Meow Mix Teaches People to be Cats

A Winner in Three Categories:

#2 Best Use of Event Marketing (Five or Less Venues)

#13 Best Campaign Targeting a Micro Audience

#22 Best Idea or Concept

THE MEOW MIX ACATEMY

AGENCY: Grand Central Marketing, Inc.

CLIENT: Del Monte Foods

To think like a cat, you must become one.

Cat lovers who attended the Meow Mix Acatemy clawed their way up walls. They chased after yarn balls and took catnaps. They sat in on seminars and lectures to discuss feline health and well being, all moderated by local veterinarians, a radio talk show host, even a pet psychic.

The idea? If cat lovers understood their pets better, then the cats would be happier and owners would feel better about the Meow Mix brand, says Brian Ely, marketing director for Del Monte Foods, the maker of the cat food.

Del Monte brought in Grand Central Marketing to stage the event and bring to life its new tagline, “Think Like a Cat.” Thus was born the Meow Mix Acatemy at the Daryl Roth Theater in New York City in August 2007.

The venue was converted into a weeklong playground for humans turned cats, where they discovered just what it is like to be and think like their furry-tailed friends.

Visitors registered to take part in a variety of courses that mimicked aspects of their pet’s daily behavior. In one area, attendees participated in “cat-isthenics,” where they climbed a wall by grabbing onto large pieces of cat kibble. They learned to “scratch” with expert instruction from deejays. And they learned the importance of catnapping by relaxing in beanbag chairs.

Brand reps distributed 10,000 free samples of Meow Mix wet and dry food and cat treats to people who visited the “cat-feteria.”

“We sat around and thought like a cat,” Matthew Glass, CEO of Grand Central Marketing, says. “We play into those people who spoil their cats, really speaking to how much pet parents love their cats.”

Cat Cora, the star of the Food Network’s Iron Chef America, gave cooking demos with free recipes using the very ingredients cats crave to illustrate the importance of fresh, quality ingredients for their pets.

Grand Central Marketing set up newspaper boxes around the city that were full of course catalogs to help promote the event. Each box, decked out in orange fur, played the Meow Mix jingle when opened.

“We had a serious brand message, but we [promoted] it in a playful, tongue-in-cheek way,” Glass says.

Local radio spots and PR efforts also alerted people to the event, as well as a partnership with local Petco stores.

The Acatemy drew more than 12,000 visitors during its one-week run, and more than 200 million media impressions. As part of a cause-marketing tie-in, Meow Mix donated one pound of cat food to New York’s Animal Haven shelter for every person who attended the event, and awarded the shelter with $3,500 in proceeds from its bookstore sales.

The Pro Award judges were so impressed with this innovative campaign that they awarded it the top prize in three categories.

What made it work? Meow Mix’s fun personality and uncanny ability not to take itself too seriously.

“We’re not a hard core science brand,” Ely says. “We are a fun and approachable brand that our target consumer can really identify with.”

THE JUDGES SAID:

• The involvement and engagement level was very, very strong

• They took the personal platform of understanding your cat and brought it to life.

• I don’t even have a cat and it seemed interesting to me

• They worked the obsession to absurdity

IDEA TO STEAL: BE INNOVATIVE

Never underestimate the power of a good idea. “If you’ve got a great idea and it’s based on solid, strategic thinking, and as long as you check back with the brand message — push it for all it’s worth,” Glass says. “Get people to stretch their imaginations a bit. Don’t back away.”