Branding: It Might Be Easier for Your Dog
Published on February 24, 2017, at 11:08 a.m.
by Briana Borcic.
Branding yourself isn’t easy. First, you must know who you are, what your aspirations and goals are, how you want people to perceive you and the impact you want to leave. There are many people who still don’t have the answers to these questions. As college students, how are we supposed to have the answers?
As it turns out, you don’t have to. You can forget about yourself and live through your pet. Leslie Mosier has done just that; she has branded her pet. You may have heard of or seen the undeniably adorable “Doug the Pug” — a pug famously known for his social media presence. In 2015, Mosier posted a video of Doug running around a Nashville park with a pug balloon tied to his waist. The video played “Best Friend” by Harry Nilsson in the background and melted millions of people’s hearts in just a few days, which would shortly translate to what Doug’s career would become.
Today, Doug the Pug has 2.4 million followers on Instagram, 352K followers on Twitter and over 5 million likes on Facebook. The popular pup has also been spotted with Ed Sheeran, Meghan Trainor, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, along with more of Hollywood’s A-listers. It’s safe to say that Doug has become a Hollywood socialite whom everyone wants in their clique.
Doug’s life wasn’t always glitz and glam. In an article on Motto, Mosier talks about how she had to quit her job at a record label and management company in Nashville so that she could become Doug’s full-time “Momager.” From there, she took on Doug’s social media as her main job and was prepared to post every day. After a few months of posting, Mosier started emailing prospective people to write a feature story on Doug. Mashable agreed to do an article, which led to the fame of “Doug the Pug” as a pet celebrity.
Whether branding your dog or branding yourself, Mosier gave four tips that can be useful to anyone.
1. Find what’s unique about your pet (or yourself).
2. Be ready for your launch — have all photos, portfolios or anything that is a part of your brand ready before you begin.
3. Post consistently.
4. Keep marketing.
Doug is probably having a hard time grasping his success, but Mosier proved with her PR skills and devotion that it is possible to brand yourself in an impactful way.
