Switchblade Creative Studios is proud of our work with
animal welfare/rescue organizations, film productions, and
pet-related businesses that volunteer or support animal causes,
and/or donate their products and services.

{ How Switchblade Became Experts in Marketing
For Animal Related Causes & Pet Lovin’ Consumers}

When I left behind corporate life and started this company 5 years ago, the first thing I was excited to do was volunteer with animal rescue organizations. No longer living within a demanding 60+ hour a week job, I couldn’t wait to explore these options. Becoming a volunteer at the San Francisco Animal Care & Control was the perfect introduction to the animal rescue world. It became an important part of my routine and I welcomed a new community of animal loving folks. Shortly before my first orientation at SFACC, my life also dramatically changed when Jazmin, my soulmate canine companion, passed away peacefully after 11 years by my side at the age of 14. Needless to say, losing Jazmin motivated me to give even more in memory of her and our life together.

Volunteering at the SFACC was truly rewarding. As anyone who loves animals could easily predict, coming home to a pet-less place depressed me. I started searching local dog rescue groups where I could foster. I used PetFinder and googled dog rescue groups. Searching through the dozens of listings, I gravitated towards dogs I thought were probably “less adoptable”, either because of age or health concerns. I searched and found the saddest looking dog within 50 miles, saved by Wonder Dog Rescue. She was a 40 lb 9-year-old cattle dog mix with the saddest story I have ever heard (even now after 4 years being a part of the dog rescue world). And she was indeed the saddest dog  I ever met. I named her Frida.

frida and jedi

I also sent an email to Muttville Senior Dog Rescue to inquire about fostering. It turned out Muttville was in its first year as an official 501(c) organization. We luckily shared the same neighborhood, plus a rescue that focused on senior dogs was the perfect group for me. Muttville Founder and Executive Director Sherri Franklin instantly became my hero and mentor,  and Muttville Manor my second home. My first foster dog was Jedi, a chihuahua mix with irresistible big brown eyes. Jedi and Frida joined my home and it felt warm and inviting to me once again.

My role with Muttville quickly grew into so much more than fostering. I had just left a career as a designer and marketing specialist for 11 years, working myself to the bone, so that part of me wasn’t going to change! I basically took over as Muttville’s marketing leader and designer. I was grateful to have this role available to me. The opportunity to combine my talent and skills with my passion to save dogs was invigorating! The role gave me the opportunity to work with two amazing individuals behind Muttville: Board President, Jane Goldman, the V.P. of Lifestyle Marketing at CBS Interactive and founder of CHOW.com., and Muttville’s web development engineer, Carol Balacek. Five years later, they both continue to mentor and inspire me and are great influences to me as a business owner. As the Director of Marketing & Design for Muttville, I continually learn from the organization’s other team leaders who contribute their expertise in fundraising, public relations, event planning, and grant writing. As a team, we regularly collaborate and develop innovative strategies, challenging ourselves to improve upon the previous successes.

L-R: Jane Goldman, Chris, Sherri Franklin, Deanne Franklin (behind Sherri/Marie), Marie Macaspac, Carol Balacek, John Mounier

Four and a half years and 40 foster dogs later, my passion has led me to be a proud member of a community of inspiring, dedicated folks who have specialized their businesses and organizations in animals. For fellow pet-friendly business owners who create products or offer services or produce films, the most important aspect we have in common is our need to contribute to animal rescue. For those special leaders who started and successfully manage a rescue organization, who inspire a community to support their causes, I am honored to be an integral part of their success.

Client: Mark Rogers / Mark Rogers Photography

Challenge: Mark, a successful photographer, well-known in the San Francisco Bay Area for his beautiful work with non-profits organizations and local dog rescue groups, was rebuilding his website in WordPress CMS. We consider Mark very technically savvy, as you can see by his self-produced website. Although he had researched on SEO practices, he realized that it was more work than he could juggle as a business owner. Having seen our work and witnessed the results for Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, he called upon us to implement SEO and examine his online marketing strategy.

Switchblade Solution: Because Mark was already quite knowledgeable with online marketing, we could see that his social media strategy was in great shape, so we made sure his SEO was equally effective. We also ensured that his search engine rankings wouldn’t drop as a result of changing his website, only improve steadily with SEO in place. Mark is currently in first place in the Bay List Awards for Best Pet Photographer, which is a testament to his great reputation and marketing.

Client: Friends of San Francisco Animal Care & Control

Challenge: Friends of SFACC President, Jane Tobin, was new to online marketing but knew that she wanted to reach a wider audience. Having worked together on the rain-out Pride Pride Day 2010, Jane gave us the opportunity to show her what we could do for her non-profit organization.

Switchblade Solution: Understanding the need to achieve an effective campaign with a small budget, Switchblade utilized valuable free or low-cost tools to utilize their large subscriber list of donors, sponsors, and volunteers. We organized a multi-level fundraising email campaign with a holiday plea for year-end donations.

Coupled with a traditional direct mail campaign, it was their largest outreach ever. With the success of this campaign, Switchblade and Friends of SFACC will likely be working on several campaigns in 2011 to raise much needed funds for shelter animals and programs for animal care.

Logo/Identity for Not Just Animals!

Client: Not Just Animals!

Challenge: Client needed a new identity that would appeal to a wide audience and yet identify with younger demographics.

Switchblade Solution: We captured an urban feel and a complex message using simple iconic figures that are universally recognized.

The Situation: Independent filmmaker requires a living, breathing online marketing tool that promotes DVD sales and rentals for the award-winning documentary about displaced animals from Hurricane Katrina. The site needed to be branded consistently with the DVD and more importantly, easy to update with breaking news and updates. Also, with her growing fanbase, she wanted to track site visitors and gain subscribers.

Switchblade Solution: A professionally updated website built in SquareSpace that can be easily updated by the site owner, and promotes the sales and rentals of the DVD version of the movie with blog-type entries.

The Results: A well-organized site that can be constantly refreshed because the content management system is user-friendly for the site owner. Geralyn Pezanoski can share media coverage and announce events through blog entries.

Client: Muttville Senior Dog Rescue

Challenge: Client needed  a new identity for its inaugural annual fundraiser. Held at Hotel Biron, they wanted to logo to convey a similar feel to the vibe of the location.

Switchblade Solution: We developed this identity to reflect the flair and classiness of the wine bar location. Attendees seem to agree that the logo helped convey that the event was well worth the $75 ticket!

Client: Muttville Senior Dog Rescue

Challenge: The website needed to be optimized for improved searchability as well as updated with 2.0 functionality. A key goal was to increase awareness and visibility by allowing founder/Executive Director, Sherri Franklin, and Muttville volunteers to share profiles of adoptable dogs and blog posts.

Switchblade Solution: Since the organization’s priority is to increase adoption rates and raise money through fundraisers and donations, we provided effective tools that allowed everyone to spread the word through social media networks and email. Analytics showed a traffic increase by 200% in the first month and a steady 5000 visitors a month since its launch.

Sharenator.com recently evaluated the traffic for Muttville.org, describing it as follows: “If Muttville.org were a country, it would be larger than Vatican City.”