Swipe right for (puppy)love

RyKu
RyKu
Sep 3, 2018 · 2 min read

Picture this: So, you’re swiping away on Tinder and expect your next swipe to be yet another guy with a shirtless mirror selfie, or a girl who loves Snapchat filters a little too much; Instead, you’re greeted with the profile of an adorable puppy that’s up for adoption (aww)! I bet you would spend a little bit more time than usual on this profile before resuming your swiping adventures, and so did East Village-based animal rescue organisation, Social Tees (“ST”).

Instant right swipe. Image Source

ST, along with creative agency internship program, The Barn at BBH, whipped up a few doggy dating profiles for rescue dogs in the New York City area in 2014. But you’re probably thinking, “Tinder is for dating, not animal adoption.” And you’re absolutely right, which begs the question — how effective was this campaign in reality? Let’s break it down:

> Marketing objective: The marketing objective for ST was straightforward — get 10 dogs adopted in August 2014.
> Primary KPI: The # of dogs adopted by using Tinder.
> Supporting metrics: The # of serious inquiries, meet-ups, Tinder matches, and messages.
> Target persona: Individuals in their late-20s to early 30s who are looking for a furry companion to love and keep them company.
> Outcome: Although we don’t have all the data, over 2000 matches were recorded and 1 puppy was successfully adopted in just 4 days.

Overall: While it isn’t possible to fully analyse the efficacy of the campaign because of the lack of data available. By these numbers itself, it’s safe to assume the campaign garnered a lot of interest in ST. The company expanded its online presence and now has over 66k followers on Instagram alone, and earned tons of coverage by online news outlets for its creativity.

But if we’re being real, at least one puppy found a forever home — and if that isn’t reason enough to start honing your lateral thinking abilities with marketing, then I’m not sure what is.