Weber Shandwick & Mars Petcare – Mix Mania

As the category leader, Mars Petcare’s goal with this campaign was to reinvigorate the wet dog food category, as well as position the company’s wet brands—Cesar, Iams, Pedigree and Nutro—to capture a disproportionate share of that growth.

Wet dog food in general had been declining, 8% since 2007, due to category-wide recalls and increasingly negative consumer perceptions when compared to dry dog food. Working with Weber Shandwick, Mars sought to elevate wet dog food at a category level by reaching dog owners who have either never tried wet food or have stopped serving their dogs wet food.

Anchored by long-form and short-form video content capturing crazed canine joy, the campaign encompassed an interactive digital content hub, campaign-specific social channels (including Instagram), paid media, influencer engagement, original social content, a regional print ad, retail social and digital support and, of course, tons of earned media.

The campaign focused on the freakout face that happens when dogs discover delicious wet food mixed in with their normal dry kibble. The visuals captured slow motion freakout faces of an assortment of dogs—from jaw dropping jowls to slobbery smiles. Long-and short-form videos led the content, and were brought to life through an engaging online hub at MixMania.dog that served as a one-stop shop for consumer interaction, with lip-smackingly delicious recipes, PAWsome content and a unique remix station where they could share their dog’s freakout video and have it remixed with a hysterical voiceover from actress Kristin Chenoweth.

The campaign also gave pup lovers who shared their fur babies' #MixMania on social channels some personalized swag, from duvet covers to surfboards.

At the end of the program, the team surpassed its overall impressions goal by 32% with 520.7 million total impressions through earned and social media.

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