Mars – Giving pet-friendly policies a greater role in the recruitment conversation
Highlighting the growing appeal of pet-friendly workplaces among Belgian jobseekers
For 25 years, Mars has welcomed dogs into its Belgian offices, seeing first-hand the benefits for employee wellbeing, stress management and team relationships. For this year's Bring Your Dog to Work Day, Mars commissioned a nationwide study to explore how Belgian workers and jobseekers view pet-friendly workplace policies.The findings revealed a clear gap between expectations and workplace reality: while only 15% of Belgian workers are currently allowed to bring their dog to work, 49% would consider changing jobs for a pet-friendly employer. Our challenge was to bring pet-friendly policies into the wider conversation about what people expect from their workplace.
Our approach:
- Media outreach: We mapped and selected journalists likely to engage with the topic, combining specialised, lifestyle and general-interest media to balance relevance with broader reach.
- Talkable press release: We built the story around the study's most compelling and shareable figures, creating a strong hook for a wide range of media.
- Real employee voices: We organised interviews with Mars employees, who shared first-hand testimonials of working alongside dogs and the impact on everyday office life.
Our results:
- 9 features in Belgian media outlets
- A total reach of 1,640,877 across Belgian media
- A dedicated debate on Vivacité's "C'est vous qui le dites", sparked by the finding that 49% of Belgian workers would change jobs to bring their pet along
- Widespread organic sharing of the coverage on Facebook, extending the conversation beyond traditional media coverage
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