Cats star in advertisements for IKEA, Sberbank and Mercedes-Benz, and an NFT of a flying nanny cat is sold for $580,000. Today, tailed cats are not only advertising stars, but also full-fledged bloggers with collaborations and integrations.
High subscriber engagement, virtually no hate and unlimited trust - this is what every potential influencer dreams of.
We collected the most famous Russian “cat profiles” on Instagram, found out from the owners how they achieved success on the social network, and at the same time asked marketers whether it is worth advertising with cat bloggers.
Hosico the cat, @hosico_cat, 1.9 million subscribers
“Fresh bread”, “cat carpet” and the most famous cat in Russia - the Scottish straight-eared Hoshiko from Moscow. By the way, his name means “son of a star” in Japanese.
You've probably seen memes with him:
His live broadcasts attract tens of thousands of viewers, the cat (and his owners, of course) are interviewed by famous portals, and Robert Downey Jr. publishes collages with images of Hoshiko.
Even Simon, the cat from the comics, talked to him.
Behind the blogger's shaggy shoulders is cooperation with large retail chains, manufacturers of household appliances, and the brands Mars and Whiskas.
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Posted by Hosico Cat (@hosico_cat)
Judging by the publications, the owners of Hoshiko take their choice of advertisers seriously. He promotes charity events, products for animals (food, houses, hygiene products), pet stores and, of course, clothes with his image.
Advertising for a charity event, external hard drive and cat merchandise
Lazarus, rescued vampire cat
The poor cat is suffering from the feline version of cleft palate. Lazarus, whose cleft palate left him without the upper lip of his nose, was found at about 10 weeks old late last year on the streets of Johnson City, Tennessee. Because his mouth was constantly open, his sinuses constantly became infected, but antibiotics and surgery to remove the abscess resolved the problem.
Lazar has his own Facebook page, where his owner Cindy regularly posts new photos of the cat and reports that he is now as restless as any other kitten.
Cat Busya, @ st_busya, 144 thousand subscribers
Golden chinchilla Busya wears amazing glasses, chooses outfits and tries on luxurious wigs.
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Posted by Busya (@st_busya)
Busya’s owner, Daria, says that initially the account was “human”. But one day a girl published a photo of Boo in her feed, then Boo gave birth to her first kitten, Peach. And then for some reason a lot of cat lovers started subscribing [to us]. Photos/videos of cats and kittens in my feed have completely replaced me. And my friends started unfollowing me.”
Daria says that she didn’t invest “a single ruble” into the blog and hardly promoted it at all, using only hashtags and geolocation marks.
The account has a lot of humorous content. Mistress Busi deliberately took her profile in this direction: “There is no negativity now. Previously, when I talked about raising kittens or just about life, there were people who disagreed. I tried to argue, but then I got tired of getting on my nerves and just banned her.”
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Posted by Busya️ (@st_busya)
Busya advertises products for animals, glasses, and pet stores.
I am often approached with various products for advertising. Sometimes the page is completely far from the topic. I refuse many people. Many of them are even offended!
[I agree] if I see that a product is potentially good, it may be of interest to my readers, and I often communicate with subscribers and roughly know what they would be interested in. Especially if I use this product myself.
I won't talk about a product that I wouldn't use.
Lilu - cat with glasses
Another representative of Russia. A series of photographs about a girl and a cat, taken by St. Petersburg photographer Andy Prokh, shocked the world. These are touching photographs that trace the long-term history of the relationship between the photographer’s daughter, Katerina, and a British shorthair cat named Lilu Blue Royal Lada. The photograph “Cat with Glasses” became especially famous.
Niki the cat, @famousniki, 90.1 thousand subscribers
Niki, the world-famous Russian cat (as his profile description says), talks about life on his own behalf, shares his experiences and answers questions from subscribers.
The cat became famous due to its “human” behavior:
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Posted by FamousNiki (@famousniki)
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Posted by FamousNiki (@famousniki)
Well-known media write about him: Daily Mail, The Mirror, Metro and others. In 2013, he helped raise funds to help victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.
On her blog, Niki advertises products for animals and for the home, pet stores, and participates in charity.
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Posted by FamousNiki (@famousniki)
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Posted by FamousNiki (@famousniki)
Cat Tombili
He became famous for sitting calmly and imposingly on the streets of Istanbul, looking into the distance. He became the hero of many Internet memes.
After the death of the cat, the residents of Istanbul erected a real bronze monument to him.
Cat Bridge, @cat_the_most, 58.3 thousand subscribers
Here is the profile of the current @ria.crimea correspondent, the boss of Kotonovosti, the builder of the Crimean Bridge, a “careerist and a bachelor.”
This cat blogger differs from his colleagues in his abundance of horizontal photographs and high busyness. With regularity, once a day (sometimes more often), he talks about the life of the peninsula, which is especially important during the latest weather troubles. It is also actively promoted by the RIA Novosti news agency.
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Posted by Cat Bridge (@cat_the_most)
Zarathustra - the cat in art
The creator of the FatCatArt art project, Svetlana Petrova, decided to change the usual ideas about the paintings of great artists, replacing dull conversations about classical art with a fresh look at the work of great authors. The main character of these works is Zarathustra the Cat. It is he who becomes the living embodiment of the idea that cats are a guide to the world of art.
Cat Businka, @mimibusik, 32.9 thousand subscribers
Businka’s owner once decided that “it’s enough to admire Businka alone. We need to bring its beauty to the masses.” Anastasia says that she was promoting her profile: she tried masfollowing, participated in giveaways and marathons.
Now the cat advertises pet stores and pet products. Busya also takes part in charity stories.
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Posted by BUSINKA THE CAT CAT BUSYA (@mimibusik)
But not every advertiser can appear on this profile.
Before agreeing to cooperate, I research the advertiser and consider whether I would use their product/service myself.
I will definitely refuse if they offer a barter that is unprofitable for Busya and me, or if it is a manufacturer of low-quality food and dubious medications (with unproven effectiveness or simply harmful).
LIL BAB - ETERNAL KITTEN
The cat was born with several genetic mutations leading to dwarfism, polydactyly and changes in the lower jaw. She doesn't grow and will remain a kitten until her death. The cat looks really strange and looks more like a cartoon character than a real animal.
Achilles the cat, @achillcat, 23.9 thousand subscribers
The white Hermitage cat from St. Petersburg has been unable to hear since birth, but, as the profile says, “feels subtly.”
Achilles has confidently predicted the outcome of 7 out of 8 Euro 2020 matches, and has already been invited to be the oracle at the Champions League final in 2022.
In his profile, the cat advertises pet products, publications and, of course, his predictions.
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Posted by Achilles AchillesTheCat (@achillcat)
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Posted by Achilles AchillesTheCat (@achillcat)
Shironeko - Zen master and the laziest cat
Shironeko (Shiro Neko) - a white cat (by the way, this is how his name is translated into Russian) - is a Zen master living in Japan. Considered the laziest cat in the world. All because of his ability to be completely restrained and a little sleepy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is facilitated by his muzzle, or rather, his always half-closed eyes.
According to his blog page, Shiro was born on March 8, 2002. A blog dedicated exclusively to this cat was created by an anonymous blogger and Shiro's anonymous owner on February 17, 2006. There is also a channel on YouTube.
Fedya the cat, @fedja_kot, 22.6 thousand subscribers
The eternally surprised Fedya settled down perfectly in the house of Natalia from Rostov. In June of this year, he was noticed by the British publication The Mirror. They published a lot of material about this amazing cat and interviewed his owner.
After the article, Fedya gained incredible popularity, the number of his subscribers is growing (about a thousand people a day), they write about him, he and his hostess, of course, are invited to television filming.
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Publication from Fedya Kot (@fedja_kot)
The cat’s account was created a long time ago, but it was not very popular. The level of 70 subscribers lasted for about a year. But then, on the advice of a friend, Fede created a profile on TikTok, where he became famous. After this, the owners of the surprised cat received requests for articles.
We didn't do any promotion at all. I was just posting the cat.
I’m constantly trying to blog, at least clear out Direct, there are thousands of messages there. I try to respond to each one and read it.
Fedya has so far only had one integration with an online pet store, but offers, according to Natalya, are actively coming in. For now, only those related to animals. Fedya’s owner knows exactly which advertisers the cat will not cooperate with: “Those who are not close to us or have nothing to do with us.”
In addition, the owners are already thinking about creating a collection of goods with his image:
“So that this sweet face is always before your eyes and improves your mood,” Natalya plans to produce mugs with the image of Fedor.
Nala the Cat
Nala was adopted from a shelter where she was the last cat left in her family. It happened one fateful day when her future owner came to the shelter just to look at the cats and without much intention of leaving with a new furry friend. And just as Nala captured the heart of the internet, she captured the heart of her man. But Nala's story is not one that was destined for fame; photographs of this cat were originally posted online to be shared with family and friends. But the Internet never sleeps, and Nala's followers soon grew to millions. Nala's cat's family is proud to donate money to charities dedicated to helping other cats who are having trouble finding homes.
Cat Ryzhik, @my_babycat, 15.8 thousand subscribers
The short-haired exotic Ryzhik from Arkhangelsk in amazing costumes will give any cosplayer a run for his money. Just look at the antidepressant or Wednesday Adams outfits:
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Posted by Ryzhik exotic shorthair (@my_babycat)
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Posted by Ryzhik exotic shorthair (@my_babycat)
Yulia, Ryzhik’s owner, says that she created an account for her pet to share his cute photos and never engaged in promotion.
The blog is still written for fun. If I want, I film and post it, if I don’t want, I don’t.
Ryzhik advertises products for animals, eco-friendly cleaning products, veterinary clinics, animal insurance, photo products, home decor - only what matches the profile, has benefits and a positive message.
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Posted by Ryzhik exotic shorthair (@my_babycat)
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Posted by Ryzhik exotic shorthair (@my_babycat)
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Posted by Ryzhik exotic shorthair (@my_babycat)
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Posted by Ryzhik exotic shorthair (@my_babycat)
Sam the cat with eyebrows
Apart from his eyebrows, Sam is a mystery cat. The current owner found him on the street and gave him shelter, although the cat is definitely a domestic cat. Its previous owners have still not been found. Later, the owners took the cat to the veterinarian, looking for a new owner, since they already had two cats at home, but could not find anyone suitable.
Eventually, they started letting Sam roam around the apartment. and then they realized that it would be best for the cat to stay with them. The cat received the nickname “Sam” in honor of Andy Warhol’s cat. Later, the current owner of this cat made his website and opened an Instagram account. And Sam’s worldwide Internet fame began.
Why is everyone obsessed with cats?
According to statistics, cat videos are the most popular video content on the Internet. It is interesting that watching such videos has a therapeutic effect, which is similar in effect to pet therapy (a treatment method using pets).
Back in 2011, an advertising company from Canada, JohnSt, came up with the term catvertising (cat + advertising, from English “cat advertising”), since cats, in their opinion, turned out to be “the most popular media carrier on the Internet.”
The team shot a comic video in which they showed what was supposedly a new special division of the company: the cat video department. With production, filming and seeding.
The video received many positive comments in the spirit of “80% of what I watch on YouTube are cats” or “even in 2020, half of the videos offered to me have cats!”
By the way, there is an opinion, supported by research, that cats sell better than dogs.
In Russia, as well as throughout the world, cats hold a strong position in the blogosphere.
Honey Bee
A blind cat who loves to travel.
Owners take the cat on hikes on a leash or put it on their shoulder.
Is it worth spending your advertising budget on cats?
On social networks, people primarily want to rest, relax, get away from problems, and learn something useful or interesting. Rarely does anyone go to Instagram, for example, with the thought: “What should I buy today?”
Advertisers constantly forget about this obvious fact, trying to set up annoying “head-on” sales on social networks. There are more and more advertisements, and they are perceived by the audience only as annoying noise.
Something non-standard, memorable, and funny will help to attract the attention of a potential buyer. Advertising from animal bloggers definitely meets all these criteria.
Subscribers of four-legged stars are very loyal and attached to unusual bloggers: animals are envied much less often than successful people, interest in them is more sincere and pure. In addition, cats and dogs are objectively less often seen in advertising, therefore, they still have a high level of credibility.
I recommend testing and trying to promote even non-obvious things through pets. It all depends on how to present the product. You can do an original unboxing or make a funny TikTok-style video with viral potential.
Among the projects I collaborate with are pet products and dog bloggers. I can say for sure: now there is a trend towards interaction between humans and animals on the blog. Subscribers watch with interest the lives of owners and pets, their travels, joyful moments and difficulties. Therefore, advertising integrations with such bloggers are going great, and not only pet stores, food, ammunition, dog handlers and animal psychologists are successfully promoted.
The audience is ready, for example, to purchase the same vacuum cleaner that a pet owner uses, household chemicals that are safe for animals, and a sofa with upholstery that can be easily cleaned of hair and stains.
I see that completely different advertisers are entering this niche and successfully promoting it.
Whether it is worth investing in advertising on a particular blog should be decided based not on whether it is an account of an animal, a person, or a neural network, but on the goals of the brand and the portrait of the blog’s audience.
If a cosmetics brand, a household goods brand, or an electronics manufacturer understands that a significant part of the account’s followers is their target audience, and the brands themselves adhere to eco-principles and do not test products on animals, then buying advertising and PR in the account is justified. The audience of such accounts is indeed very loyal, the integrations will be native and organic, advertising and PR will be perceived by the audience positively and loyally.
If a brand wants to buy advertising on an animal blog only from the principle “I want it like my neighbor’s,” that is, only because a competitor did it or it’s fashionable, the expenses will be inappropriate.
Maru, Lord of Boxes
A cat of the Scottish Straight breed, living in Japan, the hero of popular videos on the YouTube channel. By August 2014, Maru's videos had received over 260 million views.
Or maybe it’s better to post on the account of a dog or... a hamster?
Cats or dogs? According to statistics, those people who do not have animals react better to cats (since we all saw advertisements for cat food in childhood, pleasant associations and nostalgia are triggered). But if you take a sample of people who have animals, they react better to dogs on creatives, plus the conversion into a buyer and the average check are much higher.
I am sure that creating a working brand is possible for almost any animal. Both kittens and puppies are equally adorable, and if you reveal their character, personality, humanize them, publish quality content and thoughtfully blog, then success can come even to an ordinary mongrel.
Perhaps the advantage of cats over dogs is explained by the fact that their owners and teams working on blogs are stronger SMM specialists. In the end, it is people, not their pets, who make social media popular.
In my opinion, cats, dogs or even hamsters can sell and deliver key brand messages almost equally. But cats are, of course, the undisputed favorites here. Why?
The domestic cat is the embodiment of hedonism, an animal that decorates the life of its owner and enjoys its own. It's decorative. Cats, like no other animal, are about “cuteness”, “vanilla” and strong emotions of this kind. Dogs are primarily associated with loyalty and intelligence. Therefore, for the most part, the audience reacts better to cats.
Animals don't leave anyone alone, so they can help convey almost any key message.
The mechanics are simple: a person sees a cute kitten or puppy, smiles, and then, in a more positive mood, moves on to the message itself. In general, if we add any living object to the key message, be it a brand ambassador or an ordinary person, it will work better, especially if we add animals.
Fukumaro - a cat with different eyes
“Every day is good under the sun. Another good day, Fukumaru,” 88-year-old Japanese woman Misao likes to tell her faithful friend. The story of this unusual, but sincere and bright friendship began 13 years ago, when the Japanese woman Misao found in her barn a snow-white kitten with different eyes - orange and blue. She gave him the name Fukumaru in the hope that Fuku (god of luck) would come into her life and everything would be smoothed out like a “maru” (circle).
The amazing relationship that arose between grandmother and cat became a source of inspiration for Misao’s granddaughter, Miyoko Ihara, who photographed them for 13 years. When her grandfather died, Miyoko Ihara decided to spend more time with her grandmother, and she immediately noticed the unusual bond that developed between Misao and Fukumara. This is how this touching photo story began, the result of which was a book published by Miyoko, entitled “Big Mommy Misao and Cat Fukumaru”
Summary: consider the specifics
Cats are “the unofficial symbol of the Internet.” They offer an excellent way to communicate on social networks, an audience that is in love with them, and room for imagination in the implementation of advertising posts.
However, when choosing a cat blogger for integration, it is worth remembering the specifics of such cooperation. Yes, his audience will be loyal and friendly. But if the product categorically does not fit into the account, even if its owner agrees to advertising, subscribers, at best, will not pay attention to it, and at worst, they will want integration.
Garfi
The most evil cat.
But the appearance of this cat is deceiving; in fact, it is a very friendly and cute cat.
He lives in Turkey, he has a big family and many tailed friends.
“Dratuti”, or How it all began
Similar motives were encountered before, but were not so widespread. The wave of memes with deliberately distorted words - erratives - began long before the next “cat” craze.
In the summer of 2016, an image of a piece of wood with an ornate texture gained extraordinary popularity online. The Internet saw the head of a dog in it and immediately thought that this bizarre animal must certainly say the greeting of Modest, Yuri Stoyanov’s character in the program “Town”. The word “dratuti” itself became almost as popular as “preved” in the early 2000s.
Image: Pikabu
A year later, “dratuti” got a brother: a “dorow” meme with a white fluffy dog looking at the camera through a wine glass appeared on the Internet. By the way, users also discovered other “relatives” of the dog made of wood, but due to their frightening nature, it was not possible to put them on a par with the babbling memes.
Image: Pikabu
In the wake of memes whose characters imitate children’s speech, the word “bite” has experienced a revival. Previously, it was used mainly by anime fans as a show of unexpected affection. An analogue of errative was discovered among the Filipinos: it turned out that in their language there is a special word that means an irresistible desire to bite someone you like.
Anime makers elevated this emotion to the rank of absolute, and to express it they came up with a short and laconic “bite”. Over time, cats have replaced kawaii cuties, and now everyone associates “bite” exclusively with cute animals.
Image: Pikabu
Spanglis
This pet is unique. He was born with strabismus, but at the same time he sees everything perfectly. Due to its rare feature, Spanglis has a funny and stupid appearance.
His owner began dressing his pet in various costumes and photographing him in this form. He posted photos on Facebook. Now Spanglis has more than fifty thousand subscribers. Most of all, fans like him in a pirate costume.
This was a list of the most famous internet cats. They are loved, admired and touched. Videos and photos of them are viewed a huge number of times. And the number of likes and subscribers is just off the charts. There is probably not a single network user who has never seen memes and photoshopped images with them.
Top 5 most dangerous foods for cats!
Nyan Cat
This is not a real cat, but a cartoon one. About eight years ago, a video with this funny character appeared on YouTube, which quickly gained insane popularity. In it, Nyan Cat flies across the sky for just a few minutes, followed by a small rainbow trail, and the cat itself has an unusual body shape - square. There is no voice-over in this cartoon; Nyan Cat flies to popular Japanese music. Despite such a simple plot, the cartoon was watched more than a hundred million times.
Why is my cat always hungry?
Cole and Marmalade
These two animals are connected only by a common home. They are not related to each other and met only after they fell into the hands of caring people who help abandoned animals find shelter.
First, the cats' owners adopted Cole, a skinny kitten who suffered from parasites and was found by a family friend. When Cole was cured and he grew up, he turned into a gorgeous black cat.
Marmalade was also found on the street. She grew up very playful and affectionate, but during an examination she was diagnosed with cancer. The cat's owners did not give up on her - they did everything to cure their pet.
Grumpy Cat or angry cat
Considered the most popular cat today. His very first photographs appeared on the Internet in 2012 and immediately became discussed on forums and in social networking groups. Just two years later, a huge number of different souvenirs were released with the image of this cat: mugs, T-shirts, notebooks and much more. Grumpy Cat has appeared in commercials and even in films.
“I don’t want to”, “I don’t want to” and other cat erratives
Cute memes with cats saying “tut” instead of “here” and “niputyu” instead of “I won’t let you in” have rapidly gained popularity in the Russian segment of the Internet this year.
In January, a Twitter user with the nickname Nikotinka with Eyebrows posted a picture of a ginger cat holding a man’s finger with the caption: “I won’t let you down.” It is believed that it was this image that laid the foundation for numerous memes with variations of the phrase “put me on my way,” which expresses a person’s confrontation with his bad habits.
Image: Pikabu
After the original picture gained popularity among Russian users, cats began to appear on the Internet, which were attributed to children's speech: the heroes of the meme deliberately did not pronounce several letters. The words softened, the slang term for a kiss “smack” turned into “dark” or “smack”, and all attempts by the owner to force the pet to move were answered with “I don’t want to.”
Image: Pikabu
Renaissance of erratives
Distortion of words and playing with letters and sounds are not alien to Russian culture and were popular among Russian futurists back in the 20s of the last century. And the popularity of words with deliberate errors in 2022 is an echo of the ten-year-old fashion for “bastard jargon” (also known as Padonkaff or Albanian language). “Afftar zhot”, “preved bear”, “ya krevedko” and other phrases became the product of Internet forums, which in the early 2000s were the main breeding ground for memes.
Correspondence on the Internet mixed the features of oral and written speech, and the informality of online communication is most easily expressed by abbreviations and words with deliberate distortion of spelling.
In the 2000s, erratives were used to emphasize carelessness and even some vulgarity of communication. “Kui” and other expressions masked obscene insults, all those who disagreed were sent “ftopka,” and funny viral videos were accompanied by numerous “laughs.”
By the end of the 2010s, the Internet became a full-fledged part of mass culture, and special words ceased to be a marker of a certain social group. The fashion for erratives has gone away for a while.
But in 2022 they are back - and much changed. An echo of the times of “bastards” can be considered the meme that plays on the swear word “Blat Nevelny”, but mostly erratives have settled in harmless areas - among cute images of cats.
