Title	THE NEXT LASSIE
Brand	THE SWEDISH EXHIBITION & CONGRESS CENTRE IN GOTHENBURG
Product/Service	MYDOG
Category	A07. CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
Entrant Company	VALENTIN & BYHR Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Advertising Agency	VALENTIN & BYHR Gothenburg, SWEDEN

Name	Company	Position
Johan Nathell	Valentin/Byhr	Copywriter
Albin Larsson	Valentin/Byhr	Art Director
Åsa Blomqvist	Valentin/Byhr	Account Director
Karin Larsson	Valentin/Byhr	Pr Consultant
Matilda Green	Valentin/Byhr	Pr Assistant
Lisa Wigren	Valentin/Byhr	Designer
Niklas Aldén	Valentin/Byhr	Motion Designer
Renée Lundbäck	Valentin/Byhr	Account Manager
Rob Vanstone	Valentin/Byhr	Photographer

The Campaign

MyDog is a well-established dog exhibition in Gothenburg. But over the last couple years, both the media’s interest and the visitor numbers have decreased. In order to turn the downward spiral we decided to create a brand new talent show based on the insight that dog owners love to show off their pets. We named the competition: The Next Lassie. And the reward was a shot at stardom. The competition was kicked off at the exhibition with live auditions in front of a hard-nosed jury. Their job was to sort out three finalists all with a hefty dose of star quality. To make the campaign more interesting for media, we decided to invite a true Hollywood legend – David Hasselhoff – to give us a hand. And let him crown the winner on primetime television – on his new, Swedish talk show. This was also the chance of a lifetime for the winner to show what he/she was made of, during the very first seconds in the lime light. Despite a budget of only 100 000 (SEK), The Next Lassie achieved more than 11 000 000 (SEK) in PR value and more than 4 000, 000 in editorial scope. The fair, also stated visitor record with 2,000 more visitors than the last year.

The Brief

Our mission was to reverse the trend, but also to make the event mainstream and even more entertaining.

Results

Despite a budget of only 150 000 (SEK), The Next Lassie achieved more than 11 000 000 (SEK) in PR value and more than 4 000 000 in editorial scope. The fair, also stated visitor record with 2000 more visitors than the last year.

Execution

First we invited the contestants to be The Next Lassie (where the reward was a shot at stardom). Then we kicked off the competition at the exhibition in front of a tough jury (their job was to sort out three finalists with star quality). Finally we let David Hasselhoff crown the winner on primetime television – on his new, Swedish talk show. This was also the chance of a lifetime for the winner and the very first seconds in the lime light.

The Situation

MyDog is a well-established dog exhibition in Gothenburg and the obvious choice to anyone involved in dog shows at the pro level. But over the last couple years, both the media’s interest and the visitor numbers have decreased.

The Strategy

There is an increasing interest in dogs nowadays. Two great examples are Tunameltsmyheart and Boo, with thousands of fans all over the world. By focusing on the dog itself, we wanted to create a similiar phenomena. Therefore, our campaign is taking advantage of the fact that dog owners love to show off their beloved pets. And not to forget, the owners are a bit of attention junkies as well. With these insights, we created a talent hunt at the Dog Fair. First prize was a chance to become a dog celebrity. Most of the money was spent on recruitment advertising in local newspapers. Then we contacted an amount of production companies and offered them to become a part of our campaign, for free. David Hasselhoff and his team was on to it and broadcasted the final battle on prime time in one of Swedens biggest television channels.