Pedigree Charity Campaign Wins Gold

 The Pedigree Adoption Drive Doggelgänger campaign has been awarded Gold at the 2012 CAANZ Media Awards this week.

 The Doggelgänger campaign, which combined the efforts of MARS NZ Ltd, Total Media, Impact PR and Colenso BBDO, was awarded the Gold for Best Long Term Strategic Campaign.

The Doggelgänger technology is a state-of-the-art human to canine pairing software designed to connect homeless dogs to their human doubles, developed by facial recognition experts NEC.

The Pedigree Adoption Drive Charitable Trust utilised the Doggelgänger software to communicate the plight of some of the 11,000* Kiwi dogs abandoned by their owners each year.

The CAANZ Media Awards allow agencies to showcase the thinking behind the delivery of their advertising campaigns, focusing on strategy and implementation, which is where the Doggelgänger software flourished.

Pedigree marketing manager Oliver Downs says he is thrilled with the CAANZ award and pleased with the overall achievements of the Doggelgänger campaign.

"The technology matches up potential new owners with dogs from local SPCA shelters throughout the country who are desperately in need of a good home," says Downs.

"Until now, the plight of homeless dogs has been a faceless cause," he says.

Now in its fourth year in New Zealand, The Pedigree Adoption Drive Charitable Trust helps feed, care for and re-home abandoned dogs, raising awareness and funds for animal shelters and desperate dogs in local communities.

Since 2009, the charity has raised just over $160,000 on behalf of parent company MARS to support shelters and organisations such as the RNZSPCA, German Shepherd Rescue Trust and Paw Justice.

For more information on the Pedigree Adoption Drive and how you can help visit www.pedigreeadoptiondrive.co.nz.