.

It’s *Really* Not Weird At All

Each Sunday I read the NY Times Business section first. After the front page my secret pleasure is reading the The Chatter section. Today I read my name and business there, in the form of a quote from a Dogster article the NY Times ran Thursday.

“It’s Not Weird At All�? - Ted Rheingold, on Dogster the online social networking site for dogs that he founded and that has more than 340,000 four-legged members

I suppose they think the joke’s on us. However, had the editors taken note of how many of their readers joined the site after reading the original article, they may realize we’re the ones who are laughing. Woof!

.

Notes on a Record Day for Dogster and Catster

The effect of the great NY Times article about Dogster, the announcement of the World’s Coolest Dog and Cat Show winners and our bi-weekly newsletter going out to 278,000 members meant we broke a number of site records.

On December 6th, 2007 the following records were broken.

Most unique visitors in a day:

  • » 53,530 unique visitors came to the site.

Most dog profiles added in a day:

  • » 958 dog profiles were completed. (breaks the longstanding record of 901 from Feb 20, 2004 when we were Slashdotted)

Most banner ads served in a day:

  • » We served 2,124,194 banner impressions. (This does not include sponsorships, homepage inclusions and newsletter inclusions.)

What this says to us clearly is that even though Dogster.com is almost 4 years old, and collectively our sites have over 550,000 members, we’re still pre-mainstream and we still have much to offer to many more people.

Another interesting note is that when the site launched, Dogster was most often described as “the Friendster for dogs.” A year and a half later, it was “the MySpace for dogs.” Now it’s “the Facebook for dogs.” While fads in other social networks have come and gone, we are still the top-dog of pet-focused online sociality. Woof and meow!

.

World’s Coolest Cat Category Winners Announced

wc07_logo_sm.gifThe World’s Coolest Dog and Cat Show is our annual photo contest that has become the biggest pet contest in the world. This year over 30,000 entrants received over 3 million votes to determine the top 5 finalists in each of the 15 dog categories.

The Best in Show Winners, chosen by popular vote, have already been announced, but our celebrity judges, including Cesar Millan, Dr. Marty Becker and I Can Has Cheezburger, determined the winners in each category. The wisdom of the crowds speaks volumes here. These photos are amazing! (Grabcodes are available on the winner pages.)

So with no further ado, the winners for…

Daredevil

Pixel May is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Pixel

Wet Cat

Little Bear is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Little Bear

Craziest Tail

Curly is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Curly

Naughtiest

(Still Seeking) Solace is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
(Still Seeking) Solace

Costumes & Shades

Gordy is Best in Show at Catster.com!
Gordy

Best Friends

Lola is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Lola

Stretch & Yawn

Sandara is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Sandara

Playful

Vladimir Punikki is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Vladimir Punikki

Scaredy Cat

Bud is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Bud

Sitting Cat

Vladimir Punikki is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Vladimir Punikki

Captivated Cat

Mao is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Mao

Climber

Kyrre is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Kyrre

Sleeper

Bubba Jack is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Bubba Jack

Funny Face

Pippin is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Pippin

Outdoor & Country Cats

Joey is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!
Joey

Dog Winners Can Be Seen Here

.

World’s Coolest Dog Category Winners Announced

wc07_logo_sm.gifThe World’s Coolest Dog and Cat Show is our annual photo contest that has become the biggest pet contest in the world. This year over 30,000 entrants received over 3 million votes to determine the top 5 finalists in each of the 15 dog categories.

The Best in Show Winners, chosen by popular vote, have already been announced, but our celebrity judges, including Cesar Millan, Dr. Marty Becker and I Can Has Cheezburger, determined the winners in each category. The wisdom of the crowds speaks volumes here. These photos are amazing! (Grabcodes are available on the winner pages.)

So with no further ado, the winners for…

Ball or Frisbee Player

Rocco is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Tongue/Slobber

Bailey, NPC is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Naughtiest Dog

Daisy is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Sports Fan

Pete is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Patriotic

Manny is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Purse Dog

Dakota is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Best Friends

Gunner is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Smiles and Grins

Otis is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Craziest Tail

Moki is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Costumes & Shades

Sandi is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Jumper

Alisa is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Sleeper

Pedro Leaftroff Bodagendogg is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Car Dog

Hazard is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Working Dog

Badger, TDI is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Water Dog

Goldie is a Worlds Coolest Winner! at Dogster.com!

Cat Winners Can Be Seen Here

.

World’s Coolest Best in Show Winners Crowned

wc07_logo_sm.gifThe World’s Coolest Dog and Cats Show is our annual photo contest that has become the biggest pet contest in the world. This year over 30,000 entrants were reviewed by over 3 million votes. The community then voted on Best in Show from all the dog finalists and cat finalists.

So with no further ado, I’d like to present the Best In Show photo winners for the 2007 World’s Coolest Dog and Cat Show.

BEST IN SHOW DOG
Dazzle is a wonderfully photogenic 2-year-old female Border Collie mix. He had a second photo in the finals and a couple more just barely missed.

Dazzle is Best in Show at Dogster.com!

 
BEST IN SHOW CAT
Gordy

Gordy is Best in Show at Catster.com!

.

NY Times: Why Dogster and Catster Work

NY Times: Why Dogster and Catster Work
 
Check your Thursday New York Times Fashion & Style section for Michelle Slatalla’s great article on her experience joining Dogster.

Michelle joined the site in mid-November after her existing networks could not help her resolve a long-standing problem with her dogs. She made Dogster profiles for Otto and Sticky and posted her problem in our forums.

Members responded immediately (they always do), and after a little back and forth she got the solution that had eluded her family for so long.

I think the below quote sums up why we’ve been so successful. Though any engineer or entrepreneur can launch web community features, building and growing web communities that both draw in and retain active users year after year is the real trick, and it’s the nut we’ve cracked.

“All these people come for the same reason everyone else is on the Internet: they found people who are like-minded,” Mr. Rheingold said. “They were missing what I call a certain kind of sociality in their lives, and this is the place where they found it.”

You can read the NYT article online, or read their previous coverage of our business.

.

Pup-Peroni Advertises Their Dogster Presence in Newspapers Nationwide

Pup-Peroni Dogster 2007 Holiday Newspaper Insert

On Sunday December 2nd Pup-Peroni ran the following promotional coupon advertisement in a color insert that ran in millions of newspapers nationwide.

By carefully growing Dogster and Catster into trusted nationwide brands, our advertising relationships provide us marketing channels that are financially impossible for a business our size. Advertisers benefit from promoting their presence on our site because they know that as well as financially benefiting from having a presence in our community, they financially benefit by letting new offline consumers know they are the kind of company that really cares about their customers. Other examples of closed-loop relationships we have deployed with Disney (onsite, offsite), 9-Lives Cat Food (onsite, offsite) and Shutterfly (onsite, offsite).

This Pup-Peroni insert inclusion is simply the next progression of our Integrated Brand Campaign formula which along with our Triangle of Trust approach is rewarding for the advertiser, publisher and customer alike. Not only are we promoting Pup-Peroni around our site to show they are a trustworthy brand that provides on-site benefits to our members, they are welcoming new offline customers by directing them to those same features. Both Dogster members and the new offline viewers of the ad benefit from Pup-Peroni’s on-site features w/o having to buy anything.

An irrefutable fact to anyone working on the frontline of direct-buy web advertising is that short-term direct calls-to-action banner campaigns do not generate an ROI that is anywhere near that achieved by deploying long-term brand brand campaigns. Moving forward straight banner buys will be less and less common and deeper, integrated, meaningful campaigns will be what advertising agencies are expecting.

Brand Campaigns Are a Step-Function

Step 1: Establish a trusted presence.

Pup-Peroni becomes a long-term site sponsor

Step 2: Establish a brand allegiance.

Pup-Peroni launches the Lifestyle Lounge within Dogster to help find local pet-friendly locales near you.

Step 3: Invite prospective customer to directly participate with the brand.

Pup-Peroni will launch a banner campaign on the site offering product coupons to all members.

The beauty of brand campaigns is that not only are they designed to leave a lasting impression on a prospective customer, they prime the pump such that the advertiser can actually execute successful direct call-to-action campaigns once the trust and allegiance bond has formed.

Pup-Peroni understands it’s not about turning an eyeball into a one-time clicker or coupon-user. It’s about turning a prospective customer into a lifetime customer. Pup-Peroni understands that directing offline people to their landing page on our site is good business for them, because it shows prospective customers they are a dog treat company dedicated to the wonder, joy and responsibility of being a dog owner or guardian and thus can be trusted as much.

Campaigns such as this do not happen by chance. They happen because of our co-founder, Steven Reading, who has spent years learning how to bring customers, advertisers and media together into a single trusted space.