December 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 66

Operations

seem ridiculous. In Carol Stream,
we've hosted a dog wedding, served
dog beer (nonalcoholic of course)
and celebrated our fifth CSBarks festival with dogs wearing party hats
and eating dog cake. Although bizarre, all events were well-received
by dog owners and generated great
media coverage for the park district.

By identifying key local users of their parks and developing a targeted campaign toward
them, staff at the Carol Stream Park District have developed an event that reaches far
beyond the borders of their community.

The Subaru campaign is a great example of marketing that demonstrates
familiarity with dog ownership. It positions the brand as an organization that
understands dog families, which helps
generate affinity and trust with owners. We used this tactic on a smaller
scale for our first festival by creating a
marketing campaign targeted at dogs,
rather than their owners. Our tonguein-cheek campaign played on some
classic dog behavior by placing fire hydrant-shaped yard signs along walking
paths throughout our park system. The
signs were designed to attract dogs first,
with owners following shortly behind.
Using this experiential approach
opens up some great opportunities
for fun and creativity, too. As part
of a Purina campaign in New Zealand, for example, dozens of branded tennis balls were attached to trees,
which they named " magic trees, " in
off-leash parks, to encourage owners
to play with their dogs.
Positioning yourself as a dog-friendly
organization also requires using some
dog diversity in your marketing, and
while there are far too many breeds,
shapes and sizes to include them all,

Parks & Recreation

aim to represent each of these three
broad categories: sporty dogs (those
that take part in events such as dock
diving and agility), companion dogs
(who tend to be the most fashionable
dogs and tend to take part in photo and
talent contests) and working dogs (a
group that includes therapy dogs, special-needs dogs and even show dogs).
Dogs Blog, Too - Get Social
Pet parents love to share their dog's
antics (notice how I managed to
find a way to include Ollie's photo
with this article), and you may have
already heard of one of America's
most social dogs - a Pomeranian
named Boo, who has more than eight
million Facebook followers and his
own range of merchandise. Even if
your resident dog bloggers are not
nationally recognized, there are still
plenty of benefits in getting to know
your local puppy personalities. Owners who are active on social media
can become strong ambassadors for
your events, and eager to spread your
marketing message virally.
To spur on social media buzz, don't
be afraid to host activities that may

| D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

Create Pet-Focused Partnerships
When targeting dog owners who don't
have children, it's useful to make the
assumption that they are unlikely to
take part in sports or recreation programs or even visit your community
centers, which means program brochures, email newsletters or even your
website may not be effective communication tools. A better method of reaching this audience, therefore, is to form
partnerships with local veterinarians,
pet stores, boarding facilities and dog
charities. Make use of their physical
locations to display print promotions,
and for online marketing, provide photos, graphics and press releases to make
it easy for businesses to share with their
customer base. To get the best return
on advertising dollars, form media
partnerships with any local dog publications, radio or TV programs, or create your own. In 2012, we developed
a special dog supplement for our local
newspaper, funded by advertising sold
to vendors attending the festival.
Finally, perhaps the most important
lesson we've learned from CSBarks
is to be more dog-like with your marketing and events. Keep things simple
(even a stick is exciting for a dog),
have fun and treat your audience like
they're all your best friends.
Ian Everett is the Marketing Specialist for
the Carol Stream Park District in Illinois
(iane@csparks.org).

December 2013 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2013 - Parks & Recreation