Dog’s Best Friend
Logo • Campaign Strategy • Game • Website • Ads
Social Campaign
Strategic Business Design BCIT
Timeline
12 Weeks
Deliverables
Logo
Campaign Strategy
Website
Game (mockup)
Outdoor Ads
Social Media Ads
Brief
Conceptualize, research and visually design a social marketing campaign to inform, promote awareness and inspire action for a societal issue — overflowing shelters post-pandemic
Audience
25-35 aged animal lovers who are not in a position to adopt (more) dogs but still want to contribute
Campaign Strategy
Game, Transit & Social Media Ads
The Issue
People are rushing to give up their Pandemic Pets. There is a massive overflow of pandemic pets and puppy mill animals at shelters across the country. We will focus on Canada though it’s a problem across the globe after the pandemic.
2,344 pets were surrendered by owners to Humane Society of Kitchener last year, a 44% increase from 2021
Toronto Animal Services saw a 75% increase in surrendered pets compared to early pandemic
Guelph Humane Society saw a 53% increase compared to 2021
Finances is the #1 reason for giving up a pet
The annual average cost of caring for a puppy is about $4,600, and the yearly cost of taking care of a dog is about $3,700.
– Ontario Veterinary Medical Association
Dog’s Best Friend is a nonprofit website that raises public funding for shelters. It hosts an online game where all in-game purchases go to the shelters, and also posts educational resources for owners.
Objectives
Increase recurring donations, leveraging game psychology
Build community & provide resources for dog owners and would-be owners
Key Messaging
Donate to help our furry friends in dire need, without commitment of adopting
Funding is fun and your contributions directly impact dogs’ lives
Primary Audience
Already owns a dog, wants to contribute in other ways
Secondary Audience
Wants to own but cannot due to: finances, living situation
My target audiences grew up in the 90s, playing Tamagotchi, Pokemon, Neopets, Club penguin, Nintendogs, and more recently Animal Crossing. So this retro style game would speak to them as low barrier, self motivated way to donate.
Story and purpose increases retention, and so here we’re creating purpose through imitation of the real world through the gameplay of feeding and taking care of their virtual dogs. Users also put more value on things they feel is theirs, including digital experiences, making them more willing to put in the time and resources.
All of this will help our objective to gain recurring donations for shelters.
Campaign Strategy: The Game
Why games?
Games Connect Us After the pandemic, being able to connect and stay in touch has never been more important. The game brings community of dog lovers closer together with in-game messages, gifts, and pet avatars.
Games Empower Us We have the ability to be our ideal selves, to own and treat our virtual dogs even though in real life we are yet to be able to achieve this.
Games Educate: Due to the intrinsic motivation that drives player engagement, games have become powerful tools for the proliferation of knowledge and awareness.
