Guide Dogs is launching a national TV campaign to promote its regular giving product Sponsor a Puppy.
Created by Rapp, the campaign comprises two TV ads which feature real-life stories of people who are blind and partially sighted. It shows how their lives have been changed by the charity and the dogs it trains.
The first spot tells the story of mother of two Emma, who is visually impaired, and Jazz, the guide dog she relies on to help her do the things other mums do.
The 60-second ad is narrated by Emma and her six-year-old son, Owen. It opens with footage of a young guide dog puppy running around doing all the things a puppy would normally do, However, as Owen explains, Jazz is not like other puppies – “she’s special”.
The film then cuts to Jazz as a grown-up, fully trained guide dog walking home from school with Emma, Owen and his brother Luke.
Owen explains that before Jazz came along, Emma could not do this. It also shows all the other day-to-day things Jazz has enabled Emma to do, such as going shopping and taking the boys to the park.
The second ad follows radio presenter Jill and her guide dog Lucas. The ad shows Jill at work and out with friends. She says that when she became blind at the age of 19, she felt trapped and her future plans disappeared over night.
She explains that having a guide dog “set her free” and that he has not “changed her life, he’s given her a life”.
The ad focuses on the message that even though Guide Dogs trains over 800 dogs a year, it still needs more people to sponsor a puppy to enable it to train even more. Both ads flag up the fact that every hour someone in the UK goes blind.
The call to action is to call a freephone number, send a text or visit the website, sponsorapuppy.org.uk
The first spot breaks on ITV1, ITV Digital, Channel 4 and Five during the daytime schedule on Monday March 31, with the second ad breaking on April 15.
The DRTV ads will be supported by social media activity and website banners and the ads will each be seeded by a blogger outreach programme to communities online.
Guide Dogs head of individual giving Maria Novell said: “Our latest campaign shows just how important it is to train up more puppies to change more lives like those of Emma and Jill. It needed to communicate the difference Guide Dogs make to people who are blind and partially sighted, as well as encourage people to support us.”
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RT @DM_editor: Guide Dogs plots new TV ad blitz through @RAPP_UK http://t.co/jgdxK8qXeZ #DirectMarketing #advertising #data