• by Karl Greenberg , May 6, 2008

Purina brand is beefing up on videos, as it extends a program begun last year to get consumers to upload home movies of their dogs. The effort, centered at social-media site LongLiveYourDog.com, is the latest in a series of web-based efforts that began last year.

The videos, on the site's "Dog Park" area, will also be featured in a web banner campaign. Those who register with Long Live Your Dog can create a home page for their dogs.

The new videos come on the heels of a March promotion dangling a trip to New York City for a dog owner whose photos get tapped to run on the Reuters/NASDAQ digital town billboards in Times Square.

Kara Peterson, group account director at Fallon, Minneapolis, says the Long Live campaign began in 2005. Fallon handles creative, but Peterson points out that the Web site was developed by McCann Worldgroup's MRM Worldwide.

"The videos started last year; they have had great reception, so we wanted to add to it this year," she says, explaining that the films, culled by Burbank, Calif.-based Brad Lachman Productions, are bona fide home movies but framed with a Purina brand message, and the theme, "Millions of dogs. None quite like yours." The company will add nine videos this year.

Peterson says the site will be augmented with a traditional banner ad push this year. She says that over 200 consumer pet movies have been uploaded.