The purr-fect campaign

Since 1978, The Animal Foundation has found families for lovable dogs, cats and other pets without homes.

When they reached out to us, the organization was looking for a compelling message to help its incredible cause. And it’s a cause in desperate – and continuous – need of support. The number of homeless pets is overwhelming. With more than 45,000 unwanted, lost, neglected and abandoned animals every year, the challenge to find permanent homes for them and reduce the perpetual birthrate of unwanted animals through spaying and neutering is the ultimate goal of the foundation.

At the outset, R&R knew we wanted something different from the all-too-common, heart-tugging campaigns depicting our furry friends wandering the streets or locked behind bars in depressing animal shelters. R&R’s strategy instead was to build around messaging that identifies the benefits of pet ownership. Our job was to create a campaign that’s unexpected – one that breaks through with a lighthearted approach as it creates demand and identifies the organization’s mission to increase adoptions through the shelter.

After an agencywide brainstorm, inspired by all the ways that pets enrich our lives, we created a series of tongue-in-cheek “in-fur-mercials” outlining the benefits of pet ownership in inventive, humorous ways. Whether it’s your “personal-trainer dog” that demands you take him on walks or your early morning “cat alarm clock,” pets make our lives much more rewarding.

The results were exceptional. We received some earned media coverage from AdWeek, Agency Spy, Good.com, Shoot Online and TheDailyDoGooder.com.

On The Animal Foundation’s YouTube page, the two long-form videos we produced have garnered more than 150,000 views. But the biggest success came in social media through sponsored Facebook videos. Our “Pet Dog” video has been seen more than 6.1 million times.

We’re proud to have supported a cause that is near and dear to our hearts, garnering more than a few laughs along the way.

The purr-fect campaign was last modified: June 18th, 2015 by R&R Partners

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