Mars-owned cat food brand Sheba is tapping up Hollywood stars, celebrities and “everyday heroes” for a new relationship-building programme under the humbling truth that you can be one of the most loved, admired or celebrated people in the world, but your cat might still not give a toss.
Created by AMV BBDO, the programme aims to help cat owners – or “cat parents” as Mars insists on calling them – strengthen that connection and turn a little feline indifference into something closer to adoration.
The new Sheba “Ignored to Adored” programme promises to help cat parents win even their most aloof cats’ adoration with premium Sheba cat food in just days, backed by a money-back guarantee.
Naturally, the strategy is designed to encourage more regular feeding of Sheba brand products, helping turn occasional buyers into loyal ones, while giving cat owners a reason to keep the love going.
AMV BBDO developed the programme in partnership with the Waltham Petcare Science Institute – Mars Petcare’s science centre for pet health and nutrition – after research showed more than half of cat owners in the UK, France and the US have questioned their cat’s love for them.
The programme forms part of a broader strategic brand-building approach from Mars to ensure every global brand campaign drives cultural impact at a local level, using consumer insights to shape how and where brands like Sheba show up across creator communities, and enabling more opportunities for people to engage, contribute and share.
The social and earned first campaign, developed in partnership with Weber Shandwick, is built around the painful truth that even some of the most loved people in society, from paramedics, nurses and firefighters to world-famous entertainers and sports stars, still struggle to get their cats to love them back. That is, until they try the “Ignored to Adored” programme to at last be rewarded with the affection they deserve.
Rolling out across countries including the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, India, Thailand, Australia, the programme comes to life via “fun, relatable content”, inspired by the realities of life with a cat in social feeds, in-stores, and beyond.
The line-up includes Hollywood actress Haley Lu Richardson, known for The White Lotus, Ponies and films including Five Feet Apart, and her cat Darbin, to British singer-songwriter Cat Burns, star of BBC One’s The Celebrity Traitors who still is not convinced she has won over her cat, Ollie.
In India, Bollywood actress Sharvari joins the campaign too, adored by fans and celebrated on screen, but facing exactly the same challenge when it comes to impressing her cat.
Olympic gold medallist Ilia Malinin has the same problem. His viral backflip on ice skates captured attention around the world but earned him no extra affection at home. He even gifted his gold medal to his rescue cat, Mysti, and was still met with total indifference.
And it is not just celebrities. Runner Aaron Beggs went viral after sacrificing his own personal best to help an exhausted competitor at the Boston Marathon, an act of heroism that, as far as his cat is concerned, apparently counts for very little. He is joined by many more “everyday heroes” whose extraordinary achievements have impressed everyone except the one audience that matters most: their cats.
Mars global campaign lead for Sheba Anna Szpot said: “We know that cat parents will go to great lengths to feel more connected to their felines, even if that means speaking to them or mimicking their behaviour. ‘Ignored to Adored’ connects with what we know about both cat and human behaviour to celebrate this unique bond.”
AMV BBDO executive creative director Andre Sallowicz added: “We identified the real challenge as frequency. Cats love Sheba, but their owners don’t buy it often enough. So instead of telling cat owners how good the product is, we gave them a reason to buy it more often. Because when you give cats what they want every day, you don’t just change their food, you change how they feel about you.”
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