It’s simple: animals make us want to buy things. It’s every marketer’s goal to make an emotional connection with their target audience, and using pets is one of the most effective ways to do so. Scientists have proven that people are subconsciously attracted to younger-looking animals, and advertisers use this to their advantage. (The psychology behind the way humans view animals is really interesting so I recommend a quick Google search!)
One of the many perks of using animals in advertising, is being able to show the characteristics of your brand through the animal. For example, dogs are known for being very loyal and family orientated, whereas horses are associated with strength and grace. We are now witnessing more brands than ever using animals in their campaigns, because provoking a relatable and emotional response from someone is one of the most effective routes to go down, especially for low-involvement products. Animals provoke emotion out of humans – especially pets! The feelings of warmth when seeing cute animals many of us are familiar with is then (hopefully) projected on the brand – magic!
Using animals in advertising is a brilliant way to break through the noise and saturation of mainstream advertising. Everyone’s going to remember the cute puppy they saw, or the funny cat advert on the way to work – but are they going to remember the boring, factual advert they saw? Probably not.
The Cadburys gorilla advert has 15 million hits on YouTube alone, the Compare the Meerkat advert has created a new word which is now listed in the dictionary, and the Andrex Labrador is recognisable from a mile away. Advertising with animals has the ability to completely define a brand and shape their brand image.
Using animals in adverts must be done responsibly, as you can land yourself in a very sticky situation with the opposite effect if you aren’t careful. As it’s been proven that people love their pets like a family member, being irresponsible with how you portray certain animals can cause a lot of upset – and rightfully so.
At Brandshare we know exactly what we’re doing when it comes to pet advertising. We have over 28 years of industry experience and gained over 1.6 billion impressions on our owned media last year alone. If you’d be interested in the services we offer, don’t hesitate to drop an email to louise@petsubjects.co.uk, or call us on 01276 858 880.
