Purina on Creating and Leveraging the Power of Stories

A home run brand building program? Purina Cat Chow is inviting customers to recount a cat relationship story. Each of the top five out of 50 winners will receive $5,000, a year’s worth of pet food, and exposure of their story on Purina’s social media sites. The stories need to fit one of seven themes:

• My first cat

• Why I’m a cat person

• Forever a cat family

• How we found each other

• Generations of care

• Always there for me

• Memories

I like the idea. In my view, this promotion has the potential to break out of the clutter, harness storytelling (the current hot brand-building vehicle), be the basis for intensifying a brand relationship, and create a viral video.

Cat owners, in general, have an emotional attachment to their pet, and pet food is far from a functional item. The relationship and what surrounds it can best be captured in a personal story that has depth and texture. So the act of writing a story really brings the relationship to life. And for every person that writes a story, there will be many more that think about stories to write and be affected. Even the act of considering the seven themes and how their pet would fit will likely trigger an emotional response.

Being exposed to stories of other people’s cat relationship can also be powerful to a cat lover. Being involved enough to vote on the winners will enhance the experience, making it more meaningful, if not intense. Further, cat stories and photos can and have gone viral, which can mean exposure of enormous value. The quality of the stories and videos make this possibility very realistic.

The challenge, of course, is to transfer this interest, involvement and emotion to Purina Cat Chow and to the Purina (your pet, our passion) brand as well. A big asset is the fact that the program is branded as The Purina Cat Chow Real Stories Project. Another asset is that the Purina Facebook page, YouTube channel, and website links to the contest. It’s not a sure thing, but it is likely that the resulting stories and experiences will be connected to Purina and will not have a selling/promoting connotation.

If the program is an ad hoc one-shot event, it will be limited in its impact. But if it becomes an ongoing life, it can really transform the Purina brand relationship for many. When programs are given legs, their impact grows. This is a program that could be a brand annuity.

Posted June 20, 2012 / Permalink / Subscribe (e-mail) / Subscribe (RSS)
Tags: brand branding purina storytelling

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