The Dodo and Sesame Street Are Helping Rescue Dogs Find Homes

If you've come across a video from The Dodo or its subsidiary, Dodo Kids, you probably watched more than one. The emotionally resonant clips feature stories about humans and animals that leave the viewer feeling better about the world. So it makes sense that the most famous fictional pals of Sesame Street would team up with Group Nine Media-owned The Dodo. Their first initiative is Families for Furry Friends, a semi-scripted series in which characters Elmo and Cookie Monster help rescue dogs find homes. The show is sponsored by Target, which already has a relationship with The Dodo as the sponsor of its Family Room vertical. Meant to act as a digital living room, the Family Room features content that families can watch together. Among The Dodo's audience, around 90% of parents said they watch the publisher's content with their children, according to YuJung Kim, president of The Dodo. Sesame Street’s Famous Fuzzy Residents Star in Kid-Friendly PSAs About COVID-19 The Dodo held focus groups early on to establish what content works for kids. Kim noted that 97% of The Dodo audience considers their pet a member of the family. The idea of collaborating started after Elmo introduced his new puppy, Tango, on an early August HBO Max special for Sesame Street. "We all were really excited about the merging of worlds," Kim told Adweek. "We have this very robust, dynamic, live-action animal world that is The Dodo. And then Sesame has its iconic characters. We thought, 'What would happen if we literally just mashed universes and created a bespoke show?'" We want to take The Dodo ethos and The Dodo narrative and see if we can make it into a toy that adds value.YuJung Kim, president, The Dodo With both shows marketing to families and a younger demo, the partnership was natural. “Creating content that invites new audiences to meet Tango and spotlights the impact of pet adoption—particularly among young children—made partnering with The Dodo a natural choice for our family-friendly brand," Samantha Kennedy, vp of brand marketing at Sesame Workshop, said in a statement. The Dodo has 10.1 million subscribers on YouTube and over 6 billion lifetime views on the platform over seven years. Dodo Kids was launched in 2019. The channel now has over 600,000 subscribers and half a billion views on YouTube. "The Dodo reaches everyone, from the youngest person to the oldest person," said Dave Glauber, creative lead for Dodo Kids. "The types of stories that we tell—heartwarming, joyful, animal-first, full of love stories—resonate with every single type of person in the world." Emphasizing core values Through focus groups and analysis, The Dodo has also dug in to find what content works on its platforms. Though the core values are the same for both The Dodo and Dodo Kids, there were some differences to work through, including color schemes and how much text to use on screen. Also, focusing on the animals' emotions was more of a priority when displaying kid-themed content. The Dodo is selective about its partnerships. There's a focus on core emotional values like empathy, resilience, optimism and courage. The site has partnered with brands like Scholastic and the mediation app Calm that reflect their values and make sense in content synergy. Eventually, The Dodo will look to develop more partnerships as well as television programming across different networks and streamers. It wants to develop recognizable characters for Dodo Kids, not just one-off appearances from animals. The brand is also looking at opportunistic product expansion. However, Kim envisions it as a thoughtful process, with an eye toward sustainability for its merchandise. "We don't want to produce more plastic," she said. "The world has enough of it. We don't want to slap The Dodo logo on products. We want to take The Dodo ethos and The Dodo narrative around rehabilitation, comebacks, friendship and compassion, and see if we can make it into a toy that adds value." At Target, Customer Experience ‘Is the North Star, Always’