On International Guide Dog Day, we unveiled Guide Dogs’ new, heart-warming advert, celebrating and thanking more than 14,000 volunteers who provide 13 million hours of volunteer support every year.
The animated advert tells the story of Guide Dogs latest recruit Flash, a four-month-old, yellow Labrador named after one of the first ever guide dogs back in 1931, on her journey to becoming a guide dog. Alongside the new TV advert, we also announced Gavin & Stacey actress Joanna Page as the voice of a special audio version of the story, created specifically for people with sight loss.
Accompanied by pictures of the real life Flash and Joanna, media lapped up the news with paw-some results including the Daily Star, Daily Mirror (twice), Daily Express, The Scotsman and iPaper.
In addition, we secured hits with key marketing trade titles Campaign Live, The Drum and shots, as well as landing a show-biz led piece on Press Association, with the news being syndicated on Yahoo News and across countless regional titles.
The campaign was further amplified on social, working with parenting influencers to create content around the advert premier; with celebrity giants including Ant and Dec, Deborah Meaden, Nicki Chapman, and of course Joanna Page, also sharing their support on their social channels.
A cracking start to what will be a truly awesome year for the organisation. Watch this space for more cute puppies coming your way …