COMPANY: The American Kennel Club
PR AGENCY: In-house
CATEGORY: Community Relations
BUDGET: $46,000
TIMEFRAME: September 2003
Before Daisy Okas arrived as associate vice
president/communications at the American Kennel Club's (AKC)
New York City headquarters in 2002, the organization had regarded
the media with fear and trepidation.
"There had been a couple of investigations by programs like
'20/20' based on some disgruntled employees who blamed the AKC for
the problems of puppy mills and commercial dog breeders," Okas
says. "They show footage of dogs squished into crates like
chickens, which gets ratings and gets people excitable. It's
understandable, because if you see dogs treated that way, it's an
outrage. It's very sensational and the media, especially TV, love
it."
The 121-year-old AKC got blamed because of a lack of
understanding about the processes, with people thinking that if the
organization stopped registering purebred dogs with AKC papers,
then that would stop [the abuse]. But that couldn't be further from
the truth. "Even though we became much stricter in terms of our
rules and regulations for registering dogs to make sure they're
bred properly, copycat registries have popped up that try to fool
the consumer or sell to those who don't understand what a purebred
is, as opposed to a mixed breed," Okas adds. "It's an issue that's
inflammatory, complicated and difficult to understand. We had
gotten into some hot water when I came on board, and the attitude
was, 'the media can't do anything good for us. It's all bad.'"
The AKC's membership is made up of around 4,500 different clubs,
reflecting the fact that pet ownership is more widespread in the
United States than ever. Anyone who breeds purebred dogs can
register with it.
"A lot of people take issue because we register dogs, no matter
who breeds them," Okas says. "We were blamed in the late 1980s and
early 1990s for not taking enough of an active role in curtailing
abusive practices with abusive breeders."
When it comes to dogs, there are two types of breeders who are
very much at odds: hobby breeders who do it out of their homes and
out of love for the dogs, and those who do it for profit.
Okas was brought in to reinvigorate the department and to reach
the consumer with a new message about AKC. The result: "Responsible
Dog Ownership Day," consisting of a series of national and local
events that took place on or around Sept. 17, 2003 (the anniversary
of the AKC's founding in 1884).
"Yes, we're a registry for purebred dogs and we're made up of
people who show their dogs, but a lot of our programs are related
to responsible dog ownership -- whether it's training, fair dog
legislation, micro-chipping programs or animal rescue," Okas
says.
The aim was to provide an umbrella campaign to illustrate
exactly what the AKC does for the public and to inspire its member
clubs, which already were active with the public.
Okas began working on the program in March 2003, spending six
months recruiting clubs and organizations, and encouraging them to
hold their own events.
Every club received a resources kit containing a 'how to'
brochure along with press releases, pencils, stickers and samples
of PSAs. "We wanted to establish our local fanciers as resources
for the media so they'll contact those people. It's the same
message, and they are just an extension of us," Okas says.
The local events were in addition to a national story featuring
a satellite media tour and a photo opportunity in Central Park,
hosted by Olympic gold-medal diver and well- known dog lover Greg
Louganis. "The fact that we're reaching out to dog shelters and
organizations is not something that we're known for, so something
like 'Responsible Dog Ownership Day' helps us reach a broader
audience," Okas adds.
In the end, the AKC recruited 225 clubs and received ample
coverage in local papers, magazines, radio and local-access TV. It
was also in touch with the top 200 daily newspapers and national
magazines.
"The focal point in September gave us the opportunity to say
'Here's a special celebration,'" Okas says. "We're a non-profit.
With other organizations, you'll have exact goals to meet, but the
first year we had a budget of $46,000 and to get 15 million media
impressions was great."
Based on positive feedback from club members, the AKC in 2004
expanded the one-day event into an entire month, and this time, it
started the planning much earlier. It also decided not to have a
spokesman.
"While it was helpful, Louganis is not a huge name," Okas
explains. "It's not like having Oprah Winfrey at your event. The
meat of the program was getting the clubs to do something locally
and expand the range of events."
The second time around, the AKC managed to notch up 50 million
impressions, including calendar listings in the New York
Post, the Daily News and Newsday. National hits
included Family Circle, while such local TV stations as
NY1, Fox 5 and WB11 covered the event in New
York City.
Long term, the AKC's goal is to improve relations -- and its own
image -- with the media.
"We obviously track the numbers of people we reach, which
improved four fold from 2003 to 2004," Okas says.
She adds: "In 2005, we've created a program where clubs can
created their own events and programs. But just the fact that we're
reaching out to them, providing resource to help motivate our
clubs, helps us get the message out that it's not just our job --
it's everyone's job."
Contact: Daisy Okas, 212.696.8342, [email protected]
Accounting for Canines
Measurement is an ongoing conundrum for the American Kennel
Club. While there's no legitimate way of measuring response to its
media campaign, in the dog fancy world, people are positive about
it. "Do we have a more substantive way of quantifying it? No," says
Daisy Okas, associate vice president/communications.
But the AKC is seeking a sponsor, which may result in more
accountability. "We'd work with [a sponsor] to come up with a
concrete measurement," she says. "Right now, we're measuring it by
the number of clubs participating, and feedback from our survey and
our media coverage. And we've just bought a PR program that
includes analytics for this year for tone and content."