Kicking Cow Celebrates St. Patrick's Day

We’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day 2017 with the Herd’s favorite Irishman, the one and only Mike O’Leary, founder and president of Kicking Cow.

Mike opened the barn doors 17 years ago, initially working with two pillar clients: Nestle Purina and Hallmark. The barn has grown tremendously since those days, but we still remember to enjoy the interests of our fearless leader.

As the name O’Leary suggests, Mike comes from a strong stock of Irishmen. This is seen just as equally through his spirited St. Patrick’s Day celebrations as it is through Kicking Cow’s competitive work ethic.

A few quick words with Mr. President (of the Herd) himself:

What is your favorite St. Patrick’s Day tradition?

Mike: Not sure if it is an official tradition or not, but my Dad used to get several dozen green carnations and present them to the all the ladies he encountered that day- the ladies at his office, out at the pubs and of course he always had a very nice bouquet of them for Mom.  

I just love seeing a lady smile when she gets one. You always get a smile when you hand a lady a green carnation on St. Patty’s Day and every once in a while a kiss on the cheek if you have the luck of the Irish.

Speaking of tradition, why did you choose historic Laclede’s Landing as home to the Barn?

Mike: I wanted to be in the city as my family has a business that has been located at 1909 Cole St. since 1873, so it just made sense to me.  I love the city of St. Louis and I love downtown St. Louis. From Washington Ave. to Soulard to Lafayette Square to Forest Park to Dogtown to Laclede’s Landing- there is so much rich and colorful history this city has to offer. Now I can’t think of any other place I would want our offices to be located. We are as much a part of the Landing as the Landing is a part of St. Louis.

What are you most proud of as the owner of Kicking Cow?

Mike: I am proud of all the Herd members who have passed through the Barn and then went on to bigger and better things both professionally and personally.  I have a deep debt of gratitude for the time they gifted our Herd as they each left their own personal stamp- or should I say brand-  on the Cow. 

What is our favorite part of the company culture you’ve created at Kicking Cow?

Mike: You give me way too much credit thinking that I created a company culture here. The Herd, past and present, created the culture. I merely try to provide my team with the tools and freedom to take the Cow where they want it to go.  Sometimes it’s worked, other times not so much. In the end I think the one line to describe our culture would be “we work hard and we play hard!”

What habits make you a successful leader of both the agency and your employees?

Mike: I’ll let you know when I become a successful leader…

What lessons have you learned as Shepherd of the Herd over the last 17 years?

 Mike: Oh, where to start! I learned quite a bit over the years; however, putting those learnings into action are not as easy as one might think. I guess the main lesson I learned is to afford all of your mistakes. If you can do that and still have some money left in the bank at the end of the year- well, I guess some folks would call that being successful.

When a Dog Wins the Show...

As an agency, sticking with a client means finding a partner we trust and appreciate. Purina Pro Plan, one of our original pillar clients, has filled this role for Kicking Cow since we first opened the barn doors 17 years ago.

Year after year, we’re honored to bring Purina’s excellence to life through our prep work, behind-the-scenes on-site production and execution of high-impact experiential live event campaigns. We’re particularly proud of our role in promoting Purina Pro Plan at the three North American dog shows they sponsor throughout the country.

In addition to managing and staffing various elements of the dog shows, and to bring increased value to our role within Purina’s sponsorship, we provide our client with footprint counts, impression counts, sampling rate and in-depth social media overview of the activation.

The Kicking Cow herd engages with consumers at the dog shows to build on the Purina Pro Plan relationship and the Purina Pro Club’s continual support of the breeder community.

Beverly Hills Dog Show

In 2017, Purina launched its inaugural sponsorship of the Beverly Hills Dog Show, which taped at the beginning of March, and is scheduled to air on USA Network this Easter.

During our successful trip to sunny California we manned the Purina Pro Plan booth at the dog show. We support our client by interacting with the breeder community that heavily supports Purina Pro Plan as the nutrition of choice for their dogs.

We are responsible for the set-up, tear down and overall production work for our client at the show. Within the impactful footprint, we sampled three products, including two of the newest and most innovative formulas in the brand’s portfolio.

The 15’ x 50’ space featured a shelf set complete with the brand’s full line of food, the myPLAN kiosks and informative graphics that highlight upcoming product releases and mainstay dog and cat food formulas.

Additionally, as the managing agency of the Purina Pro Plan Performance Team, it was in our bucket of to-dos to book and bring out one of the impressive trainer and dog duos to perform live during the show.

Kicking Cow has marketed and managed the Purina Pro Plan Performance Team for over a decade. We schedule the branded canine athletic exhibition to join dog shows, fairs, festivals, and major sporting events to act as a multi-branded entertainment property to increase equity in the Purina brand.

 

Westminster Dog Show

At this dog show, our job at Kicking Cow is to increase awareness of the entire Purina Pro Plan platform. We staff multiple Purina Pro Plan booths at the event and provide samples of Purina Pro Plan’s premiere dog show brand.

We work hard to reach our goal to increase the awareness of the entire Purina Pro Plan platform by coordinating the sampling of dry dog and cat food and treats. In 2017, we focused on the promotion of Purina Pro Plan Bright Mind 7+ and Pro Plan Prime Plus, for older dogs and cats.

At each of the dog shows we also bring along the myPLAN kiosks to help consumers find the right Purina Pro Plan food plan for their pet. We’ve worked with the myPLAN kiosks since their launch and aided in the development of the experiential tool. Each consumer who uses the kiosk gets emailed a coupon in addition to a coupon supplied on site by staff to thank them for completing the survey.

At the Westminster Dog Show, our client proudly shared that 98 of the top 100 dogs in the country are Purina Pro Plan fed. As an agency, we worked hard to promote this fact amongst an array of other great client-focused content.

We set up a product display at the Purina Pro Plan booth to replicate a store display. We also coordinate and set up a large video wall backdrop with looped brand messaging to highlight the client.

National Dog Show

For years, Purina has been a sponsor of the respected National Dog Show.

Kicking Cow attends the dog show extravaganza during the filming in Philadelphia to promote Purina Pro Plan’s critical involvement in the health and wellness of a sweeping majority of the competing dogs. It is filmed a week before Thanksgiving and annually airs NBC on Thanksgiving Day.

At the National Dog Show, we interact with consumers and the breeder community through the myPLAN kiosks, sampling, shelf sets, and a large video wall backdrop.

We also bring out the Purina Pro Plan Performance Team to wow the crowds with the agility of Pro Plan fed dogs.

Mardi Gras Goes to the Dogs

For twelve years, Kicking Cow has planned and activated the world’s largest costumed pet parade. The Beggin' Pet Parade is a cornerstone Mardi Gras celebration in St. Louis. This year, the parade fell on Sunday, February 19, a pleasantly warm, sunny day.

Between the beautiful weather and tremendous turnout, successfully executing the Beggin' sponsorship was, yet again, a highlight of our year. This year there were over 1,000 pre-registered pets and many more that registered the day of. The streets were packed with happy pets and owners soaking up the sunshine, making new friends, and of course getting lots of Beggin’ treats as they paraded throughout Soulard. 

The parade is part celebratory, part competition, and most importantly, part charity event. A $10 donation per pet goes directly toward the Open Door Animal Sanctuary.

This cutie was crowned Queen at the 2017 Beggin' Pet Parade Coronation.

Learn from the Herd

Successfully Coordinate Multiple Activations At a Single Event

The Kicking Cow herd juggles these five moving pieces at the Beggin' Pet Parade

Registration

Prejudging

Parade

VIP Area 

Coronation

“On event day, we were tasked with coordinating five vital pieces to occur seamlessly within a tight schedule. Meticulous planning and great teamwork make it possible for us to ensure a large-scale event like the Beggin' Pet Parade goes off without a hitch. We work behind the scenes making sure all participants and nine finalists make it through the parade to the coronation stage within a 45-minute window in the middle of the event,” said Kicking Cow Account Executive, Kathleen Kuhar.

What a beautiful day for the @STLMardiGras #BegginPetParade! pic.twitter.com/F9t29lRzQT

— Rachelle Peck (@rachellepecktv) February 19, 2017

Party pup 🎉 @beggin #begginpetparade

A post shared by Lizzie, Kylie, Sandman (@muttsoftowergrove) on Feb 19, 2017 at 8:53pm PST

“It’s definitely a busy day for our staff, but we love putting on an excellent community event that makes headlines around the world,” Kuhar said. “We get to see the costume creativity of pet owners and bask in the joy it brings everyone, pets and humans alike, who come out to join us.”

Learn more about the Beggin' Pet Parade 2017 winners!