The Shanghai office of the company's global AOR, TBWA, has developed two campaigns for Pedigree and Whiskas, Mars' respective dog food and cat food brands, set to break in June.
The Chinese agency has also adjusted its Pedigree TVC for Thailand, another market where relatively few people give their dogs special food, featuring breeds relevant to Thai consumers.
The Chinese agency has also adjusted its Pedigree TVC for Thailand, another market where relatively few people give their dogs special food, featuring breeds relevant to Thai consumers.
The Pedigree TVCs emphasise the different nutrional needs of dogs and humans, showing dog-owners sharing everything with their pets, including mealtimes, but not the food.
The ads also stress the non-human nature of dogs with displays of leaping and running from energetic animals in a market where ownership of toy dogs is high and dogs are often treated more like children than animals.
The shift is part of a global rollout of Pedigree's new positioning as a dog-loving company, which took shape in the global 'Dogs rule' campaign, which also aired in China.
The emtional bond which is depicted in the new TVCs marks a significant shift away from Pedigree's previous local ads in China, which stressed the brand's physical benefits.
The 'Share' idea may extend to other markets in Asia, though this has yet to be decided. The Whiskas ads also highlight the relationships between owners and their pets but take a different approach, featuring unscripted real-life testimonials from cat owners in Shanghai and Beijing The TVCs will not run in the major metros, however, airing instead in lower-tier cities such as Chengdu, where use of home-prepared food to feed pet cats is higher. Other elements of the campaign such as radio and point of sale will run in the major metros. Both campaigns will be supported by print, radio, outdoor and instore POS materials.