Cat Calling! - The rising role of the felines in Marketing & Communication strategy!

Cat Calling is a derogatory term which describes a regressive and offensive behaviour, but the term perhaps comes from the fact that it's very hard to get attention of a cat when you call it. Let's accept it, cats are jerks! Maybe it’s because they are such independent pets; maybe it’s because they can be cute and evil at the same time OR charming and then all of a sudden aloof and snooty. They are not dogs; dogs try too hard to get your attention, while cats most of the times make you work for their affection! (Please don't miss the last video at the end of this article where Robert De Niro nails it in favour of the cats over the dogs)!A study in 2015 by an Indiana University Bloomington professor suggested that viewing cat videos, people tend to feel more energetic and more positive. Many brands are using cats in their branding & marketing communications to drive the point and create instant connect with the audiance and at the same time using the catty values to boost sharing in the social media space, thereby using the feline very strategecally in the marketing whiskers!

Cats from being domesticated by farmers to eat off rats have come a long way and has become an intrinsic part of the pop culture of many countries. The popularity of cats in Japan, Korea, South-East Asia and even Western culture is insurmountable; obviously it has deep cultural roots & context and there are even fables floating around cats in many of these countires. Cats have been both feared and loved throughout history by many different cultures, but let's focus on the love bit in this article. I'll focus on three areas, namely 1) Cultural impact of Cat in creating compelling Branding & Value propositions, 2) The viral effect of cats in social media and 3) Some Cat ads, to drive a point about the great utility of this felines in marketing strategy!

1) Cultural Impact of Cats in creating compelling Branding & Value propositions:

In Japan, there is also the saying called the ‘Maneki Neko’, also referred to in English as the "Good Fortune" or "Good Luck" cat. Legend in Japan has it that a cat waved a paw at a Japanese landlord, who was intrigued by this gesture and went towards it. A few seconds later a lightning bolt struck where the landlord had been previously standing. The landlord attributed his good fortune to the cat's fortuitous action. A symbol of good luck hence, it is most often seen in businesses to draw in money. In Japan, China & even in Singapore, the flapping of the hand is a "come here" gesture, so the cat is beckoning customers. ‘Maneki Neko’ has also become an intrinsic part of entire Japan, South-East Asia and China too, and almost unites the cultures of these countries together, thus giving a common cultural thread or symbol for marketeers that can work across the different countries, thereby providing a great opportunity to run the same advertisement or brand message across, with minor culture specific alterations, thereby directly impacting marketing costs and execution!

Further, if we focus on the brand values being generated out of the Good Luck Cat, it can readily bring in certain strong cultural associations linked to good luck & prosperity that can in turn be laddered to happiness, cheerfulness, vibrancy and can instantly create a warmth and cuteness around the brand, but can at the same time also bring in associations of mischief and irreverence, from our obervations of cats in daily life; a lot of us have grown up seeing cats around us in our neighbourhoods, even if we have not domesticated one.

If a brand is suffering from issues like being distant from the desirable target segment , can a Cat come to the rescue? Can cats help connect with the Millenials and the 'Gen Y' more effectively, let's explore these questions in the folloiwng paragraphs.

How cats rescued 'GoDaddy' from a possible branding fall-out?:

GoDaddy, the web hosting company that had previously come under fire for running risqué advertisements, betted on cats to help improve its corporate image.The company launched its ad campaign as a part of it's re-branding exercise, which included a TV segment called "Cats with Hats." The ad follows a woman who is inspired to launch a business selling hats for cats; she retails them through GatoChapeau.com. This website, generated through GoDaddy, allows the woman to reach her target demographic, thus proving that the idea isn't so crazy after all. The storyline is intended to reflect the grit required to launch a start-up, and even suggests that real-world experience is far more valuable to entrepreneurs than an academic degree. The idea was to show that people who take this leap and launch their idea have to believe in themselves even when their family and friends call them crazy. The campaign was inspired by that 'against all odds faith’. This marked the company's first foray into cat-themed marketing. This shift was done to move away from the previous campaign, that cost them dearly - GoDaddy had weathered reputational issues in the past, with its series of ads that featured auto racing driver Danica Patrick in varying states of undress, and others that included strip teases and body paint. The concepts prompted a slew of female business owners to pressure e-commerce marketplace Etsy to cease doing business with the company in 2013. The Cat Campaign was an earnest effort to produce a corporate shift of Brand Image from it's outlandish and edgy image to more likeable, warm with a more universal & cultural appeal yet at the same time, retaining it's disruptive & catchy effect.

Watch the previous brand campaign of Go Daddy:

GoDaddy went public 2015, with shares priced at $20 for a total valuation of $4.5 billion and brought in more than $1.6 billion in full year revenue. The company now serves more than 14 million+ paying customers, the majority of whom are small business owners with five or fewer employees. It expanded into 11 Asian markets, and accounts for roughly half of all new registered domain names. 

Manekineko Karaoke Branding and it's cross-culture connect:

MANEKINEKO, one of Japan's largest major karaoke chains with more than 500 outlets nationwide has also hit town Singapore, taking the cultural fable into strong brand building exercise connecting cultures.

The above video shows internal communication of the brand within thier premises and how it uses the 'Good Luck Cat' imagery in buiding it's brand character of cheerfulness, happy moments, group fun, warmth with the message of family entertainment, extremely kid's friendly and at the same time syncing deep into a traditional yet modern brand proposition. Also, they use the yellow colour vividly to bring about the warmth and fun factor of the brand.

2) The viral effect of cats in social media space:

Memes, and certainly cat memes, are hugely popular – especially if they are funny, sarcistic and witty. Cats have this innate ability to project 'a don't care attitude', the feline in many instances project strength of mind and projects an ability to remian aloof and least bothered about what's happening around, thus lending a 'cool' and ' rockstar' image. These values in turn resonate very well the millenials and Gen Y, who would generally like to challenge the norms and customs around them. Posts that include photos, videos and memes of cats are an immediate hit and amazingly shareable among the millenials and the Gen Y, and now a days, there is immense possibility of weaving brand stories around them.

The success story of Cheezburger.com

Cheezburger.com was partially launched by this cat meme.Today, it is a site specifically for the under-40 crowd – one that has been able to attract over $32 million in investor capital and almost 4 million readers.Whatever the reason, cats on social media have taken on personalities that we usually attribute to humans and have become a popular element of social media marketing strategies. Companies that want to keep their products in front of these two generations (huge buying power), or even re-introduce old products to them can use the tools that appeal.

The 'Grumpy Cat' craze:

Tard is his real name and he is actually a cat with a deformity (cat dwarfism) that has created the perpetually sour look. Nonetheless, he has taken social media by storm and even large companies are getting into the act. This is a classic case of how a particular human emotion can be used in favour of marketing and branding stretegy.

Grumpy Cat has appeared on NBC News's Today, ABC News's Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, Anderson Live, VH1's Big Morning Buzz Live and many others. Grumpy Cat promoted Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book at BookExpo America. 

The above ad of Friskies shows how effctively the brand has capitalized on the 'Grumpy Cat' emote factor

Grumpy Cat appeared in episodes of the Friskies YouTube game show "Will Kitty Play With It? It was announced that Grumpy Cat would become the Official Spokes cat of Friskies. Friskies paid for flying Grumpy Cat first class, a private hotel room with king-sized bed, a personal assistant, a chauffeur, and unlimited Friskies food and bottled water. Grumpy Cat travelled to New York City promoting the show and appeared on Good Morning America and Anderson Live and visited Time for a photoshoot. Grumpy Cat was also interviewed for Forbes. 

3) Some Ads featuring cats:

Cats Can Tell Brand Stories and at the same time project human emotions, thus making it more distinctive to watch and at the same time very sharable, thus having the power of going viral too - thus it opens up the opportunity of connecting of different media very seamlessly!

The Singapore Tourism Board ad:

The ad of Singapore Tourism Board is worth mentioning where it gets on the road to explore local landmarks through the perspective of several ‘celebrity’ neighbourhood cats. Instead of humans, it's cats that evoke the emotions in the ad and create a steadily hooked execution. The video has the right ingredients to strike a right chord with all the cat lovers in the city, possibly because it readily evokes the childhood memories and builds a context that's somehow very familiar and undoubtedly created a great urge to share it with friends, thus readily going viral. Considering that cats have universal appeal out of Singapore across other countires, it was designed to appeal among tourists as well!

Cravendale, "Cats with Thumbs" ad:

Originally released in February 2011, this ad has generated more than 8 million views on YouTube to date. It features cats that develop opposable thumbs, and can thus can be seen undertaking human projects, such as filing their nails, reading books, and scheming to steal milk. The ad was produced by Wieden + Kennedy on behalf of Cravendale, the U.K.'s largest milk brand. The company later developed a spinoff commercial, called "Catnapping," which aired in 2012. It also created a fictional Twitter account for the ad's protagonist, Bertrand Thumbcat, who posted ahead of the second launch: "World domination is mainly a question of attitude. First we sleep on your laundry…Then take over your governments and steal all your milk." 

Why cats are so effective as a tool for brand comms?

Cats Can Project BI-POLAR Human Emotions Extremely Well

Having seen all the above examples, it is understood that capturing cats displaying human emotions, and making them work for the brand can be the key strategy in hand, and thus it's important to understand those impactful emotions that cats project.

The Sad Cat!

The Angry Cat!

The Happy Cat!

The Evil Cat!

Stud Cat!

One more thing, I am not going to talk about Hello Kitty becasue we all know about it in this part of the world, so I am just leaving the Hello Kitty with an Image, need I say anyting more!

I would like to end this article with this video featuring my favourite actor, Robert De Niro, where he advocates cats over dogs to his daughter's lover; I think this this video summarises my article in a splendid way!

For more discussions and queries on effective brand & marketing strategies, email at [email protected]!