ABOUT

BAKERS EMPTY BOWL PROMISE
If dogs could choose…

THE CHALLENGE

Bakers Complete has become the UK’s leading dry dog food by focusing on taste and enjoyment. It’s doggylicious. But prioritising taste tends to relegate nutrition, creating misperceptions of ingredient quality.

With share slipping, Bakers introduced new product enhancements, improving taste and texture still further, and supporting nutritional claims to match or exceed the competition.

An all improved recipe was the perfect platform to remind every owner that if dogs could choose, they’d choose Bakers, while reassuring brand loyals they were already making the right choice. But Bakers buyers don’t buy science. We needed a brighter way to bring the promise to life.

THE IDEA: Empty Bowl Promise

To headline the campaign we made an empty promise. If your dog doesn’t empty his bowl, we’ll give you your money back. What better proof of doggyliciousness than a risk-free trial? And to reinforce our confidence we redesigned 5m packs, taking the product off the front, leaving just an empty bowl.

But Bakers, of course, had a bigger story to tell, especially to new consumers. To drive active engagement we drove to the website – off pack, via banners and email - and the challenge of the Bakers Big Break In. Extending the theme, and consistent with the Bakers Heist TVC, visitors were given the chance to join the Bakers canine gang in another daring caper; to make off with the ultimate accessory in which to enjoy the nation’s favourite dog food, the Bakers Golden Bowl. A successful swipe won competitors their own special edition Bakers bowl for their dog to empty. Triggered alarms meant an against-the-clock attempt to escape the guards to qualify for a free prize draw.

And alongside the gameplay we shared the product message, healthy cues and not so secret ingredients. Tempted first by the brand’s taste promise, every visitor left assured of its nutritional claims too.

The Bakers Empty Bowl Promise was wholly integrated promotional concept that not only drove short-term sales, it prompted brand reappraisal amongst hundreds of thousands of British dog owners.

RESULTS

• During the eight-week Empty Bowl campaign period, Bakers overtook Pedigree as the UK’s No. 1 main meal dog food for the first time.
• The Bakers website hosted over 120,000 attempts to complete the Big Break In, over six times the predicted total.
• The instant wins were all won, and 57,000 entered the prize draw.
• Integrated social shares drove 167,000 story impressions, despite the fact that Bakers didn’t have a social presence of its own.
• As part competition registration, 19,400 new dog owners signed up to receive Bakers brand newsletters.
• And of course, as expected, less than 300 consumers ever claimed their money back.