By encouraging dogs to pee on its latest print ad, FCB Media has won New Zealand Media and Entertainment’s 2024 Imprint Competition.
The unique ad, dubbed News-pee-per, was created alongside pet food brand Purina and infused with a dog-friendly attractant with the aim of helping with puppy toilet training.
Printed in the NZ Herald it had a clear call to action for pet owners – place it in your puppy’s toilet spot to encourage them to go where they’re supposed to.
As well as commenting on the effectiveness and creativity of the ad, Imprint judges lauded its use of a media channel that may sometimes be used in this way – old newspapers to mop up puppy pee – to enhance that behaviour and create something useful for new puppy parents.
James Butcher, NZME Chief Commercial Officer, says the calibre of entries this year was impressive, and FCB’s was a definite standout.
“This is the second year we’ve run the Imprint Competition at NZME and it’s been a real success. Not only does it encourage agencies and advertisers to get creative around the use of print as an advertising medium, but it also provides talkability and interaction for our print readers. We are really pleased to award the grand prize to FCB for their truly innovative campaign with Purina and we are thrilled to be sending them to New York to attend Advertising Week New York this October,” he says.
Anne Lipsham – FCB Media Chief Strategy Officer says: “Thanks NZME, we are stoked to win this competition! Not only was it fun to work on, but such a good example of that collision between media, creativity and innovation. Turning the usual static print ad into an actual utility, we helped Purina facilitate a training moment in those crucial early days when bonds are being formed. Wish this was around when I was toilet training my puppy!”
Margaret Hawker, NZME Head of Commercial Publishing and Innovation, says: “Print offers a flexible advertising environment that enables innovation, impact, interactivity and extended dwell time for those reading a newspaper. The winning ad by FCB showcased all those things as well as usefulness, making clever use of the newspaper once it had been read, serving a unique purpose. This ad couldn’t have been run via any other platform but print, which speaks to the uniqueness of the channel for advertisers.
“Creative and smart ad placement can transform a page on a newspaper into a huge opportunity to connect with an audience, with excellent product recall and driving interaction. We’d like to say a huge thanks to our expert panel of judges, and congrats to FCB for taking out the win amongst a pool of fantastic entries that were of an extremely high standard,” says Hawker.
