A friend calls my wife and says “you have to visit the
Westminster dog show website and watch the best of breed competition (
for french bulldogs).” Like the dutiful dog dopes we are, we did, loving every minute of it, despite our shouts, “Oh, he is no way near as cute as our dog!” Before we could watch the video, there was an ad for
Pedigree dog food that encourages pet adoption, and shows lots of cute dogs in shelters (see yesterday’s post on 9Lives similar effort supporting adoptions). Unlike the ads I typically zap on my DVR, I was not reaching for the fast forward button when the Pedigree spot ran. First, I didn’t realize it was an ad until the end since they just showed dogs in a shelter and discussed the importance of adoption. Second, once Pedigree revealed itself, I was not unhappy since I quickly realized someone had to pay for the cost of producing the show dog video we were about to watch.There are several Marketing for Good elements at work here. First, if you develop strong content for target groups with strong affinities (like dog lovers), they will spread the word for you quickly and efficiently. Second, in order to engage consumers, you need to provide a fair exchange of value. In this case, the exchange was watching a commercial before watching an entertaining video. Thirdly, never understatement the dopiness of dog lovers. To further illustrate this point, tomorrow I will talk about
MeetUp.com and what they are doing to bring dog lovers and other affinity groups together virtually and physically.