ICONIC BRAND ALPO DOG FOOD

Below is the re-branding Razorfish did for Purina’s classic Alpo brand. They came up with the concept of  ‘AL: The Voice of Every Dog’ then turned it over to me to put words in his snout. Our team took that concept, built on it, redesigned their corporate site, and developed an engaging social experience on Facebook.

All the copy is mine.

Welcome to the Pack! This is where the paw hits the pavement. We decided a multi-tabbed FB experience would work best. We used our wall to connect with consumers, like asking people to submit photos of their dogs. Boy, do people like to submit photos of their dogs. We also seeded our Facebook feed with messages from ‘AL.’

 

 

The corporate site was very dull, very corporate. We decided to keep it interesting for users by sprinkling in the voice of ‘AL’ wherever we could get away with it.

This was our callout to get involved with our Facebook experience. It was far more engaging and fun.

I once posted a photo of a really cute puppy and in the voice of ‘AL’ asked people to give me a caption.

We received 400 captions in two hours.

Get a coupon, watch a video or join the Real Dogs of America. What more could a dog want?

We created an online store, then came up with all the fun, canine inspired items offered for sale.

For a quarterly refresh, we created several profile pics to put on the page as a way of bolstering the concept of ‘AL’ as the voice of all dogs. It made sense that he had more than one profile pic.

Fun rich media execution. The user’s cursor controlled the can, and the closer it was dragged to the dog’s mouth, the more drool would drip from his lips.

Below is Al’s Canine Communicator, a mobile app we pitched to complement the campaign.

It was simple. Your dog starts barking, hit the button, capture it in your smartphone.

Through the magic of advanced algorithms, it translates canine barks into human text.

It allowed you know exactly what your pup was saying! Practical application of digital innovation at its finest.

We had created a compelling online branding campaign and social experience. It led to more opportunities within Purina. In the end, we walked away from the business. There just wasn’t enough meat on the bone.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

UPDATE: Just when I thought I was out, they drag me back by the leash. After rebranding Alpo at Razorfish, McGarryBowen hired me in March of 2013 to help with their rebranding of Alpo’s site.