• by Tanya Gazdik , March 8, 2017

Cesar brand dog food is launching a digital campaign showing that dogs aren’t just a man’s best friend.

Breaking on International Women’s Day, the program highlights the special bond between women and their dogs. Created by BBDO San Francisco, the integrated campaign features a video that reveals at the end that the people seen throughout the video, who are in traditionally masculine roles (cop, farmer, mechanic, biker) are women with dogs who will go anywhere with them.

The campaign also features 14 stories from real women with photos shot by Elias Weiss Friedman of The Dogist, as well as stories from actress Lucy Hale and several social influencers. Images and stories from Hale, the women featured in the video and the real women photographed as part of this series can be found online at Facebook.com/Cesar  and Instagram.com/CesarCuisine. Hale and female influencers are also supporting the campaign by sharing their real-life stories about their furry best friends using #WomansBestFriendToo.

The brand also partnered with the Huffington Post on two articles -- the first is about making 5 common phrases more inclusive, while the second will feature some “exceptional women and their canine companions” and will launch in the coming week, said Jeremiah Palmer, senior brand manager, Cesar brand.

“We believe that the best way to reach consumers with this message is by being a part of the conversation,” Palmer tells Marketing Daily. “Digital media is the best outlet to support that belief.”

The Cesar brand has never exclusively focused on men or women in this way but instead has focused on its core brand message of “Love Them Back” and making sure all of its campaigns speak to that message by highlighting shared experiences between dogs and their owners.

“While the phrase 'man’s best friend’ has been a part of history for over a century, we know that’s only half the story,” Palmer says. “Launching our ‘Women’s Best Friend,Too’ campaign on International Woman’s Day created the perfect opportunity for Cesar to insert the brand into a powerful and timely societal conversation. With this campaign, we’re turning that old saying on its head by celebrating women everywhere and spotlighting real women who perfectly demonstrate the meaningful relationships between strong women and their furry best friends.”

The campaign “truly celebrates strong women and the love between them and their dogs,” he adds.