| Winner | Greyhounds as Pets |
| Marketing initiative | Greathounds |
| Marketing partners | Special, Special PR, MBM, Go Media, JCDecaux, Lumo Digital, MetService, NZME, oOh!, Phantom, ShopTalk, Shout Media |
| Finalist | Greyhounds as Pets (separate initiative) |
| Judges’ comments | “A smart, insight-led campaign that reframes greyhound adoption in a fun, innovative and culturally fluent way. Greathounds taps the cultural landscape brilliantly, using fashion and popular culture to create cut-through and make adoption feel desirable and contemporary.” |
Best Not-for-Profit Marketing Campaign
| Finalists | Greyhounds as Pets (separate initiative), Live Ocean Foundation, NZ Mountain Safety Council, Ronald McDonald House Charities New Zealand |
| Judges’ comments | “A strong insight based on a human truth, with clear link between challenge, insight and solution – and great numbers to back it up! The creative was also nicely executed and the campaign delivered a phenomenal reach for budget (ie zero media spend) – incredible.” |
Best Social Purpose-Driven Marketing Campaign
| Finalists | Auckland Transport, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Samsung New Zealand |
| Judges’ comments | “Greathounds stood out as a bold, culturally fluent campaign that solved a real-world adoption challenge in a fresh and highly effective way. Rather than leaning on sympathy, it reframed greyhounds from racing dogs to aspirational companions, using fashion, culture and lifestyle storytelling to shift perceptions. “The judges were impressed by the clarity of the strategic thinking, the originality of the creative idea and the strength of the execution. Most importantly, the campaign delivered meaningful impact – expanding the pool of potential adopters, driving significant awareness and engagement and helping more greyhounds find the right homes. A smart, distinctive and highly effective social purpose campaign.” |
This category is sponsored by SCG.
Greyhounds on the catwalk
Faced with rehoming 2,000 dogs at once, Greyhounds as Pets decided to make a statement. A fashion statement.
In late 2024, the government announced it would ban greyhound racing in Aotearoa by August 2026.
For Greyhounds as Pets (GAP), a charity with the mission of finding loving homes for greyhounds leaving the racing industry, this posed a huge challenge. Two thousand dogs would need to be rehomed after the ban – seven times the number normally adopted in a year.
The pressure was on. The charity knew it had to increase the appeal of greyhounds to a wider audience, and fast.
Between 15,000 and 17,000 dogs are registered in Aotearoa each year, so there was capacity to rehome these dogs. But greyhounds didn’t even rank in the top 10 most common breeds adopted here. How to generate demand?
Three insights
GAP started building a campaign based on three key insights. First, greyhounds have a branding problem. Known for racing, they were seen as being high-energy dogs and therefore unsuitable pets, especially in urban areas.
Popular media also has a hand in driving pet adoption. A study of films starring dogs showed Lassie Come Home, The Shaggy Dog and 101 Dalmatians all triggered spikes in registrations of collies, old English sheepdogs and dalmatians respectively.
Thirdly, dogs have become a kind of fashion accessory. People often choose their new companion based on looks, as well as the status and social signalling associated with the breed.
So GAP took this opportunity to show Aotearoa that greyhounds make phenomenal pets – and turn 2,000 retiring dogs into the most coveted drop of the season.
This led to the Greathounds show at NZ Fashion Week 2025. Ex-racers took to the catwalk and showed why they should be Aotearoa’s breed of choice.
“We relaunched them as Greathounds: old dogs with new attitude,” says the charity. The aim was to increase both the visibility and cultural relevance of the dogs, especially for people who hadn’t considered the breed before.
Greathounds was curated by creative director and stylist Dan Ahwa and the bespoke looks were created by 12 Kiwi designers who worked on the project pro bono.
They were Karen Walker, Bendon, Sylvester, Stolen Girlfriends Club, Twenty Seven Names, Penny Sage, Caitlin Snell, Swanndri, Nom*D, Sonnie, Kowtow and Trelise Cooper.
Each look matched a proof point about greyhounds. Bendon created bedtime lingerie because greyhounds are great at long sleeps, for example.
Media budget = $0
With no paid media budget, the team seeded intrigue before the fashion show with a teaser video.
Content from the show created out of home and social assets, allowing Greathounds to become a fully integrated campaign.
The campaign was covered across broadcast, radio, print and online media. It featured on TVNZ’s Breakfast and 1News, as well as in publications including Remix and Fashion Quarterly.
Across the country, 57 out of home placements reinforced the message at scale while social and influencer activity amplified it.
For the fashion show alone, Greathounds secured $150,000+ in donated value. Supporting activity generated $11.4m in earned reach, $8.6m in earned PR value and $4.3m in donated media.
The Fashion Week show was on August 29, 2025. In September, traffic to the GAP website hit 20,789, with almost the same again in October – a massive increase from the monthly average of 1,660.
Visitors were actively interested – 87% explored available dogs or viewed the application form. That’s almost three times the usual 31%.
A main goal was to grow the pool of adopters. In the three months after the Greathounds show, GAP received 159 applications – double the same period the year before.
“Adoption interest is seasonal. Sep-Nov is quieter,” says GAP.
“Greathounds turned that quiet quarter into an unprecedented volume of interest.”
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 88, Sept-Nov 2026. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
Essential marketing intelligence. Don’t miss it.
