When ‘Oscar, the meanest moggy in Britain’ shot to fame across national press last week our marketing team were somewhat amused and bemused! Why? Because his owner is none other than our very own head of marketing, Caroline Hughes.
Forgetting the subject matter, we were fascinated that such a small local story could go international, literally overnight. “How did it begin and how can we replicate this?” was our ‘ever-questioning’ marketing team’s first response.
It started local; a simple press release to local papers, just to find a missing cat. You’ve got to provide a hook of course so the fact that the cat had a run-in with a neighbour back in May and appeared on TV in 2010 had to be included!
Sure enough the local press picked it up. And that probably would’ve been the end. But then, an anonymous neighbour called the paper to express anger that Oscar was now back (after being found some 34 miles away… hmmm?). The journalist smelt a continuation story and quickly asked Caroline if he could run a nice “he’s back” story (with no mention of the deep local hatred felt for poor Oscar). A short photo shoot captured a few choice ‘scary’ images of Oscar and the story hit the local headlines again, with a far more venomous edge to it than expected.
Then came the endless stream of comments posted online… enough to rank the article so high that it ticked the boxes for a national press agency. Once it was ‘beefed up’ a little more and was circulated ‘on the wire’ from them, there was literally no stopping it!
The next day Oscar’s household was woken at first light by press, TV and radio in what seemed like a never ending stream of media folk requesting interview after interview. The story had already been picked up by the Metro, Daily Mail, Daily Express, BBC and Sky News and even an Arab paper plus many more. And by the next day it had hit France and Switzerland too where it featured on the front page, a street billboard and even a cartoon strip!
With so much engagement with their online article, the Daily Mail then asked to run a more balanced weekend feature. This included a full feline photo shoot, cat charity donation in Oscar’s honour and full hair and make-up (not for the cat though, in case you were wondering).
One thing’s for sure, it was a rich media training experience for Caroline! But why exactly did it go international?
Engagement, engagement, engagement is the answer. It’s not about what you push out there, it’s the reaction to it that sends it viral (be it laughter, disgust or anger). By using quotes that incited hatred towards a cat, the papers were able to stir enough feeling from the general public to make them post comments and even argue with each other online. Proof of that engagement turned a local story into one that would sell worldwide. Plus everyone loves a bit of cattitude too, apparently!
So, is he really that mean? Of course not! He’s just a big pussy cat….
P.S. Oscar’s on Facebook too. Pawtographs available from Caroline on request (sorry, we couldn’t resist).
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