Rabbit Awareness Week 2017 – Retailer PR Advice Pack
What is RAW 2017?
This year’s Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW) is running from June 17th -25th, and this year we’re
working with supporters and partners across the UK to address the fact that rabbits remain
one of the most misunderstood pets in the UK. Our key issue for the 2017 campaign is the lack
of pet owner understanding around the importance of a hay-led, fibre-rich diet in supporting
good digestive health, dental health and behavior, after the news that only 30% of owners
report that their rabbit has constant access to fresh feeding hay for eating (PDSA Animal
Wellbeing Report, 2016).
With this central focus, our campaign for 2017 is #HopToHay, and will encourage rabbit
owners nationwide to feed their rabbits more hay, and to better understand the key dietary
needs of their furry friends. Many of your colleagues in the retail sector will be decorating their
stores and setting up RAW POS displays, ensuring that customers are aware of the week and
receive valuable welfare information and advice on rabbits as a result.
In your RAW 2017 packs you will find posters, hints, tips and a whole host of information for you
and your customers. We would really appreciate your support, whether you are planning
special events or promotions through the week or raising awareness through the display of
RAW material in your store. This year, we are encouraging all those who care about the
welfare of rabbits to get online and show their support for RAW by using the hashtags
#HopToHay and #Raw2017 on social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram.
What was the feedback from the retailers involved last year?
Ultimately, we want to ensure that taking part in RAW you’re not only helping to better the
lives of more rabbits in the UK, but your shop is provided with an opportunity to stand out
amongst the crowd. We had some great feedback from some of the retailers involved in last
year’s campaign, and we hope to see even more getting involved this year as a result.
We also received some really useful feedback on how retailers can best benefit from RAW.
We’ve put together a list of top tips and guidelines to help ensure you make the most out of
this year’s activities:
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Tell customers well in advance about your plans for the week to ensure maximum
awareness of your events
Ensure that all staff are well-informed about the week – consider holding a staff
meeting so teams know about the key themes running through this year’s RAW
Use keen and enthusiastic staff with a genuine interest in rabbits where possible
Getting involved online by using the hashtags related to the week (#HoptoHay and
#RAW2017) is a great way to create dialogue between you and potential customers,
and can help drive traffic to your store as a result.
Together we can better the lives of pets
The PDSA Animal Wellbeing Report 2016 report highlighted that only 30% of owners report that
their rabbits have constant access to hay for eating. We want to ensure that, alongside their
bedding hay - which should be used for sleeping and comfort only, pet rabbits are being
provided with good quality feeding hay which is more palatable and will help to support their
digestive and dental health.
Ultimately, rabbit owners need to be more aware of the range of products that are available
for their pet. With so many products to choose from, some customers need the extra
reassurance when it comes to making the decision – but some may be too shy to ask. That’s
why we’ve included stickers that can be placed on feeding hay products to help further
differentiate the differences between feeding hay and bedding hay.
By using passionate staff members with a genuine interest in rabbits on the shop floor, we can
help guide more customers to making the right purchasing decisions and encouraging them
to learn more about the specific welfare needs of their pets.
What you can do to help? What can we do to help?
By organising events and activities during the week month of June and the week of RAW
(June 17th -25th 2017) together we can make this year’s campaign the biggest and best yet.
The following are some suggested activities to raise awareness before your event:
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Issue a press release/save the dates (link to press release) to local newspapers and
radio stations, informing them that the week of June 17th -25th is RAW and include your
proposed plan of activity for the week. Press releases should be sent to news editors or
feature editors where possible, but never be afraid of attaching additional recipients
to the email such as reporters you may know at the publication, to ensure the release
gets seen (editors get a lot of emails every day, which can sometimes lead to emails
getting missed!)
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Do feel free to politely check with a publication if they received your press release, at
least three days after sending it. Journalists are very busy, and are often working to
deadline though, so after an initial call you may find that email is best. Try to be
selective and avoid sending your release to multiple recipients at the same
publication and keep it brief- when it comes to a press note, less is more!
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Draw attention to your activity through the clever use of social media. Posts during
peak traffic times on social media platforms will ensure maximum coverage, so join the
conversation online using the hashtags #HoptoHay and #RAW2017! You can find our
suggested times below to help make sure that your activity is as successful as possible.
Remember – you can also schedule posts on social media platforms, so you if you’re
pushed for time you can schedule your posts and carry on with your day safe in the
knowledge that your platforms will still be active. More information can be found in the
social media section.
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Use the promotional materials within the retailers pack to decorate your shop and let
others know that the week of June 17th – 25th is RAW.
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For guidance and advice on how to decorate your shop so it stands out from the
crowd, see below for how retailers got involved last year:
During the event, you may wish to look at the following key activities:
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Issue a press release the week before RAW is taking place, to inform local newspapers
and radio stations of your final plans to celebrate in the shop and what your customers
can look forward to.
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Ensure that all social media posts contain images and video material where possible,
as these posts tend to get people much more excited – meaning more likes, shares,
retweets and comments.
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Is there room in your store to host an event? Could you co-operate with local
veterinary practices and perhaps host talks in your store?
After the event, we would suggest these follow-up activities:
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Issue a press release summarising the weeks’ worth of activities if you did anything
really special.
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Follow up with online and offline content focusing on the specific issues you were
made of related to rabbit welfare as a result of the week and creating dialogue/
interacting with customers/rabbit owners
Some more ideas to help you make some noise about RAW 2017!
Make your RAW event/activity and your shop stand out from the crowd with the following
ideas:
 Think of the best ways your shop could benefit from offering promotions and discounts
on certain products. Is there anything you would really like to see more sales of in
store? Is there a product that you think is brilliant but more rabbit owners need to know
about it?
 Is it worth promoting these promotions with an advert in a local paper, magazine or
retailer trade magazine?
 Think outside the box! We’ve provided lots of RAW assets to help decorate the store,
but could you go even further? This year’s theme focuses on the importance of hay –
could you look at getting some hay bales in store?
 Think of creative ways to link this year’s campaign back to the 5-animal welfare needs:
Environment, Diet. Behaviour, Companionship and Health.
The Burgess Pet Care PR team at Fred Marketing is here to help you and give advice on how
your practice or business can benefit from promoting RAW 2017 – please don’t be hesitate to
contact us if you need more information.
We understand that some of you may not have social media channels in place, or may be
looking for support when it comes to approaching media contacts- and that’s what we’re
here for!
We’ve attached guideline information on how to do this, but get in touch with the team if
you would like more information; we’re happy to help you however we can.
You can contact Mat Ombler at the Burgess Pet Care PR team at [email protected] or
by calling 01482 227227