Digital Communication Week 3 - PETA

Why?

How?

PETA promote their message and their views through campaigns, protests and through just generally raising awareness of the treatment of animals etc. (everything stated above in their ‘Mission Statement’).  They have set up a foundation to actively help animals and they are currently working in conjunction with other organisations and charities (such as charities that help with abuse of domesticated animals). They have set up volunteering programs for those individuals that want to get more involved and in turn, this advertising is raising awareness on a global scale.

Just some examples of public protests:

   

What?

What is it PETA actually does? Ultimately they claim that their main original aim was to purely raise awareness on the horrible conditions and the disgusting things that happen to animals. Things that we as consumers of meat products, or purchasers of fur clothing etc. are blindly unaware of. However, they couldn’t stop there! They couldn’t settle for just putting the message out there, now they are actively trying to change the laws and change the way people not only think about, but also how they now act towards animals. They are aiming to adjust a nations attitude on the subject; an ambitious, but feasible target, one that they are striving to achieve. 

PETA's BHAG?

‘People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of all animals. PETA operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment.’

New Community building plan:

Context: Communication within a Network Society is key for success. An organisation has to get the correct balance right between the company, the individuals (consumers/target audience) and the media that links these two together. Where PETA has correctly performed this communication is through there use of social media (especially Facebook). They have created an online platform where their message may be perceived perfectly. They can be found to be posting regularly online, either photos or videos of graphic content or messages and petitions that people may get involved with. Through this, they have created and maintained a connection with their audience that has enabled them to remain present and evolved in people’s decisions and way of changing their attitude. Another thing they have ‘mastered’ is getting their name known through use of petitions and protests. They are known for publicly displaying their opinions effectively. They target the right places and environments and they stay strong to their beliefs.

Consumer: It is hard to focus on one specific new consumer, as PETA do not have a particular audience they target, as they want to get their message out to everyone. I do believe that they should be focusing on a new demographic, such as age. If they focus more specifically on a particular age range (i.e. 18-30) which is the reportedly the ages that decide to buy most pets, then they may be able to put across their message better and more efficiently. Like any audience, if they think they are being targeted as individuals and not just as a general crowd, then they are more like to listen.

Community: Online community behaviour is amongst the soul reason PETA have built their reputation so strong. There isn’t essentially a ‘buying behaviour’ as such, however it is important to remember that PETA have recruited over 3 million members (and supporters) according to their homepage and also can be found on their personal Wikipedia page. As for their online media consumption – like I have previously mentioned in my prior blog post they have a heavy online community and following. On Facebook alone they have over 4 million followers to date.

The number of followers is increasing rapidly daily. 

Connection: It is hard to propose a new ‘why’ when their existing mission statement is so clear and concise and one that I very much agree is a good one. By connecting the ideas I have stated in context, consumer and community, I think there is a definite link to some new and fresh proposals that will work in original and innovative ways. I do however believe that the new value proposition has to include many of PETA’s existing elements (as they have been proven to work effectively to the organisation’s benefit).