#CATmageddon
a social media case study
by Hannah Hanlon
A tweet for a hook
Ahoy, matey! Did you know that cats are twice as likely to get cancer if their owner smokes? And if there are no more cats, there will be no more videos of cats?? Arrrrrr you going to be the generation that helps prevent #CATmageddon ??? #catvideos=saved #lives=saved
Why?
This brand was trying to solve the problem of cats being put at risk due to secondhand smoke from their owners by making the target audience (particularly teens) aware of certain facts about this issue. The brand had specific goals set for this anti-tobacco campaign.
Problem: “Most people don't spend a lot of time thinking about tobacco or its consequences.”
Goal: “Connect smoking to something the audience cares about as much as themselves: their pets.”
This campaign was produced by Truth (a national campaign which produces television and digital content to encourage teens to reject tobacco and to unite against the tobacco industry) and paired with TMZ (a celebrity and entertainment tabloid news site). Keegan Allen was the celebrity spokesperson featured in several posts. Allen is an actor, author, photographer, and musician located in Los Angeles who is known for his work in the television show Pretty Little Liars.
The collaboration of all the above parties makes sense, because the target audience was teens, and this group probably makes up a large part of Allen’s fanbase. Keegan has a large fan following —currently 2 million Twitter followers and just over 6 million Instagram followers—and on his Instagram page, there are several posts of dogs and cats, which indicates that Keegan is an animal lover, particularly of cats. He even has a short video story on his page labeled “cats and jazz.”
The campaign also featured partnerships with Petco, Adult Swim, and BuzzFeed.
Brand Context
The #CATmageddon (Truth) campaign was launched at the Grammy awards in 2016.
The primary agenda of this campaign was to find a way to make people (particularly teens) think more deeply into the use of tobacco and its consequences. It showed teens that smoking is bad for cats and therefore there would be a "CATmageddon," a "world devoid of furry kittens and the adorable, hilarious videos that come with them.”
Mission: “Make a cultural impact and change teens' attitudes about smoking by using the fact that cats whose owners smoke are 2x as likely to get cancer.”
Ways this was accomplished:
- Simple slogan: smoking=no cats=no cat videos
- Call to action: Prevent #CATmageddon
- Media and platforms used:
- TV campaign launched at the 2016 Grammy awards
- Digital and social media platforms (Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Vimeo, Instagram, etc.)
Solution
What made this campaign so unique was that they spread the truth by finding a new way to tell an old story. The problem campaigns like Truth face is that people just don’t care enough about their own health to stop smoking or to not begin smoking in the first place. So instead of showing facts about how hazardous it is to human health (been there, tried that), they released cute memes and videos of cats —playing piano, dressed up as sharks—to drive home the point of how hazardous it is to cats’ health and what the world would be like without viral videos and pics of those silly, adorable furballs. By being aware of the risk to cats, people (starting with teens) will look at tobacco use differently and reduce the use, thereby protecting, not only the life of cats, but their own lives as well.
I saw several examples noted from the textbook Social Media Marketing by Tracy L. Tuten and Michael R. Solomon of tactics and strategies demonstrated that make for effective social media marketing campaigns. These include:
Market segmentation in which the brand targeted a distinct group based on common needs and characteristics and beyond this, demographic segmentation, which utilized common characteristics. This campaign was very similar to the the Secret’s Mean Stinks Campaign in that it targeted a younger audience by appealing to the 7 social currency dimensions:
- self-image and self-esteem
- sense of belonging or kinship
- being engaged by the brand
- social connections and relationships
- helped the audience to discover, evaluate, and make decisions about the brand
- engaged the audience by enhancing the value gained from the brand
As far as the motives and attitudes on the part of the consumers, a campaign like this would most likely trigger the altruistic impulse, which is how some participate in social media as a way to do something good or “make the world a better place.” In some cases, this could be deemed as virtue signaling (also known as “hashtag activism”) by others (p. 53).
The resources used to pull off such a campaign would likely include:
- Social media strategists
- Marketing professionals
- Graphic designers and artists
- Analysts
- Networking
Results Analysis
The #CATmageddon campaign is recognized as Truth’s “most successful campaign ever in terms of cultural impact and changing teen attitudes towards smoking.” In qualitative terms, the campaign received accolades such as Mashable releasing an article that declared #CATmageddon as “the best part about The Grammy’s” along with celebrities tweeting and sharing content. In terms of quantitative data, the campaign drove 3.18MM owned-channel social engagements, 110k mentions and 110 million views, along with 900 million PR impressions that received a boost from Upworthy, Fortune, Mashable and USA Today. The campaign’s 399,000 CATfluencer engagements reached an additional 7.3 million followers. The campaign saw a measurable change in attitudes and perceptions among teen audiences with a 21% increase in agreements with “Tobacco companies make me angry” among those aware of #CATmageddon and the facts that they were exposed to about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
Lessons Learned
- Keep it simple: Smoking=no cats=no cat videos
- Find a new way to tell an old story: Smoking is bad…for your cat!
- Mix facts with cuteness and humor—> logos and pathos
- Create a memorable hashtag (#CATmageddon) and shareable content
- Know your target audience and find sponsors and partners who share the same audience/fanbase.
Works Cited
Tuten, Tracy L. and Michael R. Solomon. Social Media Marketing. Book. Sage Publications, 2018.
