Dogs Trust is launching a major national responsive TV campaign to encourage people to consider rehoming a dog from one of its 18 centres across the UK and Ireland.
The ad aims to change perceptions about rescue dogs – which are too often seen as unhealthy, difficult and untrustworthy – and rescue centres, which are sometimes thought to be sad, grey places.
In fact most rescue dogs are healthy and happy, and the charity claims they can be a “wonderful addition to any home”. Dogs Trust rehoming centres are run by highly trained staff with state-of-the-art facilities, which best show case the diverse range of dogs that the charity has available for rehoming.
The ad, by agency Soho Square, is designed to illustrate this by showing a range of people enjoying spending time with their dogs. The ad opens on a lady enjoying her morning run with her dog, before moving on to a family playing on a beach and splashing in the sea; a mechanic fixing a car with his companion by his side and a young girl watching friends playing ping pong with her dog following the game alongside her.
It also shows a young man who sees the lady jogging with her dog, then visits a Dogs Trust rehoming centre himself. The ad closes with the young man playing the piano as his new friend howls along to the music, while the lady jogging with her terrier runs across the end-
The TV ads will be supported by Dogs Trust’s ongoing rehoming press and radio advertising, also created by Soho Square. Also supporting the TV ad is an experiential campaign that sees a large mobile ‘nodding dog’ visiting centres around the country.
Soho Square has provided media strategy, planning and buying services for the campaign which runs across the ITV network and includes regional ads on ITV1 targeting specific homing centres.
Dogs Trust marketing director Adrian Burder said: “So many people are pleasantly surprised when they visit a Dogs Trust centre for the first time. They don’t expect the majority of dogs to be so happy and well-adjusted – and as we mention in the ad, Dogs Trust vaccinates, neuters and microchips dogs before people take them home. Because Dogs Trust never puts a healthy dog down, we have lots of these wonderful dogs waiting for a home, and we wanted to get these positive messages across. Soho Square has done a great job of creating a fun ad that really communicates the happiness a dog can bring.”
