Westminster Dog Show Reaches New Generation of Fans with Return to NYC

Marking its 147th year, The Westminster Dog Show is back in New York City. This year’s event will take place for the first time at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, starting with Canine Celebration Day activities on Saturday, 5/6, and ending with the Best-In-Show winner announced on Tuesday, 5/9. To get fans, both new and old excited about there being more events open than ever before to the public, the Westminster Kennel Club has partnered with New York-based creative agency GLOW, who has led the event’s marketing strategy for the past 11 years. 

In recent years, statistics have proven that millennials and gen z are dedicated dog owners, with some survey results showing that these two generations are more inclined to have a dog than have children. 

GLOW’s team has been working to modernise this illustrious event by bringing awareness to these younger generations through on-site and remote social media coverage during each phase of the show on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. GLOW’s revitalised social campaign strategy includes organic social content and live coverage, on-the-ground fan content, influencer promotion, and stunts with the goal of encouraging fans to buy tickets and tune in for the Show.  

“With The Westminster Dog Show back to NYC, it feels like the perfect time to dial up our marketing strategy and connect with a wider audience,” said Gail Miller Bisher, director of communications at the Westminster Kennel Club. “Through a refreshed social approach we hope to excite dog lovers and give them a front-row seat to all of the action.” 

For the first time in WKC social history, WKC has partnered with FOX Social to implement a real-time broadcast clipping strategy to post broadcast content (videos, GIFs) in real-time on the Westminster social accounts. GLOW and FOX will be working closely throughout each phase of the show and FOX will air the live coverage nationally. 

Well-known NYC-based influencers such as The Dogist partnered with WKC to create custom content during the pre-show phase. During the Press Preview, Mad Max Fluffy Road will even make an appearance.

This year, GLOW helped spearhead a partnership between Westminster Kennel Club and the New York Mets leading up to the 147th show. On 4/28, Mets players also had the chance to interact with some of the agility dogs and answer some dog-related questions during their batting practice, driving awareness to where tickets can be purchased and letting fans know the Mets are WKC's new Queens-based neighbours. The ticket giveaway, which was an in-game promotion during the 4/29 game, resulted in the Mets giving away four tickets to the Saturday show. On 5/6, Mrs. Met will make an appearance for Canine Celebration Day to represent the team and cheer on our agility dogs during the preliminary rounds.

WKC is pursuing a couple of new sponsor partnerships this year; ECOVACS for a Best at Home Contest and with Playology for the Playology Pets Ready Ring. Purina ProPlan is back as the presenting partner of the 147th Show and will support all show promos and countdowns. ProPlan is also the presenting partner for the 10th Anniversary Masters Agility Championship and will collaborate with WKC during pre-show and Westminster Week content. Embark will be sponsoring breed trivia and trading cards for another year. Cosequin will continue to sponsor the Reflecting on a Show Dog’s Life franchise, previously known as Reflecting on the Win. Cosequin’s newest sponsorship is the Dock Diving and Demo ring that will occur on Canine Celebration Day. 

Additional sponsorship partnerships that are becoming yearly events:

• Trupanion Vet of the Year: This campaign honours and celebrates the veterinarians who make a difference in our pets’ lives, and is led by GLOW via nominations on social media. 
• Cosequin Valor Service Dog: Established in 2022 and in honour of Betty White, a former service member, WKC partnered with Cosequin to adopt pup Betty Valor who is training to become a service dog for wounded veterans and first responders. Betty will be on-site at the show again this year and GLOW will capture content for WKC’s social media channels. 

Other highlights from the social campaign include:

• Fan Cam: GLOW will engage fans to share their experience at the new venue where they’ll have a chance to be posted to WKC’s social channels. 
• Fan Poll: GLOW will interview fans on the ground asking questions such as the biggest one currently on our minds: Who will win Best in Show this year?
• Agility Rewinds: To promote the 10th Annual Masters Agility Championship, GLOW will post broadcast footage of historic agility runs over the past 9 years.