage Pedigree fans as the lowest hanging fruit for conversion.

It created the 'Pedigree Doggy DentaDash' which was like an online platform that captured pet dogs' profiles including their last check-ups. This dashboard generates the next check-up dates as reminders. It was also a rewards programme for dog owners, who were able to win "stars" if they passed a series of dog care questions released weekly. To obtain the answers, dog owners needed to be educated weekly via videos uploads, weekly posts and radio capsules. The radio capsules were aired on local radio and were repurposed as audio bytes on Pedigree's Facebook page. The more fans answered the more "stars" they would be rewarded in exchange of Pedigree's dental care products, making the execution flawless.

Results

SMG was able to engage Pedigree fans with a dry topic like dental care for dogs.
• Facebook fans grew by 86% - acquiring 13,303 new dog lovers
• 1,259 dog profiles were created = 1,259 dogs owners had their dogs' dental check-ups reminded
• 77% received the maximum three stars from the Doggy DentaDash programme = 77% of the participants scored 100% on the answers right
• Facebook engagement shot up by 32% vs. monthly average of 3%.

Since the roll out of the Dental Programme, there is an exponential growth of sales of Pedigree Dental Care Treats. Sales increased by 7% during campaign period.