Thinking big about small creatures

Found Animals appeals to pet lovers

American attitudes towards pet ownership are changing, and for the better. More and more people are choosing to adopt homeless animals. Progress is being made in promoting humane treatment, along with programs to keep animal populations manageable.

This is the environment that Found Animals, an independent, privately funded nonprofit foundation, supports.

Finding a new way to tackle the issue of pet welfare

Established in 2005 by Dr. Gary Michelson as a result of the devastating impact Hurricane Katrina had on separating thousands of pets from their owners, Found Animals brings a clear and expansive vision to its mission of protecting the happiness and safety of animals.

Rather than focusing on just one thing, Found Animals has created a constantly evolving ecosystem of efforts. This spirit of ongoing innovation springs from the foundation’s tight focus on its goal of eliminating the need for animal euthanasia. For Found Animals, this is the only measure of success that matters. When new concepts are tested, only those that advance the cause significantly receive continued funding.

Successful Found Animals initiatives include:

• Research funding for nonsurgical sterilization technology
• Lost pet/owner reunification through microchip implants
• Affordable spay/neuter initiatives
• Education and support for owners who surrender their pets
• Support of shelters both traditional and alternative
• Facilities that reinvent the traditional concept of adoption centers

Given the complexity of the issues it is looking to solve, Found Animals fully understands the importance of reaching out to the pet community in a broad variety of ways to foster awareness, engagement and support. This understanding is at the heart of services like Found Animals’ Adopt & Shop, a self-funded, integrated adoption and retail center.

Adopt & Shop is a safe haven where prospective owners can meet adoptable animals in a cheerful environment very different from a traditional animal shelter. Adopt & Shop also offers retail sales of curated pet products, with all revenue funneled back into Found Animals. Pet owners know that every dollar they spend is going to support the foundation’s mission.

Found Animals’ other consumer-facing program, the Microchip Registry, adds to the foundation’s mosaic of no-kill initiatives. By helping to reunify lost pets with their owners, it keeps animals out of shelters and gets them back where they belong – at home, safe and sound. Every animal adopted through Adopt & Shop is chipped and registered, so owners are assured that their new pets are well protected. This Register extends to all chips no matter the manufacturer – and for free.

Placing animal lovers at the center of the experience

When Found Animals first came to Tenet Partners, it was looking for a new identity system for its Microchip Registry. Our strategists soon uncovered a much larger opportunity at hand – a way to not only grow the microchip program, but also bring everything that Found Animals does into the limelight to help the organization advance in its overall mission.

The key to gaining greater attention for Found Animals’ core mission was to focus the brand on the people it serves – the pet community at large and especially those who ultimately open their hearts and homes to animals. Tenet strategists and designers crafted a new master brand, messaging and supporting identity systems for each of the organization’s units. All are linked by a sense of playfulness and vibrant color, communicating the idea that Found Animals is on the animal’s side.

Keeping more tails wagging

Found Animals timed its moves perfectly to capture growing trends among American animal lovers. Today, people are willing to spend more money to keep their pets safe, healthy and happy. And, thanks to media coverage and social consciousness about ethical animal treatment, there’s more interest than ever before in adopting pets.

The results speak for themselves. With more cohesive messaging and stronger visual branding to support it, Found Animals has achieved:

• 30% greater social media engagement
• Twice the sales, three times the website visits and an increase of 169% in registrations for the microchip registry
• The unique $5 million Adopt & Shop location in Culver City, California, exceeded its retail and adoption revenue goals by 23% in the first five months – and is seeing increasing store traffic

Found Animals is now well on its way to doing something all too seldom seen: bringing a good cause into the mainstream and making it part of people’s everyday lives. More than 15,000 shelter animals now have happy homes as a result – and that’s the kind of result that matters most.