Social Media to the (Dog) Rescue
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Last March when I was making jokes about the new Twitter toy by Mattel called Puppy Tweets, describing in a post about how your dog can make money online with this cool new toy, I was only half kidding about the whole thing. Although stranger methods have been known to cause things to "go viral" and go on to succeed at making money online using the power of social media. Any device, toy or not, that professes the capability of detecting what a dog is up to and then turns that into pet micro-blogging on Twitter with 140 character pet witicisms, is going to get MY attention!
So I am thinking that this could be a huge marketing tool for animal shelters. I keep thinking that if a dog could make money online for his owner (which is a stretch unless the dog can talk or count or something) why couldn't he make it for a good cause as well – supporting his fellow dogs, homeless dogs like little Beatrice here and ones in shelters that are in need of a good home?
I think there is an interesting concept taking shape here even though Mattel keeps saying that it's only a toy, Puppy Tweets just may have the potential to really help our shelter pets by raising more awareness of adoption versus breeders or pet stores.
Puppy Tweets is not available until fall 2010, my pre-order with Amazon was made months ago, this for a toy that resembles a dog-tag that your puppy wears on his regular dog collar. By communicating puppy "tweets" from the dog tag via your computer, some 500 unique micro-blogs such as I'm hungry, I want to play, scratch my tummy, let's go for a walk, guess what I'm licking now, etc can be posted to your pooch's Twitter account. The logistics still need to be worked out for this crazy idea of mine but the time it's taken waiting for the toy to debut has given me food for thought.
A Social Media Experiment Gone to the Dogs
I can write these trite little headlines but the truth is that if social media can elect a president of the United States, why can't it be used to help our canine friends. I am a strong advocate of the Payson branch of the Gila County Humane Society and wholeheartedly support their cause to find every dog and cat a great home and to provide the love and care our animals deserve while waiting for that to happen. However, volunteers and staff can only do so much with what they are given so it's up to people like me, serious animal lovers, to think of more creative ways to get people involved in our cause.
Since discovering Puppy Tweets, this idea of mine might not be new or original but for my hometown animal shelter, it might just help spark a new movement that will help accelerate the plans to build that new animal shelter that we (and our furry friends) so desperately need.
I'm going to invite all of my dog-loving readers, animal shelter friends on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, blogger friends of mine and other social media nuts to examine my plan, play devil's advocate, then help me figure out how it can be accomplished, then make a presentation to the animal shelter board here in my home town of Payson, Arizona.
Here is how I see it taking shape, the devil is in the details.
In a nutshell it involves corporate sponsorship of animals in shelters. It's something that's been done successfully in zoos and I think the idea is a good one, especially now with Twitter being so popular, pet ownership is at an all time high and Puppy Tweets is something we can start with that was made for the occasion – that of using social media applications to help network a dog or cat's availability for adoption!
At any given time there are between 40 and 50 adoptable dogs in the Payson Animal Shelter. What if we were to put a Puppy Tweet dog tag on each dog in the shelter that's available for adoption? Mattel says that they are going to cost about $39.95 each so what if we were to ask a Payson business to sponsor a dog with a Puppy Tweet?
We would ask for a dollar amount greater than the cost of the tag that covers the purchase of the Puppy Tweet and for their "corporate sponsorship" contribution we offer them a whole lot more, with the money going toward the new shelter:
(And here is where all you marketing genius's out there can take the ball and run with it.)
How about in addition to the pet sponsorship, along with that the company gets a free Google blog for their business, prominently featuring their new corporate mascot, Jake, Duke, or Fido, and the training in how to manage the blog and integration with Twitter. A Twitter feed to their blog with their sponsored dog's tweets would be cool and easy to do. And the best part is that when the dog finally is adopted by a loving family their blog keeps on working. The company sponsor is then assigned a new dog, while posting occasionally about the previous dog's new life and family. Kinda gets me all weepy!
The sponsoring company gets exposure via the town's newspaper and a link to the shelter blog for their business.
The business uses the blog to promote their products and services as well as networking their sponsored pet's availability for adoption among their customers and followers.
The possibilities are endless. Does anyone out there know of an animal shelter who has expressed a similar idea, a plan where corporate sponsors are solicited to "adopt" animals in the shelter. sort of an adopt a highway program adapted for shelter pets?
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June 26th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Actually a very similar initiative was done in Lisbon's Zoo. Although it was not dogs, the state of the zoo was degrading fast and the animals were not being treated properly due to lack of funding. The manager of the zoo then created a sort of companies sponsoring each animal, sort of a mascot and the initiative was a great success. The bull was sponsored by Red Bull and so on. Now, the zoo is up and running at normal cruise and obviously the small pets, big pets are all happy.
DiTesco´s last blog ..Update: Making Money Online With Mahalo
June 26th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
I can see how this might work, but I would take a careful look at Twitter's TOS just to be certain. I think Facebook might be more flexible when it comes to this sort of thing. Best wishes for your success and this is such a worthy cause. Thanks for the heads up!
Ileane @ Ms. Ileane Speaks´s last blog ..Twitter Backgrounds
June 27th, 2010 at 3:09 am
The only thing that bothers me about puppy tweets is that I can't see it lasting for long. What I mean by that is that these tweets are apparently all programmed into the toy and they are bound to be repetitive. If they could read the dogs mind and tweet it's thoughts, well that's something else entirely.
I suppose it all depends how it was marketed. Say you were able to program tweets into the toy, tweets that would market say a sponsor's products in a cute sort of way. This way not only would you attract sponsors but they are more likely to pay for the privilege.
We had our zoo do something similar to Ditesco with the sponsors name appearing on the animals enclosure. There has to be something in it for them other than just a warm fuzzy feeling from doing the right thing.
I suppose you could advertise their deed on a blog but that blog will have to have some pretty good exposure.
Sire´s last blog ..Looking For US Citizens Who Buy Alternative Milk Products
June 27th, 2010 at 7:10 am
Facebook might be more flexible but as far as I know they aren't doing anything like this. As far as Twitters TOS I believe in the theory of do it and worry about the rules later. Anyway, great of you to stop by, I always appreciate the words of Ms Ileane!
June 27th, 2010 at 7:15 am
Well Sire, I plan to take a lot of license when it comes to the Tweets that come from dogs in an animal shelter, and as far as the limits on the Tweets themselves, I'm sure someone will come along and hack the Puppy Tweet tag to make it say whatever they want it to, sort of like I saw done with the magic 8 ball. And there will be something in it for the company besides a warm and fuzzy for sure – each sponsor gets a blog built by me! Thanks for stopping by!
July 17th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
[...] Plenty says I, and I am out to prove it! Payson Web, my social media marketing biz here in Payson is currently working with the Gila County & Central AZ Humane Society, Payson Shelter staff, to educate their personnel about the benefits of using social media marketing strategies to broaden their reach beyond Payson to the farthest corners of Rim Country and Phoenix/Scottsdale Valley of the Sun. Our goal is to raise awareness for our shelter animals to all who travel here for hiking, camping, RVing and recreation, and not just the residents of Payson and Rim Country, whether part time or full time. We can do this with projects like the one we are proposing with Twitter, Mattel and Puppy Tweets, Social Media to the (Dog) Rescue. [...]
August 13th, 2010 at 4:04 am
Well, nice one for the effort in thinking about this idea. But you might be doing a lot of legwork on that? And if you deal it with careful planning and of course along with your friends, then that will be an amazing endeavor to do. -Rescue Dog Owner
Rescue Dogs Stories´s last blog ..Try Puppy Adoptions If You Want A Perfect Family Pet