What if the dog you see in pet commercials could be adopted? This brand made that possible!

From the desk of Miles Everson:

Hello!

I’m excited to share yet another marketing insight in today’s edition of  “Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!”

For those of you who may not know, guerrilla marketing is an out-of-the-box strategy that encourages marketers to utilize unconventional strategies when engaging with their target audience.

I’m a believer of this strategy because it shows just how effective out-of-the-box campaigns can be.

For today’s case study, I’ll be putting the spotlight on a campaign that helped dogs find their fur-ever homes.

Continue reading below!

What if the dog you see in pet commercials could be adopted? This brand made that possible!

Every dog (or pet) deserves to find a fur-ever home.

In the first half of 2025, more than a million dogs entered shelters across America… and the great thing about this is that nearly a million of them were adopted by loving fur parents.

Nevertheless, not every dog finds a home, leaving those who aren't adopted to continue their stay in the shelter system.

It’s an unfortunate reality… but it doesn’t have to stay that way.

That’s why  Pedigree, the go-to brand for pet treats, came up with a way to make the process easier for dogs that are waiting to be adopted.

How?

Well, you’ll have to keep reading to find out!

Helping Dogs Find their Forever Home

Pedigree has operated as pet food brands for decades.

Throughout the company’s decades of operation, it has leveraged thousands of ads to promote its products.

In those ads, trained actor dogs were utilized to film footage.

… but what if those ads featured dogs who are up for adoption instead?

Hmmm good idea…

In 2024, Pedigree turned that remote possibility into reality. To accomplish this vision, the brand partnered with animation company  Nexus Studios  and advertising agency  Colenso BBDO.

Nexus Studios and Pedigree created an artificial intelligence (AI) model that transformed the image of a shelter dog into high quality studio images.

The high quality image is then mapped into a CGI rig, rendering the photo usable for any type of ad placement, be it digital or traditional.

The twist?

Behind every ad is an actual dog that’s waiting to be adopted!

Pedigree utilized geolocation data to strategically place these ads. This meant the specific dogs featured in the ad placements were waiting in shelters located near the people who saw them.

The “ Adoptable ” campaign, as Pedigree called it, saw instant success when it was rolled out in New Zealand in 2024.

In just 2 weeks, 50% of dogs that were featured were adopted. Moreover, shelters saw 6x uptick in visits.

The campaign was so successful that Pedigree is working on a global rollout.

What’s more?

“Adoptable” earned various awards from prestigious awards-giving bodies such as  D&AD  and  Clio Awards.

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Pedigree, in its “Adoptable” campaign, showed just how powerful guerrilla marketing can be, even when it’s an established brand that’s using the strategy.

By leveraging its brand equity to encourage pet adoption, the company not only drew eyeballs to its brand but also managed to pull off a high impact awareness campaign at the same time.

In a world that’s tired of generic outreach efforts, Pedigree and its creative partners managed to pull off a one-of-a-kind, highly beneficial, and impactful campaign.

Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.

Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!

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