Leo Burnett: Dogs guide owners to the Azrieli Mall gift card

Monday August 26 is International Dog Day, a day that’s not on the highest tier for attention by brands – although the Golden Sheaf Hotel’s Dating with Dogs event in Sydney filled the hotel this weekend.

Tel Aviv Azrieli Mall also saw the days as an opportunity to boost business and Leo Burnett Israel came up with the doggy event to achieve its goals. Dogs are much loved throughout Israel and even more so in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is officially the most dog-friendly city in the world. There are 25,000 registered dogs in Tel Aviv, one for every 17 humans, which is effectively the highest per-capita ratio of dogs to people globally. The city offers dog owners and their pooches everything, even up to a designated digi-dog app for access to important information like vaccination reminders, a lists of vets, dog walkers and training courses, plus directions to the nearest dog park, info about dog movie screenings, doggy marathons and festivals.

So, to celebrate Tel Aviv’s love affair with its pooches and entice dog owners to visit Azrieli Malls, Leo Burnett spread dog bone toys all over Tel-Aviv and sprayed them with a scent that would attract canines. The agency then targeted dog owners on social media, providing them with clues as to the whereabouts of the bones. Once found, owners could scan the bone to receive a 200 nis (Israeli new Shekel, or AU$85) Sniff Card, redeemable at specialty shops within the Azrieli Mall.