Results and Effectiveness

By letting the cats speak for themselves without being overshadowed by the brand, we changed the way pet adoption is promoted. The new approach aroused much more public and media interest than a typical advertising approach. Within three days, the 50 cats had made more than 8,000 friends. Within a month, all were adopted. The campaign has helped inspire other non-governmental organisations and given the Cat Society an effective technique to find homes for its cats.

Creative Execution

In traditional advertisements for pet adoption, consumers are shown the brand without ever seeing the actual pet. But we all know that people are much more likely to adopt a pet rather than a brand. We gave 50 of the society’s cats an opportunity to speak for themselves - as it were - by opening Facebook accounts for them. The cats updated their status, shared photos and videos, posted about their feelings and chatted regularly with the friends they made. By sharing their hopes, dreams and the reality of life on the streets, they told a community of more than 500 million users what they wanted most in life - a real home. And the media cost nothing.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The Cat Society Hong Kong Ltd. rescues abandoned cats and finds them new homes. As a small, independent organisation staffed by volunteers, they have far fewer resources than their more well-known counterparts, such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Cats are cute. They have personalities. Promoting the organisation in the traditional media might give the society’s communication great reach but could it provide the interactivity that would achieve their singular aim of finding homes for cats? By connecting the personalities of their catty constituents with young, potential adopters through social media, we would create an addictive forum that gave the organisation an opportunity to shine.