Toronto-based Spider Marketing has launched a campaign for Nestle’s Beneful and Purina brands aimed at engaging Canadians with this idea: show us the bond you have with your pet. It’s called Canada’s Search for Beneful Best Friends.

The campaign, which runs until August 15, kicked off with the launch of www.benefulbestfriends.ca, in which consumers are invited to upload pics of themselves with their dogs to win cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500. Weekly draws for digital cameras are woven into the initiative, and users are encouraged to vote for their favourite entries.

Celebrity hosts from CMT and the W network communities will help judge the top 10 weekly winners. The contest is supported in-store via packaging, displays, banners and coupons for Beneful Dry products.

Online presence includes banners on Sympatico/MSN in June and July, driving users to www.purina.ca and www.walmart.ca. TV spots will air on CMT and the W network in June. The brand will also participate in the upcoming Woofstock event in Toronto on June 7 and 8.

Nestle Purina PetCare’s senior strategist for Beneful and Purina One Sharen Hills says the campaign is intended to ‘creatively introduce the Beneful brand to dog owners… The program is the first of its kind on the brand and involves user-generated content, which is exploding right now.’

Spider Marketing partner Christine Ross says celebrating the long-standing relationship between dog and owner will ‘ultimately drive brand awareness. Our creative approach tries to engage the consumer at every level and is designed to communicate the brand’s credentials while adding to Purina’s pet owner database nationally.’