HeARTs Speak is thrilled to announce that it has been named one of the two finalists in the 2018 Innovation Showdown, a collaborative investment project launched by the nation’s top animal welfare organizations. HeARTs Speak submitted a proposal to create an online, cloud-based, mobile-friendly tool called Petblicity, an all-in-one marketing assistant for every shelter, rescue, and animal advocacy organization.
Marketing, in all its various forms, presents a challenge for many animal welfare organizations in both concept and application. Petblicity provides an innovative and comprehensive marketing solution that empowers them to create new content, promote their services on multiple platforms and connect with community members.
With Petblicity, shelters and rescues of every shape, size, and budget will be able to edit, design, and distribute marketing materials of all kinds.
Alongside the City of Sacramento’s Front Street Animal Shelter and an additional wildcard finalist, HeARTs Speak’s innovative pitch earned them a top spot and the chance to compete for $350,000 in the final round of Innovation Showdown, which will take place in Kansas City, MO at the Humane Society of the United States’ Animal Care Expo on May 16th. Collaborative funding investors Petco Foundation, Maddie’s Fund, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, The Jackson Galaxy Project, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, and the Watershed Animal Fund will participate in the grand finale and choose the winner of the 2018 Innovation Showdown live during the conference.
HeARTs Speak’s innovation, Petblicity, aims to provide the platform, tools, and content to make marketing more easily and immediately actionable for users of all skill-sets and backgrounds. From promoting adoptable animals to creating community outreach and fundraising collateral to building social media posts, to providing helpful photography tips, Petblicity can assist from start to finish.
With tight constraints on the time, training, and resources devoted to marketing in the animal welfare field, the need for a portable, all-in-one solution is clear. Not only will Petblicity provide the space for editing, creating and distributing marketing content, but It also integrates workflow management, an interactive + collaborative community of users, and the skill-building tutorials needed to help animal welfare organizations create effective marketing materials.
The importance of this kind of tool will impact not just the staff, volunteers and organizations using Petblicity, but the communities in which shelters and rescues exist. Adoption accounts for 25-30% of pet acquisition every year, and it’s estimated that 17 million of those seeking a pet each year are undecided about where/how they will get one (source: HSUS/Shelter Pet Project/Ad Council, 2014). The smallest shift in how the public thinks about pet adoption and our agencies would account for thousands of lives being saved in our field.
Marketing represents the way in which we can reach out to those people and influence the way they perceive pet adoption, the work that shelters and rescues do in the community, and about our approachability as a field. By giving every organization a platform with which to create changes in their communication and marketing, we are able to reach out to those 17 million potential adopters and convert them to our cause, increasing our ability to save lives as a field.
“The Innovation Showdown aspires to encourage ideas that will change the landscape of animal welfare,” explained Susanne Kogut, the Petco Foundation Executive Director. HeARTs Speak is proud to have created a concept that will do just that: Change the way that we approach marketing and content creation in the field, and most importantly, with a lifesaving return on investment!
