2014 highly commended: Mars Petcare, Cause Related Marketing - case study

Whilst CSR has become a fundamental pillar for many big brands, too often ‘good works’ exist on the periphery of main marketing activities, divorced from business as usual. This is often because the cause is not linked to the brand’s core benefit.

 

This case shows what can happen when a brand puts its ‘noble purpose’ at the heart of its commercial activities. It shows how centring all marketing activity around Pedigree’s long-term partnership with dog rescue charities helped it build its business, despite a lack of product innovation with which to tempt the trade. By living up to its vision of ‘making the world a better place for all dogs’, Pedigree has been able to deliver against its penetration objective, increasing revenue across its entire portfolio whilst at the same time, working with consumers to donate over 2 million meals to rescue dogs.

 

Pedigree’s ‘Feeding brighter futures’ campaign puts good nutrition at the heart of how the brand makes the world better for all dogs. The campaign has integrated all media channels to share real rescue dog stories with the nation’s dog owners, culminating in a nationwide ‘Buy one feed one’ promotion. The TV element of the campaign alone has delivered incremental value across the whole Pedigree portfolio, paying back a TVROI of £0.91 (well above Nielsen’s TV benchmark of 0.75) and delivering £3.2m incremental retail sales. The campaign has also generated more merchandising opportunities, more powerful trade relations, more internal staff positivity and most importantly, more positive outcomes for thousands of rescue dogs nationwide.

 

Proof that good can come from a shaggy dog story.

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