Purina Dog Chow is celebrating 100 years as a brand with a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is also in its 100th year.

“We want to honor that milestone and celebrate dogs who make a life-changing impact,” said Brent Gleckler, Chief Marketing Officer at Nestlé Purina North America.

This year’s float, the first of its three-year commitment, will feature Navy veteran Andy Canning, his new service dog and his family. Purina has helped fund the training of service dogs for veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder through an initiative it created called Service Dog Salute. Since its founding in 2018, the program has donated more than $2 million to six service dog organizations to train dogs for veterans.

The goal for the parade floats will be to build awareness for Dog Chow and Service Dog Salute and to drive brand affinity. This is Dog Chow’s second stint with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The brand commissioned the “Great American Dog” float for three years, from 1983 to 1985, before Gleckler joined the company.

Thanksgiving Day Parade, Dog Show Deliver Captive Audiences

From now through the parade on Nov. 26, the brand will encourage consumers to post on social media about the important role dogs play in their families’ lives, tag the brand and use #DogChowThanksgiving. Purina will donate $1 per post to Service Dog Salute, up to $30,000, which is roughly the cost to train a dog.

Overall, Purina aims to make a strong marketing impact on Thanksgiving Day across its portfolio: In addition to the float and the social media activation, Purina sponsors the National Dog Show, which airs after the parade. According to Macy’s, the parade draws 3.5 million spectators in New York City and 35 million TV viewers.

Like Super Bowl and other live sports audiences, Thanksgiving Day Parade viewers expect marketing from brands, Gleckler said. This makes marketing during and with the parade attractive because getting consumer attention is increasingly difficult, he said.

“It’s an event that captures a lot of eyeballs,” Gleckler said. “It’s a moment in time where consumers are going to be engaged and open to the messaging, which in this skippable, programmed world is becoming more and more valuable.”

Dog Chow Thinks Beyond 100 Years

Dog Chow has long planned for this 100-year celebration, and the retailers that carry its products “applaud” the brand for using the parade to highlight its work with service dogs, Gleckler said. Brands often share major marketing investments with retailers, which in turn can give better merchandising slots to brands they expect to be top of mind for consumers and have high sell-through. This is a “longer-term play” for the Thanksgiving parade initiative beyond driving brand awareness and affinity, Gleckler said.

“Our retail partners are always interested in making sure that we’re investing to keep our brands relevant and showing up in culture and in the right ways,” Gleckler said. “(Retailers have given us) a lot of support in merchandising in service of our 100-year celebration.”

Gleckler has one year under his belt as CMO after 21 years with Nestlé Purina. Recent marketing changes Gleckler is grappling with include the impact of AI and the more prominent role content creators have.

“Opening up our brands for consumers to engage with (content creators) and also handing over the pen of authorship is something that we’re getting increasingly comfortable with and finding the right ways to lean into,” he said.