Company: Greenies Dental Treats
Campaign: Greenies British Teeth Campaign
Agency mix: Weber Shandwick, adam&eveDDB, MediaCom, Starcom MediaVest Group, Somesuch
Duration: January – April 2017
Greenies recently set out to "give American dogs the teeth they deserve," with a campaign designed to help educate dog-owners about proper oral care for their pets.
The effort played on the age-old stereotype that Brits have terrible teeth, reminding U.S. consumers, "Our forefathers didn’t fight for our independence for our dogs to have terrible teeth."
The launch coincided with the beginning of National Pet Dental Health Month in February.
Strategy
Planning began in mid-2016. Mars' London-based creative agency adam&eveDDB created the idea for the campaign as an approach to combating periodontal disease in pets.
Based on info from the 2016 Banfield State of Pet Health Report, the campaign team used the insight that, by the age of three, 76% of dogs show signs of oral hygiene issues that could possibly lead to other health problems.
"Our goal was to capture consumer attention with humor, and in the process, educate them about the prevalence of oral care issues," said Lisa Campbell, Mars Petcare’s director of marketing, communications, and corporate affairs.
Greenies worked with a London-based production company, Somesuch, to develop ad spots to serve as primary creative content for the campaign. In terms of social outreach, the team wanted to use a paid strategy on Facebook and YouTube to drive awareness and traffic to the campaign.
Greenies’ PR partner on the campaign, Weber Shandwick, assisted with media outreach, targeting consumer and trade publications, as well as lifestyle outlets. MediaCom and Starcom MediaVest Group helped out with media buying and planning.
Tactics
On January 30, Mars Petcare put out a press release on behalf of Greenies which announced the campaign and included a link to the ad spot.
Simultaneously, Greenies released 30-second and 15-second ad spots on branded YouTube and Facebook channels.
"Paid media amplified the content on both platforms," explained Campbell. "Because we thought the spot was funny and shareable, the campaign was entirely digital."
In the video, a veterinarian describes a fictional condition, "British Teeth Disorder," affecting pets worldwide. The spots also include an appearance from Roly, a dog who appeared in season one of Downton Abbey.
On social, Greenies used frequent posts on branded social media channels to push short-form clips of the spots and keep fans engaged throughout campaign. The campaign content was also featured on Greenies Amazon brand hub.
Results
The ad spots received more than 9 million views on YouTube. On Facebook, the videos and other short-form content received more than 8 million views. Additionally, Facebook users shared campaign posts more than 8,000 times.
The campaign content was also featured in 241 media placements. Notable outlets included: Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Washington Business Journal, Laughing Squid, TheStreet, and Ads of Brands.
