Shot # 166: How Whiskas Hijacked Search Trends to Boost Cat Adoptions | Marketing Shots
Hello, awesome marketers and founders.
This is Luv, and here’s your weekly Marketing Shot :)
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Whiskas, the Mars-owned pet food brand, spotted a fascinating trend.
Searches for ‘low-maintenance dogs’ had doubled in the past year.
Clearly, more people wanted a pet that required minimal effort.
But Whiskas had a playful counterpoint: if you’re looking for a quiet, independent, no-walks-required pet, why not a cat?
Instead of simply promoting cat ownership, Whiskas rebranded cats as ‘Meowzers’-essentially low-effort dogs.
They created a series of short films introducing the Meowzer as the answer to dog lovers’ prayers.
But here’s where things got really smart.
Instead of waiting for people to consider cats, they intercepted their search behaviour.
People looking for ‘low-maintenance dogs’ were served content about the Meowzer.
The campaign directed them to a dedicated website where they could take a quiz to find their ‘purr-fect’ pet match.
To make this concept stick, Whiskas collaborated with Elias Weiss Friedman, aka The Dogist, an influencer with 7.2 million dog-loving followers on Instagram.
Imagine the irony, a dog influencer introducing the audience to the Meowzer. It worked like magic.
Think about your own marketing. Can you hijack an existing demand with your product?
To make this concept stick, Whiskas collaborated with Elias Weiss Friedman, aka The Dogist, an influencer with 7.2 million dog-loving followers on Instagram.
Imagine the irony, a dog influencer introducing the audience to the Meowzer. It worked like magic.
Think about your own marketing. Can you hijack an existing demand with your product?
That's a wrap for today! Stay tuned for the next edition.
Thanks,
Luv