Dogs Trust: Brief

Brief

To create a campaign that makes ‘rescue dogs’ the most desirable breed of dog in Britain.

Background

Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare and Rehoming charity. Every year we care for around 16,000 dogs at our 20 rehoming centres nationwide. Our mission is to bring about the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction, and a huge part of this is our promise to ‘never put down a healthy dog’. This means that once a dog is in our care, he or she will be safe, cared for and loved for the rest of their days; they will have anything they need, emotionally as well as physically, for as long as they need it. Whilst we care for all the dogs in our Centres like they are our own, we truly believe that the best place for a dog is in a forever home. A home is the best place for a dog because dogs love a family unit, and our goal is to give all dogs a second chance at happiness with a special new owner who’s right for them. We need to find new homes for 13,000 abandoned dogs each year. For every dog we rehome we have space to rescue another one, but the length of stay a dog has with us is increasing, and as a result, we can help fewer dogs. This brief is focused on helping us getting more Dogs Trust rescue dogs into their forever homes. 

The Creative Challenge 

Why is the length of time a dog stays with us increasing? The cause is: buying behaviour is changing. With the ever-changing digital world, it has never been easier to get a dog. You can go online and search by dog breed, age, colour, location etc and have your ‘perfect’ dog ready to collect in a matter of minutes. People think they know what dog they want and can get it so easily online that they forget about the rescue dogs needing a second chance, who just want someone to love, and who’ll love them. Alongside this change in digital behaviour, there is also a common misconception that rescue dogs are ‘broken’ or have ‘issues’ when more often than not a dog will be brought into our centres due to an owner’s change of

circumstances. The most common reasons given when handing over a dog to us are ‘work commitments’,’ family crisis’, ‘new baby’ and ‘owner ill health’. A dog may be at a rehoming centre for lots of different reasons but they are all the same in two ways; their circumstances weren’t their fault, and regardless of their past they have nothing but love in their hearts waiting to give their new owner. We know Britain loves dogs! 1 in 4 households in the UK own a dog as a pet and 800,000 dogs will be bought this year. We also know not everyone can rescue a dog, but our wish is that everyone looking to get a dog tries to rehome first before buying one. Every day we have up to 1,500 wonderful dogs of all shapes and sizes waiting at our 20 rehoming centres for their hero to turn up and change their lives forever.

If the dog-buying behaviour is changing, and the digital world we live in means people want what is fashionable, then we need to influence this buying behaviour in the rescue dog’s favour! There has been a 368% rise in the popularity of French Bulldogs in the past five years alone, and by the end of 2018, this breed will overtake Labradors as the UK’s most popular dog (the first time the Labrador has been knocked off the top spot in 27 years). We want to make rescue dogs the next most desirable breed in Britain. Rehoming a dog from Dogs Trust may not change the world, but for that one dog their world will change forever, and we want your ideas to help us find more of these special dogs’ new homes!

Come up with an idea that will make the Great British dog lover change their perception of rescuing a dog, and want to rehome a rescue dog from Dogs Trust instead of buying a dog online. Your creative idea will inspire people to visit the Rehoming pages of our website — or even better — visit one of our rehoming centres and ultimately help us find more rescue dogs their forever homes! Your idea can be anything from a clever press ad to an experiential concept, or an idea for a full-blown integrated campaign. Whatever you come up with it should feel positive, upbeat and non-judgmental, in line with our brand guidelines.

Interpretation of the brief

• length of time dogs are at the rehoming centers are increasing.
• this is because of fashion dogs, trends in dog breeds, online revolution of dogs being able to be selected and filtered to find the 'perfect dog' 
• research into where this trend is coming from.
• find a way to reach out to the people who are following this trend in a way that will make rehoming dogs the bigger 'trend'. 
• must infit with dogs trust key themes, upbeat, passionate, warm and positive.
• must be repective of rehoming in a positive light, not judging the people who do want to buy dogs. 

Next steps:

1. Research how trends spread
2. Research into brand guidelines
3. Initial Ideas
4. Development and idea selection