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ISSUE:
Banfield Pet Hospital is the largest pet general veterinary practice in the world, but the organization had a very limited presence New York City. Banfield turned to Coyne PR to help create rand awareness in New York, as well as drive foot traffic to their newest hospital, which was slated for a January 2011 opening in the NoHo section of Manhattan.
IDEA:
Coyne PR came up with a plan to pair Banfield with a well-known national animal charity headquartered in New York City. The organization agreed to the partnership and to provide several well-trained therapy animals for a media event. Less than two weeks before the event, the organization had to back out, as the animals were unavailable. Knowing the importance of driving media to the new hospital, Coyne switched gears and developed a New York celebrity pet look-alike contest. New Yorkers were invited to bring in furry friends who resembled local celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Mayor Bloomberg, Howard Stern and Donald Trump. Additionally, Coyne created a strategic partnership with a New York-based pet service to help spread the buzz about the new hospital.
IMPACT:
Leading up to the grand opening, Coyne PR landed a segment on the WPIX Morning Show, the number one rated local morning show in New York, featuring a preview of the celebrity look-alike contest and a Banfield veterinarian, who encouraged New Yorkers to come out to the opening. The segment was the purr-fect way to introduce New York to Banfield Pet Hospital! Coyne PR also secured a calendar listing in the New York Post to get the word out about the contest.
Despite frigid temperatures and the remnants of a second New York blizzard, media drooled over the celebrity pet look-alike contest. The New York Daily News ran a photo from the contest in the print version and a story about the contest was featured on the Daily News homepage. Yahoo! picked up the Daily News article and it became the third most-emailed story during the weekend of the grand opening. Additional coverage included AnimalPlanet.com, Examiner.com and TeddyHilton.com. To date, the NoHo grand opening has generated more than 240 million media impressions, more than all other grand openings combined.
Since the grand opening, the NoHo location has seen a steady increase in foot traffic, making it the most successful new hospital in the Banfield Pet Hospital practice.
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Pet Case Studies
