PEDIGREE® Uses AI To Put Adoptable Shelter Dogs At Centre Of Global Advertising

Worldwide, 12 million dogs* are in shelters waiting for their forever home, yet many do not get that chance, and the problem is reaching critical levels.

Research suggests that the quality and characteristics of shelter dog photos, such as floppy ears and closed mouths can drastically reduce adoption time*.

That’s why leading global pet food brand, PEDIGREE®, which has been supporting adoption for more than a decade, has turned to revolutionary technology to help give every shelter dog its time in the spotlight - and get seen by potential pet parents.

Launching today, Adoptable is the PEDIGREE brand’s first-of-its-kind initiative that combines proprietary AI technology with PEDIGREE’s substantial global ad reach to create picture perfect ads of shelter dogs in need of a home.

By using amateur dog photos captured by shelter workers, Adoptable technology gives every pup the professional-grade photography “glow up” they deserve.

“Adoptable is a transformational step for us at PEDIGREE. We’re committed to helping end dog homelessness around the world. Now that commitment can be at the heart of everything we do – in every ad,” Global Brand VP Fabio Alings says.

With Adoptable, a digital dog double provides information about the pose and general characteristics of the dog. Then, a machine learning model refines all the features to make the final image look just like the specific dog that is available for adoption.

With just a few pictures, Adoptable can reposition the dogs into different poses and create assets that are used in any PEDIGREE advertisement, while keeping the authentic characteristics and look of the shelter dog.

The technology allows shelter dogs in advertising to change based on the viewer's location and switch out in real-time when a dog is adopted.

Pedigree New Zealand spokesperson, Bianca Malcolm says what’s different about Adoptable is that it allows any ad that PEDIGREE makes to live its purpose – not just a few adoption ads.

“If we help shelter dogs be seen, we can help them be adopted. Now every dollar we spend on media doesn’t just take our products to the world; it takes adoptable shelter dogs too.”

Nexus Studios Technical Director, Vegard Myklebust says of the project, “This is an amazing opportunity to use bleeding edge technology for good. There's simply no other way that this could have been done at the global scale with such important hyperlocal impact, than by harnessing the latest machine learning technology and our digital image making expertise.”

Adoptable also matches breeds to the location and traits that best suit the dog through geo-targeting and First-Party Data – making sure the right dog is being shown to the right person.

Launched first in the PEDIGREE brand’s global test market, New Zealand, the Adoptable technology will be rolled out in other markets in 2024.

© Scoop Media