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July 2007 - Strategy Magazine
Upfront

Fido fetches product interaction

by Annette Bourdeau
page 11

Fido is rolling out a fetching new engagement effort that will have pet lovers seeing double. A microsite, www.fidoduo.ca, lets users upload pictures of themselves to be matched with their canine doppelgängers.

"We've started to invest in more grassroots efforts, and we're trying to find new ways to interact with consumers in the marketplace," explains Patrick Hadsipantelis, VP marketing at Montreal-based Fido, adding that they're trying to make up for lost time. "We haven't been very active in doing product demonstrations."

A tour bus equipped with Fido handsets will have a presence in Toronto and Montreal throughout the summer to reach Fido's key demographic: young urbanites. Hadsipantelis says they would have liked to have made it to its third major target, Vancouver, too, but logistics prevented that from happening this year.

Those who check out the bus's on-board handset demo bar can also pose for a professional photographer and be matched up with a file photo of their lookalike dog for a chance to be in the next Fido campaign. On the microsite, visitors can upload their own photos, as well as vote for their favourite matches. At press time, over 3,700 photos had been uploaded.

Fido opted to build on the popular dog/owner lookalike concept developed by Bos Montreal because of the positive feedback from consumers. "People want to show us pictures of their dogs [when they find out we work for Fido]," says Hadsipantelis, adding that tapping into this loyal brand affiliation is important because "our category - mobile - is changing every day."

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