Pickering Town Centre (PTC) recently claimed to have orchestrated the world’s largest Twitter campaign “organized” by animals.
Strengthening its commitment to the Humane Society of Durham Region (HSDR), the Ontario, Canada center appointed Bailey the dog as spokes canine for the “Woof 4 a Roof” awareness and fundraising campaign, which to date has attracted more than 500 followers.
“Woof 4 a Roof” was perhaps the most high profile component of PTC’s overall Raise the Woof! campaign. It took place during this past March Break and raised over $9,000 for HSDR through the sale of plush animals and a contest in which children and teens used their creativity to design a motif for a new PTC reusable shopping bag.
PTC first put its marketing know-how to HSDR’s use after 100 animals perished in a devastating fire at the society’s shelter back in December 2008. The mall stepped in at the time to help raise awareness of the society’s plight and raise funds to build a new shelter. Thanks in part to PTC’s ongoing support, the society is closer to reaching its goal of raising $70,000, and construction is slated to begin this month.
Media Mix
Pre-promotion Consumer Outreach
GO Train Transit Campaign
>> March 11, 2010: Pickering Town Centre (PTC) teamed up with CAO (Carol Ann Organ’s agency) to implement a grassroots campaign at the Ajax Go Transit station. The PTC promotional team hit the streets at rush hour to hand passersby a postcard with a run-down of in-mall March Break/Raise the Woof! events, plus a special Raise the Woof! keepsake.
Public Relations
PTC called on Xen Communications, P.R. Boutique to help it create buzz and generate awareness about the campaign and March Break activities. National outlets that responded include CTV News, Global-TV News and The Toronto Star newspaper. Local coverage came from Rogers TV and CanadianParents. com.
On-site
> Door decals
> Floor stickers (paw prints lead shoppers to the center court)
Print
> Newspaper ads
Collateral
> Magnet clips (paw shaped and center branded)
> Postcards
Social Media
Working with Netgen.ca, PTC created a Twitter-based awareness campaign “organized” by animals at http://Twitter.com/RaiseTheWoof/ woof-pack.
Anipals (humans tweeting on behalf of their pets) are asked to tweet an animal-loving celebrity to create awareness of the campaign—among the A-listers are Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres and Denise Richards. Those celebrities are then asked to re-tweet the campaign message to their followers. Brett Wilson of the Dragon’s Den TV show has already re-tweeted the campaign through his network, helping to raise $1,000 for the cause.
The overall spokesperson for the campaign is Bailey the dog, so tweets are written from her point of view. Bailey, who has more than 500 animal followers on Twitter now, also has nearly 120 fans on Facebook (http:// www.Facebook.com/pages/Raisethe- Woof/168128488978).
Campaign Credits
> Lorna Murphy | marketing director, Pickering Town Centre
> Brenda Maynard -Richard – son | president, Xen Communications, P.R. Boutique
> Carol Ann Organ | CAO
> Kyle Braatz | co-founder & CEO, Netgen.ca
> Ad Agency | Aftershock Creative Inc.
Promotions
Plush Animal Sales
> Shoppers could support Raise the Woof! by purchasing plush dogs and cats for $5 each. > Two new pets were released daily during March Break.
> Sales proceeds are donated to the Humane Society of Durham Region.
Limited-edition Stuffies
> Two limited-edition plush pets (Colleen and Diamond), named after animals that perished in the Humane Society of Durham Region’s December 2008 fire, were available for one day only at a special pre-sale event during the March 13, 2010 launch. These sold out at the event.
Mascots
> Two stuffies (Magnum and Sparky) were named after the Durham Region K-9 and Durham Region Fire Department mascots. These sold out.
In-mall Donations
> Donation boxes are in stores and designated areas throughout PTC.
> The center has collected $7,000 thus far.
Pet Adoption Gallery
> Located in Center Court, the professional pet adoption gallery features photographs of various animals available for adoption at HSDR, including cats, dogs, hamsters, rabbits and rats.
> There have been 13 adoptions so far from the gallery.
The Design Lounge / Raise the Woof! Shopping Bag Design Contest
> Children and teens could visit the lounge to create a new design for a PTC reusable shopping bag. The artwork was then entered into a contest and judged. The winning design will appear on the mall’s shopping bags.
> The bags will be sold at PTC, with a portion of the sale’s proceeds going to the Humane Society of Durham Region.
> PTC said it received hundreds of entries for the contest, which closed on March 27.
Dropping In On Shoppers
