Think of ARM& HAMMER and it's easy to envision that bright
yellow-and-red box of baking soda, in back of the refrigerator,
that absorbs and eliminates food odors.
Starting in 1997, however, ARM&HAMMER began selling a full
line of cat litter products, none of which were making much noise
with consumers. So in early 2002 Church & Dwight Co.,
ARM&HAMMER's parent company, turned to Coyne PR to create a
multi-faceted media campaign to put ARM&HAMMER's cat litter
products on consumer maps. Coyne PR offered a great deal of
experience in pet PR, having crafted PR campaigns for Petopia.com,
which was eventually acquired by PETCO, and animal grooming
products company Lambert Kay Pet Products.
"The good thing we had going for us was that [ARM&HAMMER]
was a trusted household name but people didn't associate it with
pets at all," says Lisa Farynyk, a senior account executive with
Coyne PR. "We needed to create some buzz and nothing creates buzz"
like using pets to push products.
Coyne PR came up with the idea of a cat-related contest
combining Americans' love of felines with a spirited competition:
the ARM&HAMMER Coolest Cat Trick National Championship. Before
rolling out the campaign, however, Coyne PR worked closely with
Hollywood animal trainer Joel Silverman, of "Animal Planet" fame,
who asured the agency that cats could do amazing things.
"He told us this was a great idea and we sold it into the
client, who gave us the green light," Farynyk says.
A call for entries was posted for three months, starting in June
'02, on an existing ARM&HAMMER Web site devoted to its pet
products. Coyne PR distributed a major media mailing to all of the
pet writers throughout the country, both newspapers and magazines,
and conducted a satellite media tour, as well. The media mailing
generated 200 print articles through the entry phase.
ARM&HAMMER, for its part, ran an FSI (Free Standing Inserts) in
many of the Sunday supplements, adding up to more than 40 million-
circulation.
All of the contest information, including entry forms, was
posted online. But the entries, videos of cats performing cool
tricks, had to be mailed to a contest administration agency that
Coyne specifically contracted with for the campaign.
At the end of the entry phase, a panel of judges, led by
Silverman and members of the contest administration agency,
selected the top 10 videos out of 100 entries. The top 10
semi-finalists were posted on ARM&HAMMER'S Web site, where
consumers voted for the top three finalists. How so? By clicking on
pictures of their favorite cats, consumers were then linked to the
videos featuring the cat tricks.
Once the top three finalists were selected, the cats and their
owners were flown to New York in November '02 to participate in the
crowning of America's coolest cat, at the Central Park Zoo. There
was lots of signage at the event and the set was built in such a
way that any photograph would have to include the ARM&HAMMER
logo. (The winner: Elvis the cat, from Rochester, NY, who wowed the
media by taking a drink from a water cooler, using his paw to
carefully turn on the spout. No splash. Elvis won $10,000 cash
prize and a year's supply of ARM&HAMMER cat litter). A media
scrum was there to cover the final judging, including Associated
Press, CNN, the New York Post and the local affiliates from ABC,
CBS, Fox and NBC. The b-roll was broadcast on more than 430
stations, such as "ESPN SportsCenter" and UPN 9 in New York.
Kim McGough, senior manager for creative services and promotions
for Church & Dwight, says the contest was a slam-dunk with
consumers. "We knew that the tricks would trigger an emotional
benefit with pet owners, who often treat their animals like members
of the family."
Two days after the event all of the three cat finalists appeared
on CBS' "Early Show" to talk more about the event. ARM&HAMMER's
main Web site had a tenfold increase. Meantime, McGough says the
campaign has generated a lot of exposure for the cat litter
products. "We felt very good that the campaign matched the ad
equivalency breakdown in the industry," she says.
Contacts: Lisa Farynyk, 973.316.1665, [email protected]. Kim
McGough, 609.279.7393, [email protected]
Animal Magnetism
"Beasts, beauties and babies" goes an old saw about three
definite ways to get the media to pay attention to your story.
Using animals (of any stripe) as a peg for a new PR campaign can
spark a lot of coverage, even if the connection between the
animal(s) and the message(s) may be tenuous at best. But the furry
ones can also make you furious (they don't know they're being used
for media fodder). Coyne PR, which specializes in pet PR shared a
few hints to ensure that any PR event featuring animals doesn't get
too hairy:
- Keep it short. Minimize the time you actually need the pets to
cooperate. Use b-roll or still photos as the event ramps up and
bring the pets out only for the "money shots." - If you're requiring the pets to perform, have backup video of
pets performing in their home environment just in case things don't
go as planned during the event. You'll still need to put on a show
regardless of whether or not your furry friend wants to
cooperate. - If out of town travel is required, travel pets several days in
advance of your event. They'll need time to recover from their
journey and adjust to their new surroundings. - Provide pet owners with a list of ways to help their pet adjust
to new environments. If pet owners are prepared in advance, their
pets will surely be more comfortable and relaxed in a new
area. - Know in advance what motivates the pet to perform. If you have
the necessary tools on-hand, i.e. treats, toys, the pets will be
more likely to cooperate. - Lastly, make the pet owners a part of the event. After all, the
pets will feel most comfortable with them and you'll make the
owners feel like they have a significant role, as well.
Source: Lisa Farynyk, Coyne PR