Pound for Pound

Integration , gamification, blogesphere… what can we say we love catchy one liners. One word that’s become uber popular is transparency. You can’t leave a marketing meeting without hearing that faithful term. You see, companies and brands used to be all about secrets, even their recipes were kept hush-hush. Consumers were left in the dark and were rarely asked if they even liked the 11 herbs and spices. Today that’s all changed. After the economic crash and the rise of the Internet, everyone realized that transparency is a good thing. Being forthcoming and honest can really pay off. This newfound openess has led to many ingenious marketing campaigns, one that stands out for me right now is TheUnderdogClub.org

Advertising for a dog pound can be a downer. So many pets without homes is really sad and that’s how it’s been marketed in the past. Ads that tug at your heartstrings with cute cuddly shots. It works. The Underdog Club has done the complete opposite. They are telling it like it is. The pets they are trying to find homes for are classified under old, ugly and unpopular. Each pet is accompanied with an honest tale of where they’ve come from and what they’re like and its not always sweet and happy. There’s no sugarcoating, but somehow it’s touching in a whole new way. And lets not forget the design, the site is beautifully crafted; the look and writing are first class.

From what I’ve heard, this project is a complete success. Dogs with attitudes, deceased owners or plain ole bad luck are now is nice warm homes. To be completely transparent myself, if I didn’t have severe allergies I’d adopt Demi the standard poodle.