Catify

A Purrfect PR Campaign

Friskies did something last week that made me really excited – they hosted the first annual awards show for Internet cat videos called The Friskies.

It was hosted by one of my favourite YouTubers, Michael Buckley (WhattheBuck show).  Attendees dressed in their finest (cat ears included) and gathered to honour the finest cat videos the Internet has to offer.

According to Friskies, the purpose of the awards were to honour the art form of the cat video. Over 1,400 videos were submitted, and a panel of judges narrowed it down to 12 finalists in four categories. The general public voted for the winners over a three-week period. The best cat video winner received $15,000 and a year’s supply of cat food, and the winner of each category won $2,500.

I think this campaign was very creative and fun. They incorporated cats into all aspects, including:

  • A nyan cat interpretive dance
  • A cat treat bar
  • Catuettes (the coveted award statues)
  • Live entertainment in the form of humans meowing classical music
  • Elegant cat food chandeliers
  • An app, Catify
  • A hashtag, #TheFriskies

Friskies encouraged public engagement by announcing they would donate a can of food for every vote, like, and share. This resulted in 250,000 cans of cat food being donated to 25 animal shelters in the United States.

The best cat video winner was Mick Szydlowski for his video, “Oskar’s First Toys,” featuring his cat which was born with no eyes. Szydlowski says he hopes all the attention his Oskar videos have received will help convince people that cats with disabilities can still make great pets. The video has over 4 million views. 

From a brief Google search, it appears the event received a good amount of media coverage, including:

To learn more about the campaign, check out the links below. What’s your favourite PR campaign?

Website: http://www.thefriskies.com/