Colenso BBDO

Client: Mars NZ
Product: Pedigree
Title: DentaStix SelfieSTIX
Media: mobile, digital b to c, innovation
Country: New Zealand
Date Of Campaign: august 2017

Background: To demonstrate the irresistibility of Pedigree DentaSTIX, we created SelfieSTIX. A specially designed phone accessory that attaches DentaSTIX to your phone, so you can capture the perfect dog selfie. To accompany the clip, we created an app that took dog selfies and added fun filters to them. Facial recognition in humans is straightforward. But with the extreme variation in dog faces, the technology is much more sophisticated. This is the first time it has been used on dogs successfully.

Idea: To demonstrate the irresistibility of Pedigree DentaSTIX, we created SelfieSTIX. A specially designed phone accessory that attaches DentaSTIX to your phone, so you can capture the perfect dog selfie. SelfieSTIX is designed to hold the unique shape of a DentaSTIX and clip onto any phone. If the dog snatches the treat, the clip stays attached to the phone so it doesn’t become a choking hazard.The functionality encouraged owners and their dogs to have more meaningful moments of closeness, a key priority for Pedigree, and enabled dog owners to take and share pictures of their canine friends. The promotional item was supported by the SelfieSTIX app. Like Snapchat lenses, but for dogs, the Pedigree SelfieSTIX app converts people’s canine companions into a delightful cast of characters. We trained a neural network to recognise dog faces by feeding it thousands of dog images. Over time, the trained algorithm learned to recognise similar patterns across all images and then, whenever the dog looks at the camera, the app places a fun filter on its face. The simple UX design behind the app facilitated interactions, encouraging more meaningful moments of closeness between owners and their dogs.

Results: SelfieSTIX not only encouraged people to share their perfect doggy pics, it also encouraged repeat purchase of Pedigree DentaSTIX.Across social platforms, the campaign had over 2.1 million interactions. The campaign achieved 3.5 million engagements, a 24% increase in sales and one quarter of the country’s dog owners redeemed SelfieSTIX.