Thought Bubble
When I began my exchange work program at CooperKatz, I joined the team for Petfinder.com, which is the largest online, searchable database of adoptable pets. Celebrating its 15th birthday, Petfinder.com has facilitated more than 17 million adoptions. And from what I have seen, CooperKatz has certainly played a role in helping to save many animals’ lives.
In the short time I have been here, I can tell that part of this amazing success is due to an effective strategy, creative approach and collaboration among all parties; the CooperKatz PR team, the internal Petfinder.com team, and the media. I wonder – how could an adoption database like Petfinder.com be created in Russia? What kind of tools would we use? What principles would our strategy be based upon?
Everyone deserves a home, even if it’s just for the holidays. Inspired by the book and Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “A Dog Named Christmas,” Petfinder.com launched the first-ever “Foster A Lonely Pet for the Holidays” program, giving families the chance to welcome an adoptable pet into their home for the holiday season (ideally from Christmas Eve until New Year’s Day).
Each year, the Coldwell Banker Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI) provides an apples-to-apple comparison of similar 2,200 square foot, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath homes in the United States and a sampling of International markets. And each year, a list of the top 10 most affordable and expensive markets is released to the media.
With the U.S. real estate market still very much in recovery mode, CooperKatz worked with Coldwell Banker to identify unique and timely trends from this year’s HPCI data. One key trend we found is related to a “side effect” of the $8,000 Federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers. In speaking about the impact this tax credit, Coldwell Banker CEO Jim Gillespie has noted that while this has been a helpful stimulus plan for those who have never owned a home, the credit has done little to support or spur on the “move-up buyer” (those who already own a home and may be considering moving or upgrading). In examining the data from this year’s HPCI, CooperKatz and Coldwell Banker noted that Americans can find a home similar to the sample indexed for the HPCI for under $200,000 in more than 80 U.S. markets across the nation. This is a positive trend for those move-up buyers who, in many markets, might not think they can find a four-bedroom home for this price. These move-up buyers are, as Gillespie notes, critical to fully rejuvenating the housing industry and the overall U.S. economy. So this trend became an important part of the HPCI story shared with both “mainstream” and “social” media outlets.
Petfinder.com recently asked its visitors if they included their favorite feline or puppy pal in their weddings. The response was so great that CooperKatz identified an emerging trend, contacted the media and secured multiple hits including stories in USA Today and the Associated Press, which featured brides who adopted from Petfinder.com and were married with their pets by their side. With more than 100 pick-ups of the AP article alone, Petfinder.com can say “I do” to being a wedding resource.
Petfinder.com Loves to LOL! To promote Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat-Month in June, CooperKatz initiated a partnership between Petfinder.com and Icanhazcheeseburger.com. The two-week program launched June 15. Petfinder.com Web site visitors were encouraged to visit any adoptable cat page on Petfinder.com, click on the cheeseburger icon below the photo, caption the photo in their best LOLCats language and then share the link with their kitteh-loving friends. The images were posted on Icanhazcheeseburger.com. Some of the captioned kittehs can be seen here, here and here. The partnership was featured on Atomictown.com, Brandfreak.com, Los Angeles Time’s LA Unleashed and The Baltimore Sun’s Unleashed.