amy small
creative, strategic, and organizational leadership
IF IT BAHHS, MEOWS OR MOOS, WE CAN’T HELP YOU. BUT IF IT BARKS, IT’S AKC.
What do goats, cows, and pangolins (??) have in common? They’re all clearly NOT dogs. So if you have questions about them, don’t bother asking the American Kennel Club (AKC). But if you DO need to know anything about your favorite canine companion—for instance, why your boxer scoots his bum across your carpet, or your rescue terrier-mix likes to steal your favorite underwear—the 135-year old not-for-profit organization has you covered.
That’s the takeaway we aimed to hit home when creating AKC’s first major national brand campaign, “If it Barks, it’s AKC,” with elements across digital media, Spotify, social, OTT/streaming TV. The goal of the campaign was to help move the organization past its “show dog only” perception to be seen as a trusted, accessible, expert resource for all things dog—regardless of breed or background.
“Over the years, there have been a lot of misperceptions about who the AKC is as an organization. However, education, responsible dog ownership, and helping people and their pups live their best lives together is really at the core of who we are, and what we do. We believe in the power of the human-canine bond, and we want to foster it in every way possible.”
We grounded our campaign strategy, and eventually, the concept itself, in the overlap between the AKC’s mission and values, and dog owners’ needs and beliefs. And while a “dogs are great, we love them all’ storyline could have done the job, we knew there needed to be a stronger, more specific proof-based connection to ‘Why AKC?’ to start building brand relevance and equity, and differentiate from messaging already out there in the market from other category leaders like Pedigree, PetSmart, and Chewy. Ultimately, that’s the notion that led to the concept.
AKC has been in the dog world for 135 years, so they’ve encountered pretty much every canine situation imaginable. If you’re curious about your hamster, you’re out of luck. But if it barks, well, it’s AKC.
To build a content approach that would establish credibility and relatability, we researched dog owners’ digital behaviors to uncover their most common canine conundrums. Overall, people seemed to struggle most with figuring out what kind of dog is right for their lifestyle (not just deciding based on what’s cute, but based on each breed’s unique activity needs, noise levels, shedding, etc.), decoding strange dog behaviors; questions about training, health, and wellness; and not too surprisingly, anything related to poop.
Beyond finding the right topics, we also knew that tone and personality were going to be critical to changing brand perceptions. Subtle humor has an uncanny way of breaking down barriers, so we built our campaign stories to reflect the often-comical realities of having, or looking for, a dog…where having a little expert advice, delivered with a wink and a nod, probably couldn’t hurt.
STREAMING VIDEOS
We created a full-suite of cross-channel content: streaming videos, social content, programmatic banners, paid search, Spotify, and print to blanket the market in all kinds of dog goodness.
SOCIAL VIDEOS AND BANNER ADS (ALSO IG STORIES, NOT PICTURED…YET)
spotify audio and companion banners
CUSTOM PUBLICATION PRINT
COVERAGE and kudos
The campaign launched at a slightly inopportune time, only a couple of weeks before the COVID-19 crisis reached its peak. But, in the few days before the chaos hit, “If it Barks, it’s AKC” did get some great pickup in Ads of the World, Mediapost, Marketing Dive, and the Selfish Giving nonprofit newsletter. The campaign also received RAVE reviews from the AKC delegates and board members, which, considering the major shift in messaging from “purebred only” to “all dog” acceptance, was an incredible feat to accomplish.
So far, the campaign has already racked up two Hermes Creative Awards: Platinum in both the Integrated Campaign and Radio categories. More awards pending.