By Matt Welton, Executive Producer at never.no
Religion is the smile on a dog
--What I Am, Edie Brickel
I recently had the privilege of working with NBCU/USA Network on their live, 2-night coverage of the 140th Westminster Kennel Club's annual dog show at Madison Square Garden.
USA Network created a call out for dog lovers to submit a dog-selfie via Twitter using #WKCSelfieSweepstakes, or directly via a mini site. The selected submissions would be seen on-air during the WKC Dog Show with everyone entering also having the chance to win a full years' supply of dog food (naturally supplied by a sponsor - Purina).
The campaign was promoted on-air at the beginning of each live broadcast as well as on social media. During the event I helped the USA editorial crew (who I find to always be amazing to work with) to moderate and verify the live submissions and then deliver 4 original sponsored promos, giving more than 20 beloved dogs and their pet-parents a moment to shine on TV.
This may sound odd, but promotions with dogs are always more fun (see what we did with Giggy's BFF on Bravo/Real Housewives of Beverly Hills). There's always a ton of great content because almost everyone who has a dog is completely in-love with their pet, has many pictures readily available to share, and is proud to show off how cute/smart/amazing their dog is.
The other part is that, well, it makes me feel good to look at pictures of dogs. And after sorting through hundreds of submissions, below is my list of why dog pictures feel good.
Dogs take great action shots and make jumping for a ball, chasing a squirrel, or eating dinner look epic.
Dogs have sad eyes when they do something bad. And when you take a picture of that guilty dog you are implicitly forgiving him. Just like he would forgive you. Dog-love works perfectly in both directions.
Dog pictures can be deep because they sometimes look like they are on the verge of finding true happiness.
Pics of dogs in clothes prove dogs are so cool they can wear anything to any event.
Dogs sometimes smile and I smile back.
The campaign was a huge success. The audience reaction looks great too; apparently we have an 84% positive Vibe rating on 30db.com, with trending descriptors like: LOVE, IS THE BEST, BEST FRIEND, CUTEST and ALL SMILES.
So, if you are having a bad day or want a happy and engaged audience, maybe check out some dog photos on Instagram or Twitter.
Here are some places to start:
http://hounddogsrunning.tumblr.com
http://cutepetclub.com
http://puppypu.tumblr.com
Matt Welton is never.nos Executive Producer.
Based in NYC, he works with clients internationally to develop, produce and execute excellent Social TV campaigns using never.no's platform STORY VR.
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By Matt Welton, Executive Producer at never.no
