In April Petbarn and Edge released two films to raise funds for Seeing Eye Dogs Australia, a charity supported by the retailer’s Pet Foundation. Seeing Eye Dogs Australia breeds, trains, and matches dogs to a blind or low vision owner throughout the country, a two-year process which costs approximately $50k.

To effectively target the rational and emotional messages to the relevant audiences, and achieve Petbarn’s target of raising $500k for Seeing Eye Dogs Australia by mid-May, the films were released three weeks apart. Just four weeks into the campaign Petbarn announced that it reached $486k in donations.

Petbarn CMO, David Hutchison, said he is thrilled with the noise and buzz generated, “Edge has created short, engaging films that have really mobilised our audience to donate. The videos, along with our in-store activation, have got our followers opening their hearts and their wallets, to contribute critical funds for Seeing Eye Dogs Australia. I could not be happier.”

The two films address both the rational and emotional aspects of the work done by Seeing Eye Dogs Australia. The first film outlines the training costs, time and labour associated with educating a dog to provide support for people who are blind or have low vision. The second film focuses on how Seeing Eye dogs revolutionise the lives of their owners.

It revisits Marlene, who took ownership of her Seeing Eye dog Faith last year, highlighting the bond of love and trust that has grown between them and how this has given Marlene greater independence, mobility and a new lease of life.

The content has been released on Petbarn social channels including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram: 

This campaign is part of an ongoing focus on content for Petbarn. Fergus Stoddart, managing partner at Edge, said, “Petbarn is passionate about pets, and our content strategy is a key driver in demonstrating this. We know that pet content is one of the most popular categories on social.

“People are passionate about their pets, and this work shows how the world is a happier place with pets. That’s the story we want to tell.”

Anyone looking to support the cause can donate at https://www.petbarn.com.au/seda.