our clients > pdsa
THE CLIENT
PDSA, formerly known as the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, is the UK’s largest veterinary organisation, delivering more than 1.8 million free treatments to animals whose owners cannot afford private vets’ fees – as the charity slogan puts it, ‘pets in need of vets’.
STRATEGY AND PLAN
Mason Media was retained by PDSA in September 2007 following a successful crisis management project with a view to building the charity’s profile among national media in this its 90th year. The organisation’s directors identified two initial priorities: the relaunch of its Pet Fit Club to tackle animal obesity and to build anticipation ahead of the reopening of PDSA’s animal cemetery in Ilford. Mason Media orchestrated the campaigns for both national and regional print and broadcast media.
MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION
Pet Fit Club had its most successful ever launch with coverage for the launch day reaching £250,000. A live GMTV interview, BBC Radio 1, local radio stations across the country, the Daily Sport, Metro and regional newspapers including the Glasgow Evening Times, Liverpool Echo, Brighton Evening Argus, Plymouth Evening Herald all included lengthy articles. Further coverage was secured on international news websites including BBC News Online, Sky News Online and Ananova.
The teaser campaign and opening proper of the restored animal cemetery also proved to be popular with both national, local and international print and broadcast media. The highlights included the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail, Evening Standard, ITV London Tonight, The BBC One Show and British Forces Broadcasting. Coverage for the story on one day totalled more than £1.4million.
RESULTS
The coverage from our initial activity significantly raised the profile of PDSA among national, regional and local broadcast and print media.
Since then, Mason Media has continued to generate high profile coverage for the charity across a wealth of media, including most recently coverage over three nights on the BBC’s One Show.
