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Company: Foundry 360 part of Dotdash Meredith
Nomination Submitted by: Gold Label Awards
Company Description: Powered by Dotdash Meredith, Foundry 360 transforms the way you engage with your consumers. We are a content marketing agency that powers our clients owned and operated channels. We develop customized strategies, driven by content, that drive to your specific business goals. We produce and publish content to serve your consumers’ needs, shift & shape perceptions and drive business outcomes.
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Specialty
Nomination Sub Category: Branded Utility of the Year
 Nomination Title: Paw Print
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
May 2021
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 226 words used.
America is fascinated with pets. Nearly 85 million households have at least one pet and numbers are growing. In fact, pet ownership has increased by 31% over the past five years – with another 28% expected by 2023. The role of pets has also evolved. More so than ever, younger generations view pets as children and friends and like to spoil them. As a result, Americans are spending more on their animals than ever before – from toys and accessories to shared experiences, like staying in ‘pet-friendly’ hotels. However, to date, no national brand has successfully provided service and entertainment content to this audience at scale. ‘Pet parents’ – people who own both cats AND dogs – are particularly underserved. As a leading provider of high-quality, nutrition and therapeutic pet products, Mars Petcare wanted to fill this space. Guided by the purpose of ‘A Better World for Pets’, the company’s 85,000 associates across 55+ countries work tirelessly toward a world in which there are more healthy and happy pets. Its brands include Pedigree, Cesar, IAMS Cat and Dog, Greenies, Nutro, and more, as well as the Waltham Petcare Science Institute which has advanced pet nutrition and health research for 50 years. Our goals were to help Mars Petcare connect with ‘pet parents’ or dual pet owners, raise awareness of its brands, and generate positive feedback.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Our idea was to launch Paw Print, a 48-page, twice-yearly print magazine. Paw Print would cover everything pet – but be specifically relevant to people who own both dogs and cats. It would contain all the tips and advice they need to care for their fur babies. An extension of DailyPaws.com, Meredith’s pet news portal, each issue would feature important pet-parent topics, such as health, behavior, nutrition, gear, and more. Each issue would also be stocked with beautiful pet photography and illustrations, pro tips, and reader advice. All ads in the inaugural issue would highlight Mars Petcare products relevant to the content, while ads in subsequent issues would also include non-competitive advertisers (like footwear brand, Sketchers). We launched Paw Print with a hyper-targeted distribution strategy designed to reach dual pet owners.
To do this, we tapped into Meredith’s subscriber database, which includes almost 70% of pet owners, including 80M dog- and 40M cat owners, and looked for people whose records noted they had both- cat and dogs. So, we sent them Paw Print for free. As well as using data to work out how to get the magazine into pet parents’ hands, we also used it to help us create content they would be interested in reading. To do this, we mined analytics from Dailypaws.com to identify trending topics and most-read content types that could be adapted for print. Content included: pet care content; pet-centric lifestyle content; user-generated content (via social stories); viral pet news; and fun facts.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2020. Even if your initiative started before 2020, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2020 only (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Paw Print launched in May 2021 with a circulation of 1M – the largest ever print magazine in the pet category.
Pet parents were purring: On average, readers spent 80 minutes reading;nearly 3 in 4(73%) read every page.
- 98% said the premiere issue cover inspired them to read.
As a result, our target wanted more:
- 97% of readers say they’re already looking forward to the next issue of Paw Print.
- 8 in 10 (82%) say Paw Print is their new favorite magazine.
Most importantly, readers took action:
- 99% said they’re likely to act on something they’d read.
- 93% plan to use an idea or tip they saw in the issue.
- 93% plan to share or discuss the magazine with friends or family.
Crucially for Mars Petcare, this is translating into sales:
- 8 in 10 say they’re likely to purchase a product featured in the issue.
Which translated into happy clients for us:
"Mars Petcare is thrilled to be the premier partner to Meredith's new Paw Print brand. The partnership has given us a tremendous new way to engage with pet parents about our brands, and our commitment to our purpose: A Better World For Pets. We are excited to continue working together with Meredith to share premium content with the magazine’s pet-loving audience.” David Saxton, Paid Media Team Lead, Mars Petcare
Now, as awareness of the magazine increases, so are subscriptions. By September 2021, circulation had hit 1.25M – an increase of +25% in just 4 months.
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