BUCHAREST UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMIC STUDIES

THE FACULTY OF MARKETING

SEMESTER PROJECT

“THE BRAND NAME OF PETA”

COURSE TITLE: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MARKETING

TEAM MEMBERS: PLUGARU CAROLINA
PLOTNIC DANIEL
FACULTY: MARKETING IN ENGLISH
GOUP NO: 1750
SERIES: D
Abstract

This paper represents an analysis of one of the largest animal rights non-profit organization in
the world: “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)”. The paper highlights the
importance of the company’s brand name, and the way it is perceived by other people, which
represents a crucial factor in the decision making towards donation for a certain non-profit
organization. In addition to that, the paper provides information about the importance of main
promotional techniques, PETA is using in order to build their brand name, and at the same time
raise awareness towards animal cruelty around the world.

Keywords: brand name, brand personality, campaigns, awareness, promotional strategies.

Introduction

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a non-profit organization founded in
1980 by Ingrid Newkirk, and based in Norfolk, Virginia. This organization has over tree million
members and supporters around the world, and at the same time it is considered to be the largest
animal rights group in the world. PETA is mostly known for its drastic, sometimes aggressive
and unconventional campaigns; having the following brand proposition “Animals are not ours
to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any way.” PETA organization
focuses on three main areas in which animals suffer harm, and these are: entertainment
industry, clothing stores, and factory farms. Thus their marketing campaigns always include a
documentation of the conditions which are showing the way animals are treated in various
conditions.

Brand Name

In the commercial context, Aaker (1996) defines brand name as a distinctive set of brand
associations, that reflect what the brand stands for, and at the same time they depict the
organization’s promise of value to their target audience. Although it is known that at the genesis
of the PETA’s success stands its strong brand personality; which can be described as being
emotionally affecting, alluring and contentious. These characteristics can be seen even on the
organization’s website especially on the use of language, and images thus all of them having
an aggressive and drastic tone. PETA is known to use also dramatic colors like bright bolded
red and exclamation points in order to express a drastic tone. PETA’s brand image was build
on a lot of techniques which involve emotional appeals, in order to trigger people’s feelings
when they see photos of dead, distressed and abused animals, thus also when they see stories
of animals that this organisation has saved.

PETA’s brand name is also built on keeping their promises of saving more and more animals,
and thus because of this supporters who are moved by PETA’s mission are able to fill in their
information and donate to save more animals with just one click. With this, the organization’s
brand personality continues to be enhanced due to the fact that supporters are able to express
their identity by repserenting the organisation.This allows supporters to create an emotional
attachment because they aspire to create an ideal self by donating to the cause.
A huge part of PETA’s prosperity can be featured to their use of celebrity endorsements as
being means of influencing other people. There is one distinct campaign that is true to type
with the organization’s brand personality is „Fur is Dead” where celebrities posed naked with
a caption that read “Rather go naked than wear fur”. This campaign was used by PETA in order
to gain awareness on animal killing for the use of fur in the fashion industries, and to contribute
to prohibition of the idea of selling fur. Alongside with realistic and scary images of pets who
suffered abuse PETA uses this type of techniques in order to make the audience feel
uncomfortable and create a call to action.

Conclusion
As a conclusion, it is crucial to mention that PETA does an amazing job for getting their brand
name and purpose out there. Thus playing with people’s emotions represent a factor that defines
PETA due to the fact that most people remember their commercials for using fear as an
advertising appeal, which in return increases viewer’s interest in the advertisement. Many
individuals tend to remember advertisements with fear appeals, and tend to process faster the
information it presents. This organization is very strategic and pushy, and their goal is to match
and create a correlation between the feelings that the viewer expresses and the main message
that their commercials transmit. . The main purpose of their commercials is to invoke mercy
feelings, frustration and emotions that have at its base sadness. All this has gotten them a lot of
publicity and at the same time contributed to the creation of a strong brand name.