PERFECT SEARCH

TitlePERFECT SEARCH
BrandPERFECT FIT / MARS LLC
Product/ServicePERFECT FIT, PET FOOD
Category C01. Use of Social/ Digital Platforms
Entrant BBDO Moscow, RUSSIA
Idea Creation BBDO Moscow, RUSSIA
Media Placement MEDIACOM Moscow, RUSSIA
PR PRT EDELMAN AFFILIATE Moscow, RUSSIA
Credits
Name Company Position
Olga Kostrova Mars Petcare Russia Marketing Director
Elena Tokareva Mars Petcare Russia Senior brand manager Perfect Fit
Anastasia Barabanova Mars Petcare Russia Digital Specialist
Anastasia Bogatova Mars Petcare Russia Leadership Program Specialist
Alexey Fedorov BBDO Russia Group Executive Creative Director
Sonya Tsytkina BBDO Russia Group Senior Art Director
Petr Martyuk BBDO Russia Group Copywriter
Anton Beletov BBDO Russia Group Junior Copywriter
Denis Bykov BBDO Russia Group Digital Creator
Andrey Krusanov BBDO Russia Group Digital Art Director
Natalia Tsyganova BBDO Russia Group Managing Director
Anastasia Dubrovskaya BBDO Russia Group Client Services Director
Anastasia Babuchenko BBDO Russia Group Account Director
Liana Shengeliia BBDO Russia Group Senior Account Manager
Jane Lukonina BBDO Russia Group Digital Analyst
Polina Ptachek BBDO Russia Group Digital Strategic Planning Director
Yuriy Marin BBDO Russia Group Digital Producer
Anna Khitko BBDO Russia Group Senior Strategic Planning Manager
Vera Zgurskaya BBDO Russia Group Strategic Planning Manager
Ivan Kondidi Mediacom Business Director
Elena Kharitonova PRT Edelman Affiliate Senior Account Manager

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Google Ads is the cornerstone of Perfect Search. It was the starting point for the entire campaign. We used paid search to talk to our specific target audience – exceptional pet owners. We reached them when they were making a very rare search query about their pets. We addressed these individual needs by providing an information and giving them what they were looking for as a reward for their care for free.

Background

Perfect Fit, a healthy pet food brand, believes that pets need more than a good diet, to be healthy and happy. They also require the right amount of exercise and play (both with their owners and on their own). This approach was developed by Waltham® Centre for Pet Nutrition and became the basis for the philosophy of Perfect Fit. However, in Russia, most people do not follow Perfect Fit’s philosophy. This happens not because pet owners are against proper care, but because many of them do not know that pets have needs other than food. To increase the number of pet owners who do sports with their pets, spend quality time together and mentally stimulate their beloved ones, we had to engage broader audience of pet owners into our philosophy and explain that pets need all of this.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

To tell people about Perfect Fit’s philosophy, we used pet owners who already live by its principles. Since most of them are very passionate advocates of such approach to their pets’ well-being, we decided to use them to raise awareness of Feed.Move.Play philosophy and stimulate other pet owners to engage with it. To find these exceptional pet owners and get them involved we decided to use search. We bought the most unpopular search queries that only responsible pet owners would search for. Then we rewarded these pet owners giving them what they were looking for– for free. Thus, Perfect Search became the first campaign that uses unpopular search queries to get the reach.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

While conducting research for our campaign we learned that only 0.4% of all pet-related search queries in Russia correspond to proper pet care. Nonetheless, that small percentage of pet owners who already takes the best care of their pets is basically living by Perfect Fit’s philosophy, even if they do not know about it. They do yoga with their cats, take their dogs to psychologists and buy them special orthopaedic mattresses. To find these exceptional pet owners, we bought the most unpopular search queries that only they would search for: “balcony for the cat”, “fitness instructor for the dog” and 84 others with a display rate of no more than 300 times a month. In total it cost us only $68. Other brands never needed these queries exactly because they are unpopular and can be seen only by a limited audience. But this limitation became our advantage.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

When someone searched for one of our queries, they got only one relevant link — ours. We gave people what they were looking for for free as a reward for taking care of their pets. Among the gifts were a session with a psychologist, a yoga class with an instructor, a birthday party for a dog, etc. In turn, people told about it on social media. Their friends and subscribers started sharing stories of their exceptional care. Very soon, influencers learned about our idea, shared their stories, and the national media made a few publications. Throughout all six weeks of campaign duration many pet owners tried to guess several queries to win, returning to campaign website and learning more about the philosophy. Thus, we engaged not only the most passionate pet owners but also many others by turning the education on our philosophy into an interactive exciting game.

List the results (30% of vote)

With a media budget of only $68, we made the impossible. Thanks to unconventional mechanics based on the most unpopular search queries, we were able to start a public discussion on responsible pet ownership and pet needs. We have received more than 320 million impressions. The campaign collected more than 90 publications in digital and traditional media. But most importantly, Perfect Fit’s philosophy gained a lot of new followers, and the number of happy pets has grown many times: - cat balcony search queries +139% - orthopaedic mattress for dog search queries +488% - camping with your dog search queries +417%, etc. Traffic to the Perfect Fit website with information on advanced pet care increased by 850%.