FOLLOW FELIX

TitleFOLLOW FELIX
BrandNESTLÉ PURINA PETCARE
Product/ServiceFELIX CAT FOOD
Category A12. Data Visualisation
Media Agency OPTIMEDIA Frankfurt am Main, GERMANY
PR Agency WEBER SHANDWICK Cologne, GERMANY
Production Company ETECTURE Frankfurt, GERMANY
Entrant Company WEBER SHANDWICK Cologne, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Cathrin Koch Nestlé Purina Petcare Deutschland Gmbh Group Brand Manager
Daniela Lein Nestlé Purina Petcare Deutschland Gmbh Brand Manager/Felix
Kevin Fox Nestlé Purina Petcare Deutschland Gmbh Brand Manager/Felix
Sabine Lorenz Weber Shandwick Deutschland Associate Director
Dr. Jan Dirk Kemming Weber Shandwick Deutschland Chief Creative Officer/Europe
Tillmann Allmer Weber Shandwick Deutschland Digital Communications Consultant
Stefan Haagn Weber Shandwick Deutschland Senior Account Manager
Christina Betting Weber Shandwick Deutschland Account Executive
Ilker Ugay Weber Shandwick Deutschland Art Director
Michael Ludwig Etecture Gmbh Senior IT Consultant
Tobias Kropp Teamwork Gmbh/Co. Kg Business Executive
Dr. Stefanie Wehnert-görres pure brands – public relations for brands Business Executive
Vanessa Heil Optimedia Media Planner

Creative Execution

In a three-week campaign to “Follow Felix”, we recruited and fitted 50 felines with the harness, which held a GPS device. We did the first-of-its-kind data justice: as well as posting Google Maps images on the custom-built microsite and developing infographics, we created high-quality, tailor-made content for every FELIX owned social channel, including videos produced with Germany’s favourite pet TV show, news, photos, blogs, maps, interviews with surprised owners, and expert comment. We gamified the campaign to make the data visualisation even more playful and interactive, developing virtual medals for the most and least active cats in an online game.

Follow Felix told the brand’s “clever cats” story perfectly. It was an outstanding data visualisation campaign, in terms of creativity, innovation, content creation, and data engagement. Cat owners loved the playful, data-driven storytelling campaign: • Follow Felix posts had the highest-ever engagement rates on owned social channels • 1,500% more visits to the FELIX website than the month before • 650,000 video views • Facebook reach: 3.5 million+ • TV, print and online media reach: 70 million+. In 2015, FELIX overtook its arch-competitor as market leader, and remains the biggest cat food brand in Germany (Nielsen; LEH + DM + Petstores; Catfood Total; VMS; March2015).

To stand out in the hugely competitive German cat food market, Nestlé Purina Petcare brand FELIX asked us to underline its “clever cats” positioning with a creative content platform and unique, shareable content for cat lovers. We found that German cat owners had no idea where their cats go and what they do when outside the home, but they would love to know. And so we decided to solve the mystery of the secret lives of “clever cats”. Our killer idea was to create the first wearable for cats, to track their location, movements and activity. We would adapt the latest GPS technology to create “quantified pets” and present the data in creative, engaging ways. We worked with experts to design and create an innovative custom-made cat harness that was safe for cats to wear, could withstand their agility and all weather conditions, and would allow easy data visualisation.