During National Dog Day Aug. 26, the luxury industry put canine companions on display to make a personal connection with consumers.

From calls for user-generated content featuring consumers? pooches to dedicated content and product selections, brands found ways to insert themselves in the social conversation surrounding the holiday. While not overtly branded, this type of social effort helps to show off a marketer?s personality beyond the product.

Dogs on film
Beginning Aug. 23, Selfridges told consumers to share their snaps of their dog along with the retailer?s bright yellow shopping bags, using the hashtag #SelfridgesDogs for a chance to be featured. Consumers obliged, sending in photos of their pets peeking out of bags, some of which were reposted on the retailer?s Instagram.

Fortnum & Mason spurred its followers to give back to their loyal pals by featuring its Man?s Best Friend picnic hamper, which includes treats for both owner and dog.

Others such as Ralph Lauren simply shared adorable imagery that incorporated their products, such as young pups sitting under a baby blanket. 

Mercedes ?[celebrated] all of those who are always down to ride out the dog days of summer? with a picture of a pooch sticking his head out the window of one of its cars.

Mr. Porter is featuring dogs in the Aug. 27 issue of its online magazine, The Journal.

New York-based department store Bergdorf Goodman shared an image from a recent online feature that combines ?puppies and purses.?

For #Barkdorfs, the retailer collaborated with PurseBlog to capture pooches modeling different styles from the likes of Fendi and Chloé. These photos stand out from other fashion content on social media, due to their sense of humor and adorable stars (see story).

Barneys also looked back on its April Fools' parody ?Licked in Barneys,? posting an image of a pooch enjoying a meal at its in-store restaurant Freds.

Millennials are well-known for their love of looking at pictures of cats on the Internet, but some luxury brands are beginning to take advantage of this and use the furry friends to market products.

The best example of this is Choupette, Karl Lagerfeld?s white Birman cat, who became an Internet sensation after the designer adopted her from a friend in 2011, and who is now a muse for the designer?s own line. Other brands including menswear retailer Mr Porter, linen brands Frette and Sferra and fashion brand Marchesa got on board recently, including animals in campaigns or posting pictures for National Puppy Day March 23 (see story).