Case Study
Wunderman Thompson and Mars Petcare UK expand Whiskas brand awareness, lifting cat food sales by 303%
Goals
- Amplify brand discoverability for audiences aged late teens to late 50s
- Orient brand story around improved taste of new Whiskas recipe
- Reengage shoppers who previously purchased Whiskas or showed interest in their products
Approach
- Ran Amazon DSP video ads on Fire TV with a QR code linked to the Product Selector page
- Advertised on Amazon home page, directing customers to interactive Whiskas brand landing page
- Used Sponsored Display and Sponsored Product ads to engage consumers and encourage conversions
Results
- 303% increase in Whiskas sales compared to the same period in 2022
- Over 80 million ad impressions generated in just four months
The Amazon Ads Partner Awards recognize innovation, creativity, and effectiveness in digital advertising. We’re proud to spotlight Wunderman Thompson Commerce, a 2023 finalist for the Creative Brand Building Award for endemic advertising. The award recognizes partners who used the brand-building capabilities of Amazon Ads to deliver an effective and cohesive advertising strategy that tells a brand’s unique story to drive sustained engagement and awareness.
Mars Petcare UK (Mars) was on the prowl for more customers for its Whiskas brand cat food. Nearly 18 million Amazon shoppers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom looked for cat supplies on Amazon daily in 2022,1 but the Whiskas brand had engaged just 5% of the total available market.2
When Whiskas unleashed a new recipe—one that even fussy cats agreed was the “tastiest ever”—Mars looked to implement a full-funnel strategy that would grow the brand and engage with relevant audiences. They turned to Wunderman Thompson Commerce (Wunderman), an Amazon Ads partner that specializes in driving results on Amazon.
Telling the brand story to connect with specific audiences
Wunderman set three goals for the Whiskas campaign, which was scheduled for the first four months of 2023. They first intended to amplify brand discoverability for relatively young audiences—those ranging in age from their late teens to their late 50s—with a strategy that incorporated the use of gaming and other interactive content.
Wunderman also sought to orient the brand’s story around the improved taste of the new Whiskas recipe, including the suggestion that even fussy cats enjoyed eating it. The third part of the plan involved reengaging shoppers who had previously purchased Whiskas or otherwise indicated interest in the brand.
Research showed that more than 54,000 consumers demonstrated interest in sustainability as they searched for cat products.3 Because this factor was particularly important to younger audiences, Wunderman’s multifaceted approach revamped the brand’s portfolio with upgraded, interactive content emphasizing sustainability.
Engaging customers at scale with a full-funnel approach
Wunderman designed a full-funnel approach to optimize the use of Amazon Ads products and solutions. To reach customers efficiently at scale, Wunderman ran Amazon DSP video ads on Fire TV with a QR code linked to a Product Selector page. They also advertised on the Amazon home page, directing customers to a dynamic landing page for the Whiskas brand that offered a playful quiz to match shoppers with products. Additionally, Wunderman designed Sponsored Display ads and branded banners to maximize conversion potential.
To reach more prospective customers, Wunderman ran Sponsored Display ads both on and off Amazon. While protecting Whiskas product detail pages, Wunderman engaged shoppers on competitor product detail pages as well.
They also used Sponsored Products to promote individual product listings for the new Whiskas offerings that Mars Petcare UK wished to emphasize. Wunderman was able to reach carefully selected groups from an audience matrix within their area of focus.
Improving sales by 303% over the previous year
The campaign resulted in a significant increase in sales and a high number of impressions and clicks on ads, indicating a positive impact on brand perception. Overall, Wunderman helped to showcase Whiskas as a more sustainable brand of cat food tasty enough to appeal even to fussy cats.
Compared with the same period in 2022, Whiskas sales increased by 303%.4 The campaign generated more than 80 million impressions in just four months,5 and consumers clicked on Whiskas products more than twice as often as they had in the previous year.6
Whiskas also gained large numbers of new subscribers to its product portfolio, indicating the long-term effectiveness of the campaign. Wunderman plans to apply the insights they gained from the Whiskas campaign to other Mars Petcare brands so that they, too, can enjoy a taste of a larger share of the available market.
1-3 Wunderman Thompson, UK, 2022
4-6 Wunderman Thompson, UK, 2023