The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a boom in dog adoptions and while it may seem easy for most dogs to get a home, the process isn’t that simple for shelter dogs in the southern United States.
Natural disasters and lenient spay-neuter practices have led to overcrowded shelters and high euthanization rates in the South. However, there are specific nonprofits dedicated to transporting dogs to shelters with empty kennel space in northern parts of the U.S.—and Tito’s Handmade Vodka is highlighting these groups through a new content and fundraising campaign.
The Fifth Generation-owned brand has debuted Coming Home: Stories of Canine Transport, a series that documents how three nonprofits save dogs by taking them to locations where they have a better chance of finding a permanent home. The campaign will also include partnerships with numerous media platforms to raise funds for the featured volunteer groups.
Tito’s vp of marketing Taylor Berry told Adweek that the campaign, which extends the brand’s ongoing Vodka for Dog People animal rescue program, was designed to raise awareness around the reality of shelter dog transport, an issue many dog lovers aren’t familiar with.
“The impetus of the whole project was [showing] how we could get these dogs in peril to places where they’re wanted and have a better chance of being adopted,” Berry said. “We’re all acutely aware of how much content there is right now, and we felt the best way to tell these stories was to go on these transport trips.”
The brand partnered with production company Element to film the series at the end of 2019, deploying production teams and directors to document transports facilitated by Wings of Rescue, which specializes in flying large-scale transports; Mission Miracle K9, which transports dogs out of high-kill shelters in Texas via vehicle; and Pilots N Paws, run by volunteer pilots.
Berry said his team made a purposeful decision to not have a script for the shoots and include minimal branding, as the goal was to simply spotlight what can often be emotional and taxing journeys for the volunteers and the pets.
“Everything that happens onscreen is exactly what would happen on any given transport. We felt like showing that rawness to the consumer was a way for them to really understand how intangible this issue can be,” he said. “We also wanted to launch the campaign around hurricane and natural disaster season, when these transports are most needed, to make sure this was timely and we’d have the best chance at doing a fundraiser around this program.”
To kick off the campaign’s fundraising element, Tito’s partnered with dog humor social platform WeRateDogs to amplify the Wings of Rescue’s film across its accounts to drive donations for the nonprofit. The brand reports the initial donation goal of $20,000 was reached in 45 minutes, which led to Tito’s increasing the matching number to $40,000, leading to more than $100,000 in total donations for the nonprofit.
Berry said the brand plans to continue fundraising for the other nonprofits by amplifying the campaign with digital buys in The Dodo and BuzzFeed, as well as partnerships with Animal Planet and Discovery.
So far, Tito’s is viewing the campaign as a success based on the initial fundraising marks hit and social engagement. On WeRateDogs’ Twitter account, the Wings of Rescue has received more than 595,000 views, more than 3,000 retweets and 20,000 likes.
Berry said consumer reactions to the campaign will inform how Tito’s crafts campaign storytelling and how it determines media partners moving forward.
“We went through so many different iterations of how we wanted to bring this to life. What we really wanted to do was create something discoverable that people would seek out and find, not something that felt like sponsored content,” he said. “The key was finding the right mix of partners that care about this issue and are open to promoting this; not just viewing [the campaign] as something they need to sell and put ad dollars behind.”
