Hill's
Hill’s: Turning pet-food purchases into a WhatsApp competition
Buying food for a much-loved pet is a regular part of the household shop. For Hill’s, that familiar purchase became the starting point for a promotion that rewarded pet parents and helped the brand build a closer relationship with its customers.
Smartslip.ai powered a till-slip competition that connected qualifying purchases with prize-draw entries, store-level tracking and an opt-in customer database. Customers could take part through WhatsApp, with purchase checks handled behind the scenes.
The brief
Hill’s wanted to encourage product purchases, grow its first-party customer database and support its relationship with pet-speciality stores. The campaign also provided an opportunity to test a competition-led incentive alongside the brand’s more familiar coupon and gift-with-purchase approaches.
The experience needed to be welcoming for customers while giving the campaign team reliable information about purchases, participating outlets and entries.
How the campaign worked
From 15 January to 31 March 2026, customers could buy any Hill’s product and send a photograph of their till slip through WhatsApp. Every valid receipt earned one entry into a draw featuring 10 grand prizes and 250 VIP store prizes.
We checked each submission for a qualifying Hill’s purchase, a date within the promotional period and invoice uniqueness. Where store details were available, entries were associated with the relevant outlet to support store-level reporting and prize tracking.
Customers received confirmation when their entry was accepted. If a receipt image could not be read, the conversation guided them through submitting a clearer photograph. Keeping that route open meant a poor image did not have to become a dead end for a genuine shopper.
Keeping the relationship going
The entry journey collected customer information and marketing opt-ins, structured for Hill’s Snowflake CRM environment. Reminders were built into the campaign, including a message four weeks after an initial entry and a final opportunity to participate before closing.
For pet parents, the main task stayed simple: make a purchase and send the receipt. For Hill’s, that interaction brought together verified entries, outlet information and permission to continue the conversation.
The delivered platform combined receipt validation, fraud checks, automated draw entry and CRM-ready data capture within one WhatsApp experience.
Want to build a purchase-based campaign for your brand? Contact Smartslip.ai at andrew@brazenlabs.co.za.