Background

For over a decade, Pet Valu’s Casting Call contest has invited Canadian pet lovers to submit their most heartwarming pet photos for a chance to be featured in the brand’s annual fundraising calendar.  

Every dollar raised from calendar sales goes directly to Companions for Change, Pet Valu’s national charitable program that has generated millions for more than 500 animal rescue organizations.

The Challenge

After twelve years, the engagement was slipping. Donations were down. Pet Valu needed to breathe new life into a beloved tradition — and set bold goals for participation and fundraising. The mission: give the contest a true glow-up, without losing the emotional heart that made it matter.

The Insight

Pet parents aren’t in it for prizes. They’re in it for love. For joy. For pride. And they want their story — and their pet — to be seen. We realized the contest didn’t need more bells and whistles. It needed to become a deeper, more emotionally resonant experience.

The Opportunity

Reimagine the journey from the inside out. With AI and smart technology, we could deliver something unforgettable; an experience that felt as special as the pets themselves.

What We Did

We tapped into the AgenticCX opportunity.

Rebranding the contest “Memories Live Here,” we turned what was once a simple photo submission into a rich, story-driven interaction—using generative AI to create hyper-personalized messages in real time and give every pet parent a unique moment of connection.

We also introduced computer vision to intelligently tag images and streamline backend workflows. This not only boosted personalization but helped the contest scale effortlessly.

Finally, we built persistent contest and pet profiles, making it easy to return and re-enter, while giving Pet Valu valuable data to power smarter segmentation and personalization across future campaigns.

Results

The results were worth barking about.  

The campaign exceeded expectations across all key objectives, boosting fundraising, increasing contest participation, and maximizing engagement:

• Year over year fundraising totals rose by an impressive 24%.  

• Contest submissions skyrocketed, up 160%, signaling heightened community involvement.  

• And the cross-campaign clickthrough rate for newly subscribed entrants jumped by 87%, indicating meaningful engagement, not just reach.