• by Karl Greenberg , May 15, 2013

Do android pets dream of electric fleas? Frontline, a division of Sanofi's Merial unit, is using virtual pets to tout its Frontline Plus tick and flea control.

The campaign includes integration with King's Facebook game "Pet Rescue Saga." Starting May 16, the program has ads delivered via MediaBrix, an ad platform for social and mobile games.

Frontline Plus, the first brand to advertise within the game, gets a branded map screen and custom elements and will give out three daily Block Buster boosters per user to help them protect their "pet" during difficult game levels. Those elements are designed to mirror how Frontline Plus products protect users’ pets.

Nikkia Starks, director of consumer marketing Frontline Plus, tells Marketing Daily that advertising spans digital and offline channels, and includes print, digital display and search. "The Pet Rescue Saga program was the perfect opportunity for the brand to become fully integrated within the mobile and social gaming experience, where Frontline Plus could encourage pet protection and drive purchase intent."

MediaBrix CEO and Co-Founder Ari Brandt says Frontline is running across the network with MediaBrix as part of "a huge digital strategy." He says no other brand will be advertising on the game during the integration. Brandt adds that King's Pet Rescue Saga is a top-ten game on Facebook, and gets more than 5 million daily active users on the social platform, and that nearly 80% of King's gamers are pet owners.

Frontline did a program with MediaBrix across several other games last year, per Brandt. He says the KPIs for this campaign will be coupon downloads and engagement rate. "Ultimately. ad likeability and purchase intent are the key drivers and are directly correlated. We see a 10-fold lift in purchase intent compared to market norms, based on multiple third-party brand studies."

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