Barketing

Show Your Soft Side

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:45:00 -0400

Baltimore athletes show their “soft side” in a campaign to end animal abuse. This is one really great example of how to use celebrities properly. While it may not always work to use a famous face in your campaign, it’s done really well here. Well-known, manly figures in the sports world are used to spread this message in a silly, yet adorable way. The coolest part is that they’re taking the stereotype of a tough, masculine sports player and poking fun at it.
The best thing to take away from this is that you can use celebrities in a similar way for your nonprofit marketing campaigns. By asking a celebrity who is either working to support your cause or someone completely unexpected, you can grab some serious attention. The men in this campaign wouldn’t normally be pegged as particularly sensitive, but that’s why it works. It’s completely unexpected, but also gets the point across.

If you’d like to learn more about the Show Your Soft Side campaign, visit their Facebook Page.

"Selling" Nonprofit

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:23:00 -0400

I have been posting a lot of effective and sometimes weird marketing and advertising advice for nonprofit animal rights organizations, but you might be wondering why it matters to me. Some people think that marketing involves taking advantage of people and tricking them into buying something, but when it comes to nonprofit groups, the goal is to increase awareness of the cause and convince people to care.

So instead of using my mad marketing skills for evil, I have decided to use them for good. I’m taking what I know about social media, advertising, and promotion and showing you how to develop a strong marketing campaign for your organization. While you may not be 100% focused on making money, you do want to show people that they can make a difference by working with your organization. And you can do this by getting in people’s faces and guilting them into donating (like those horribly depressing Sarah McLachlan commercials) or you could be completely honest and real with them. Yes, it’s hard to convince someone to change their behavior, so that’s where someone like me comes in. I’m here to help you develop a strategy that works to fulfill your mission. So my advice is to hire someone with skills in marketing and advertising to help spread your message because you can’t do it alone. And while it may cost you money in the beginning, it’ll be worth it in the long run because a good marketing campaign could really make a difference.

Twisted, Cute, and Funny

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 15:33:00 -0500

While I was looking through some ads against animal abuse, I found a really interesting campaign that Deutscher Tierschutz created pairing cute animals with disturbing animal rights issues. This one, which advocates for animal protection laws focused in animal testing, is a great example of how to use humor when addressing a very real problem. The cute characters catch your attention and the tagline is clever. While it might seem inappropriate to combine animal abuse with cuddly, cute cartoons, I think it actually works really well here.

Tierschutz has created a whole campaign around the idea of animal rights protection. Some other issues he brings up are horse branding, animal skinning, and anesthetic-free castration. All of these ads include very real messages with a silly image associated with them; do you think Tierschutz makes it work?

Nostalgic Marketing

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:51:00 -0500

When you’re working for a nonprofit organization, you have to focus on keeping your marketing costs (and all costs) down to a minimum. So rather than hiring a big marketing agency to develop an advertising plan for your organization, focus more on using a simple, recognizable message. Utilize existing themes and characters that people can relate to for inspiration. This quote from The Lorax is a great example of a message you can use to get your point across. The nostalgia of any Dr. Seuss book can hit home for a lot of people and make your message stick in the minds of your audience. So the next time you need to develop a new advertising campaign, try to play upon your target market’s past experiences and memories; it could help them to better remember or relate to your mission.

Westminster Dog Show Cuts Pedigree

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:24:52 -0500

This year the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show decided to drop Pedigree as a sponsor because Pedigree’s advertisements are apparently “too sad.” The dog show, which occurred this Monday and Tuesday, was instead sponsored by Purina due to their fun, happy ads. David Frei, Director of Communications, said “We want people to think of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show as a celebration of the dogs in our lives.” It seems as though they don’t want to face the reality of animal abuse or pet homelessness and would rather pretend that all dogs are happy and treated well. Is this the right way to approach the subject?

While they may have made this decision to improve their image, they seem to be hurting it instead. Do you think they made the right choice?

To learn more, read the full article.

World Spay Day 2012

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:15:00 -0500

The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International are currently hosting the 2012 World Spay Day, a photo contest for pet owners to raise funds for spaying and neutering. The two organizations are asking people to submit a photo of their pets along with a short description. The one with the most votes in a specific category wins a prize. Some of the photos show real talent and others are just plain funny. Along with the entertainment value, it also raises money for a good purpose and gets pet owners involved with the cause.

To learn more about the contest or to submit your own photo, visit the 2012 World Spay Day website.

If Ryan Gosling supports pet adoption, why shouldn’t you?

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:00:00 -0500

If Ryan Gosling supports pet adoption, why shouldn’t you?

Pet Finder

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:51:00 -0500

As an animal lover, I spend a lot of my time wishing I had the time and space to adopt a dog. In my free time I click through Pet Finder and imagine how wonderful it would be to rescue one of the many adorable dogs on the site.

But Pet Finder isn’t just a great way to pass the time, they do a really good job with the organization of their site. It’s extremely user-friendly and fun to use. You can narrow down what type of pet, breed, and your location which makes it super easy to find an animal that works for you.

While the design of the site might be a little busy and could use a bit of a clean-up, it works really well for the target market and ultimately accomplishes its goal: GET PETS ADOPTED. Its reputation along with its user-friendly features make Pet Finder a great source for pet adoption.

If you’re thinking of adopting a pet, check out Pet Finder’s Before You Adopt page.

Pit Bulls Against McDonald's

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:18:04 -0500

Recently McDonald’s released a series of radio ads promoting their new Chicken McBites as “less risky than petting a Pit Bull.” Really? That’s the best you could come up with? As a dog-lover, I know that not all dogs have the opportunity to grow up in a safe, loving environment and Pit Bulls seem to get a bad rap because of their bad luck. Yes, they are tough, strong dogs, but not all of them are forced into an environment which makes them aggressive. I can’t believe McDonald’s would promote such a cruel image.

Luckily, a lot of groups are speaking out against McDonald’s. One group in particular, Pit Bulls against McDonald’s, has gotten a lot of support in a short amount of time. And hundreds of people have already signed Change.org’s petition. Goes to show how many people are ready to defend Pitties when a big company starts bashing them.

In the end, McDonald’s did apologize and pulled the ad. But really McDonald’s, you thought picking on Pit Bulls was the right route for your advertisements?

I Hate Balls - a hilarious campaign about neutering and spaying...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:02:05 -0500

I Hate Balls - a hilarious campaign about neutering and spaying your pets started by the Jason Debus Heigl foundation.

This shows how you can use humor to inspire a following and increase awareness of a cause. And it will make you laugh.

Learn more about this cause on the I Hate Balls website.

The Shelter Pet Project - inspiring and hilarious videos...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:20:00 -0500

The Shelter Pet Project - inspiring and hilarious videos advocating pet adoption.

This is a great example of how to motivate people to adopt without actually telling them to. Remember that you need to relate to your audience, rather than trying to sell them.

To see more of these videos, visit the Shelter Pet Project channel.

It Begins

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:06:57 -0500

I’ll admit it, I’m dog-obsessed. I work at a doggie daycare which might be the best job ever. When I’m not working with dogs, I spend my time in class learning marketing/social media/business principles from some truly talented professors at Champlain College.

My goal in writing this blog is to provide you with some insights into the marketing and animal rights worlds.

Happy reading!

Woof.