DOGVERTISING

Short List
TitleDOGVERTISING
BrandPEDIGREE
Product/ServicePEDIGREE DOG FOOD
Category C03. Data-Driven Targeting
Entrant MEDIACOM Zagreb, CROATIA
Idea Creation MEDIACOM Zagreb, CROATIA
Media Placement MEDIACOM Zagreb, CROATIA
Media Placement 2 GO2DIGITAL Zagreb, CROATIA
Production MEDIACOM Zagreb, CROATIA
Credits
Name Company Position
Dario Belić Go2Digital Creative Director
Marko Đurković MediaCom Account Lead
Marko Matejcic MediaCom Strategy
Nataliia Mostova Mars Client Lead
Barbara Nemec O3 oglaševanje Account Lead
Maša Savičević MediaCom Account Manager
Dean Udatny Go2Digital Project Lead
Maja Zorc Mars Project Lead

Why is this work relevant for Media?

We took existing digital-out-of-home (DOOH) technology and gave it new purpose through custom-built algorithms. We invented new data targeting signals to trigger personalised, real-time DOOH ads in a perfect context – the moment when pet parents take their dogs for a walk and are fully focused on the needs of their companion. Our contextual targeting solution enabled us to deliver personalised advertising at scale in a cookieless world, while also increasing efficiency and effectiveness. Most importantly, it was about a brilliant idea: tracking dogs over people, which not only sidestepped GDPR regulations but also resulted in a double-digit sales increase.

Background

The dog treat market in Croatia was in lockdown even before lockdown became a word. Only a handful of brands used paid media in 2019, with minimal investment. But in 2020, brands re-entered the market. The pressure on Pedigree, the market leader, intensified. Our challenge was to find a way to put its hero range – Pedigree Dentastix – back out infront.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

We realised that pet parents were most engaged with their dogs when they take them for a walk. Getting their attention in this contextually-relevant moment would be tough. All that licking, tail wagging and running… dogs definitely wouldn’t let their owner stop and look at advertising. However, we spotted an opportunity in Croatia’s unique digital out-of-home landscape. Cameras are installed in each screen nationwide, which meant that if we could somehow analyse the camera’s view we could know when a pet parent walked past our screens and be able to deliver targeted, contextually-relevant messages. We could use this data in a completely new way to target the dogs themselves. Where the dog leads, the pet parent normally follows. And, while the EU’s GDPR rules prevented us from tracking people, there’s nothing in the rules about dogs!

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

WE WOULD DELIVER PERSONALISED ADVERTS… TO DOGS Our idea was to deliver personalised advertising using DOOH technology to target dogs. We would build a computer algorithm to analyse the camera videostream. Once it identified a dog, it would instruct the DOOH screen to show a Pedigree Dentastix ad. Dynamic creative optimisation would allow us to match products to that specific dog. This meant small dogs would see an advert showing a similar sized dog, for example. By working with Go2Digital – the leading Croatian DOOH provider – and Google’s TensorFlow we could build a machine-learning tool to detect dogs. Our activity would run over three key phases: test the technology, test the cost efficiency and finally a full-scale, national rollout to test sales impact. We’d show that the best driver of Dentastix sales were dogs themselves.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

THE WORLD’S FIRST PROGRAMMATIC DOOH CAMPAIGN BASED ON DOG DETECTION We built a machine-learning algorithm that could identify dogs in live video, becoming the first brand in the world to run a programmatic campaign based on dog detection. Our campaign rolled out in three stages: First, we ran a network-wide test, selecting the best sites and times by scanning for dogs 24-hours a day. Next, we ran our first flight across 14 screens, proving that targeting dogs would result in a lowest-cost engaged attention of any channel. Finally, we ran our national campaign which included TV, digital and OOH. We went on to isolate one region for the roll-out of our Dogvertising algorithm. We also identified stores that could be surrounded by Dogvertising screens to investigate the impact of proximity. In phases two and three, we added creative optimisation so every dog would see a dog of a similar size.

List the results (30% of vote)

29% INCREMENTAL SALES FROM DATA-POWERED TARGETING The goal of our first flight was to prove that reaching pet parents result in a lowest-cost attention when compared with alternative channels – Dogvertising delivered a 34.4% lower cost for actively viewed ads by pet parents. It also delivered a 13.5 second average viewing time by pet parents – four times higher than similar Mars campaigns. Eye-tracking studies showed a CPM for an actively viewed DOOH ad by a pet parent of $9.17 via DOOH, vs $14.08 for TV. Our second flight was designed to prove how reaching pet parents in perfect context delivered additional sales. Our robust regional testing showed that when all other factors were equal, Dogvertising delivered a 29% incremental sales uplift. And when we ran the activity near stores, we delivered a 106% year-on-year sales uplift. We’re now exploring the international rollout options across the Mars network.

Describe the use of data, or how the data enhanced the campaign output

WITHOUT DATA, DOGVERTISING WOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT THE KENNEL. Data-driven targeting is at the heart of Dogvertising’s success. Although we did not record any personal data about any pet or pet-parent – in line with our brief to find a cookieless solution to targeting – data was an essential element of our campaign. Analysis of live video streams by our algorithm enabled us to spot dogs as they approached our screens in real-time. This data point was then communicated to the DOOH adserver to trigger delivery of a message from Pedigree. Another data point, based on our ability to identify the size of the dog, enabled our Digital Creative Optimisation strategy to kick in and ensure the creative image reflected the size of the dog and promoted the right variant of Dentastix.