The best pet marketing campaigns turn the bond between people and animals into a cause, a service or a story. Seven stand out: Pedigree's Adoption Drive, Subaru Loves Pets, Budweiser's Puppy Love, Chewy's customer care, Friskies' Dear Kitten, the Shelter Pet Project and PetSmart Charities' National Adoption Week. Subaru alone reports more than $70 million donated through its pet program since 2008.
Which pet marketing campaigns are the best?
Seven pet marketing campaigns stand out, and the table compares what each one did and when it started.
| Campaign | Brand or group | Core idea | Started |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adoption Drive | Pedigree | Product sales tied to shelter dog adoption | 2004 (US) |
| Subaru Loves Pets | Subaru | Every October, retailers fund local shelters | 2008 |
| Puppy Love | Budweiser | A puppy and a Clydesdale in a Super Bowl story | 2014 |
| Customer care | Chewy | Flowers, notes and hand-painted pet portraits | Ongoing |
| Dear Kitten | Friskies and BuzzFeed | An older cat's advice to a new kitten | 2014 |
| Shelter Pet Project | Ad Council, Maddie's Fund, Humane Society | Public service ads that made shelters the first choice | 2008 |
| National Adoption Week | PetSmart Charities | In-store adoption events with local shelters | 1994 |
What are the 7 best pet marketing campaigns?
The seven campaigns below range from cause programs to branded video and customer service, and each one ends with the lesson a pet brand can use.
1. Pedigree Adoption Drive: sales that fund adoption
Pedigree built its Adoption Drive around one promise: buying dog food helps shelter dogs. The US program began in 2004, and MediaPost reported in 2008 that Pedigree had raised $750,000 for a foundation that funds shelter grants. That report also said all 12 dogs featured in the US advertising had been adopted, which gave the story a real ending.
Pedigree announced the UK launch for January 2008 with a £4.5 million campaign and a donation for every Pedigree product sold, aiming to raise up to £500,000 in the first three months.
The lesson: tie each purchase to a cause people already care about, and show the outcome.
2. Subaru Loves Pets: a car brand that owns a cause
Since 2008, Subaru has run Subaru Loves Pets with the ASPCA as national partner. Every October, Subaru retailers fund local shelters through grants the ASPCA administers and host adoption events at their stores. Subaru also created National Make a Dog's Day to spotlight older and special-needs dogs it calls Underdogs.
Subaru reports more than $70 million donated and more than 700,000 animals supported.
The lesson: local retailers make a national program feel personal, and a fixed calendar slot builds recognition year after year.
3. Budweiser Puppy Love: emotion borrowed from a pet
Budweiser's Super Bowl XLVIII spot, created by the agency Anomaly in 2014, followed a puppy that keeps returning to the Clydesdale it loves. It won USA Today's Ad Meter, Budweiser's second win in a row, and the research firm Unruly counted about 1.3 million shares. Budweiser released it online before the game, which gave it a news cycle of its own before kickoff.
The lesson: pets carry emotion across audiences, and releasing early gives a story days of coverage before the broadcast.
4. Chewy: customer care as marketing
Chewy turned customer service into content. The Associated Press reported in 2021 that the company mailed more than 1,000 free hand-painted pet portraits a week to selected customers, along with handwritten notes to new customers and flowers when a pet dies.
In June 2022, a customer's post about a refund and a bouquet after her dog's death drew thousands of replies praising the company. Andrew Stein, Chewy's senior director of customer service, told The Boston Globe that the pet category is emotional and that his team wants to be there for pet owners' highs and lows.
The lesson: small, personal gestures get shared, and shared gestures become earned media.
5. Friskies Dear Kitten: entertainment first
In June 2014, Friskies and BuzzFeed released Dear Kitten, a video in which an older cat gives a new kitten advice about life in the house, voiced by Ze Frank, then head of BuzzFeed Video. Digiday named it its Best Video Creative for 2014, and Friskies reported in January 2015 that the original had passed 19 million views and the series 30 million.
Friskies then adapted a Dear Kitten spot for the Super Bowl broadcast in select markets, a first for both Friskies and BuzzFeed, and revived the series in July 2023 with Dear Kitten: Modern Technology.
The lesson: entertain first, mention the product lightly, and build a series people want more of.
6. The Shelter Pet Project: a coalition with donated media
In 2008, the Humane Society of the United States and Maddie's Fund announced a partnership with the Ad Council on its first campaign focused on pets, encouraging people to make shelters and rescues their first choice. Maddie's Fund reports that the campaign generated more than $541 million in donated advertising time and space from 2009 through 2021.
MediaPost reported in 2022 that more than 3 million people had used the campaign's site to search for adoptable pets. That year the campaign became Pets and People Together, with a Be a Helper message about fostering, donating pet food and covering vet costs.
The lesson: a coalition can secure donated media at scale, and a campaign can change its message when the need changes.
7. PetSmart Adoption Week: the store is the campaign
PetSmart Charities was formed in 1994 and runs National Adoption Week events in PetSmart stores several times a year, where local shelters and rescues bring adoptable pets to the store. PetSmart said a September 2015 week led to more than 20,000 pets adopted, and PetSmart Charities says more than 10 million pets have been adopted through the program since 1994.
The lesson: a retailer's stores can be the campaign, and a repeating event gives local press and shelters a reason to return every year.
What do the best pet campaigns have in common?
The seven campaigns share five traits, and each one is visible in the examples above.
- They lead with a cause or a feeling instead of a product feature.
- They repeat: Subaru Loves Pets, Pedigree's drive, National Adoption Week and Dear Kitten all returned after their first run.
- They let partners and customers carry the message, through retailers, shelters and pet owners posting portraits.
- They borrow audiences, such as the ASPCA's, BuzzFeed's and the Ad Council's.
- They show an outcome reporters can retell: adopted dogs, donated dollars and shared stories.
How can a pet brand build a campaign like these?
A pet brand can build a similar campaign in five steps.
- Choose one cause or emotion that fits the brand, such as adoption, senior pets or the bond between owners and animals.
- Build a repeatable format with a fixed date, so each year adds to the last.
- Recruit partners with built-in audiences, such as shelters, retailers and creators. A separate guide covers influencer marketing for pet products.
- Plan the press angle before launch: a first, a number, a local story or an early release.
- Track coverage, shares and outcomes, and report the same numbers every time.
The storytelling behind this approach is covered in pet brand storytelling.
What does PR add to a pet campaign?
PR turns a campaign idea into coverage by placing the story, arranging partners and giving customers something worth sharing. The campaigns above each used at least one of those methods.
Pet brands that want help planning a campaign like these can start with pet products marketing support. Brands that need a plan for when things go wrong can read the pet brand reputation recovery guide.
What should a pet brand do first?
A pet brand should start by choosing one cause or feeling it can own and one fixed date to repeat it. Pedigree, Subaru and PetSmart Charities each built recognition by returning to the same idea year after year, so the first decision is the one that will still make sense in year three.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best pet marketing campaign of all time?
No single pet marketing campaign wins on every measure. Pedigree's Adoption Drive and Subaru Loves Pets show how long-running cause programs build recognition, Chewy shows how service creates earned media, and Dear Kitten shows how branded entertainment can scale.
Do pet brands need a big budget for a campaign like these?
Pet brands do not need a big budget to start. Chewy's gestures are small and personal, and their reach came from customers sharing them, although budget helps with paid distribution once the idea works.
How do pet brands earn press coverage?
Pet brands earn press coverage by offering a first, a number, a cause or a local story, such as an adoption event, a shelter partnership or a customer story reporters can retell.
Why do pet campaigns work so well on social media?
Pet campaigns work well on social media because people treat pets as family and like to share them. The Associated Press noted that many Chewy customers posted their pet portraits on social media, which gave the company free advertising.
