Pedigree Adoption Campaign Drives Dog Food Sales
I saw the new Pedigree commercial with Echo this week and, I have to say, it's very nice. I've been a little cynical and resentful about the Pedigree ads because of their seemingly hypocritical sponsorship of the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Last year Pedigree used the dog show to raise funds which they gave to an animal rights organization opposed to dog breeding and dog shows. To say that was a conflict of interest is putting it mildly. At least this year they seem to have learned from previous mistakes and started their own adoption drive foundation.
I still think they have both a conflict of interest going on and an identify crisis. Pedigree used to be one of the biggest sponsors of dog shows and they featured respected show breeders in their advertising. They still sponsor dog shows across the country. These days they use the annual Westminster show to tout adopting shelter dogs. In fact, they run so many ads that I felt like throwing something at the TV if I heard David Duchovny's monotone voice one more time during the nights the show was on.
Adopting shelter dogs is a great thing to do, but when I watch these commercials during Westminster there's always the sense that someone (Pedigree) is trying to rain on the parade. It's not okay to watch the beautiful dogs in the dog show without having some guilt thrown at us.
Should anyone buy dog food because a company supports either a dog show OR shelter dogs? Actually, no. When you buy dog food I hope you will read the ingredients and look at the guaranteed analysis where it tells you the amount of protein, fat, etc. Especially look at those ingredients and educate yourself about what's good for your dog. You may not be swayed by commercials for shelter dogs then. Dr. Alfonso has some good information about things that are good for your dog to eat on this site.
Pedigree Adoption Campaign Drives Dog Food Sales
by Aaron Baar, Wednesday, Mar 12, 2008 5:00 AM ET
ANYONE WHO WAS MOVED BY Pedigree's Adoption Drive ad showcasing shelter dog Echo, a poor Border collie mix struggling to find a home, will be happy to know that he–as well as the 12 other dogs featured in the six-week campaign–have all found loving homes.
Pedigree–the company behind a television commercial depicting Echo in a shelter getting hopeful as people walked up and sad when they walked away–is set to air a television commercial updating Echo's story. The spot depicts Echo in a shelter, as a voiceover says, "I don't know how I got here," and the screen goes dark. "But I'll never forget the day I got out." The commercial then shows Echo bounding out of his new house, annoying the family cat and getting a vigorous belly rub.
"We had such an overwhelming amount of interest in Echo's story, we felt we had to show the outcome," John Anton, director of Pedigree brand marketing, tells Marketing Daily. Although Echo is the only story depicted through a commercial, Anton says all 12 of the dogs featuring during Pedigree's campaign were adopted.
Pedigree created its Adoption Drive in 2004 and has been promoting the cause in advertising every year. In addition to this year's ad campaign (which launched during the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in February), the Adoption Drive was featured as a challenge during NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice," and the company set up a "flash retail" store outside the Westminster Dog Show to promote adoptions. (Forty dogs from a local New York shelter found homes through the store, Anton says.)
The company also launched a non-profit foundation dedicated to providing grants to shelters around the country. So far, it has raised $750,000 for the foundation, and Anton projected the company would raise $2 million for dog shelters through foundation donations and Pedigree dog food sales in 2008.
"When you find something that works, you want to stick with it and you want to do things that make things better and better," Anton says of the expanded effort this year. "We make dog food and we help dogs. We've gotten so much traction over the last three years that it only made sense to put as much as we could behind this."
The effort has also translated into increased sales. While Anton would not disclose sales figures, he says the marketing push has resulted in "double digit" growth for the brand on both the dry and wet dog food lines.
Moving forward, Pedigree will likely look to expand its adoption message beyond the few weeks surrounding the Westminster Dog Show, Anton says. "I think one thing we want to do in 2008 and 2009 is continue to remind people this is an ongoing initiative for us, and remind people that continuing to buy Pedigree will continue to help dogs throughout the country," Anton says.
