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A Season For Giving
By:
Audrey Sellers
, Associate Edtior
Issue:
January/Expo 2010
PetSmart Charities raised funds for homeless pets by selling collectible ornaments during the holidays.
Everybody knows it’s better to give than to receive, but PetSmart Charities worked in a little of both in its Luv-A-Pet promotion. It’s one of PetSmart’s biggest fundraising activities every year, with proceeds from ornaments going toward animal welfare programs that save the lives of homeless pets. When the company started working up a design for the 2007 holiday campaign, it didn’t feel confident collectors and pet parents would be intrigued. So it called on Joan Greene, owner of Phoenix, Arizona-based distributor Greene & Associates (UPIC: GREE0002), for some creative assistance.
“We helped them start from scratch,” Greene says. “We were able to provide original designs, molds, several paint samples and almost 25,000 finished custom-made ornaments within four months.”
The Luv-A-Pet program kicked off in early November and went through Christmas Eve in all PetSmart locations and online at www.petsmartcharities.org. Keeping with the holiday spirit, the dog and cat ornaments were designed to play upon a child’s wish of receiving a puppy or kitten under the Christmas tree, with the pets popping up from wrapped gift boxes.
PetSmart spread the word about the campaign through its website, circulars, direct e-mails, ads, in-store signage and its website. As a warm and welcoming touch to draw shoppers’ attention, the ornaments were displayed on a cardboard Luv-A-Pet fixture that resembled a brick fireplace with a cozy fire.
“The colorful ornaments and packaging along with the front-door positioning caught people’s attention as they walked into the stores,” says Greene. “Dating the ornaments and supplying each store with only 14 dogs and 10 cats turned the items into anticipated collectibles.”
Greene says that many stores sold out of the ornaments on the first day and that the program exceeded the previous year’s campaign by 15 percent. “The client was happy with the overall campaign,” she adds, “because the donations allowed them to continue supporting various animal welfare programs and to provide urgently needed emergency relief during disasters.” PC
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