In August 2022, The Farmer’s Dog team decided to try a new tactic: a full takeover of one neighborhood, to see how hyper-localized advertising could galvanize a prime market to make a large-scale switch from kibble to fresh food. Williamsburg, Brooklyn provided an optimal opportunity — not only was it the location of the first TFD office, but it has a population of high net worth, early-adopter consumers (and a massive dog presence!)
As the cornerstone to the takeover, we landed on the massive 12x90 foot mural billboard wall at Grand and Kent, right by the entrance of Domino Park. To speak directly to our Williamsburg audience while also encouraging community mirroring behavior, we created a cityscape of Williamsburg featuring illustrated versions of 50 real Williamsburg customer dogs — plus endless easter eggs that passers by could find, Where’s Waldo-style, over the course of many visits to the mural.
The network of placements and assets included additional painted walls, wheatpaste posters, direct mail to Williamsburg consumers, and a branded TFD dog food truck that traveled throughout the neighborhood, giving samples and incentives to residents.
The mural design was an iterative and collaborative progress — establishing the perspective and environment for both charm and clarity, and then carving space for the dogs, humans, and easter eggs to live in just the right level of chaotic harmony.
An additional large wall placement several blocks north provided opportunity to prioritize messaging while still integrating the campaign imagery.
We partnered with The Dogist to photograph one of our Williamsburg customers, Winnie, featured in the mural — amplifying reach to The Dogist’s 5.3 million followers.
Wheatpaste around the neighborhood showed another side of our product through real dogs eating.
The first-ever TFD Dog Food Truck traveled around the neighborhood, sampling food on each weekend in September. Email sign-up required for tasting generated leads, while additional incentives — bags of treats, swag clothing, and even live custom dog portraits — were offered for trial sign-up on the spot.
