Curiosity Saves the Cats

SPCA Cincinnati

Digital
Product

This holiday, we're setting the record straight.

The old saying goes, “Curiosity killed the cat.” And to be honest, we take that personally. It gives curiosity a bad name. A name we've proudly made our own. Because we believe curiosity can actually do pretty wonderful and fascinating things. It finds the edges of human imagination, then goes beyond it. It's given us science, modern medicine, the iPhone, and the pizza roll. It’s not vice. It's virtue. Something that shouldn’t be punished, but rewarded.

The challenge

Rebrand. Rehome. Redeem.

Claim “curiosity” as a force for creativity — not a cat killer — while raising money for a beloved, local nonprofit.

The strategy

Insight into cat-saving action

With this insight, we set out to reclaim Curiosity as a force for creativity — because like those little explorers, we can't be boxed in or tamed. We knew we could turn this insight into an opportunity to create real change for local cats.

We knew the perfect pawt-ner (sorry, we're done) for this campaign would be SPCA Cincinnati, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting animals with loving homes through adoption, rescue, and community outreach.

Like many pet nonprofits, they're underfunded and especially challenged during the crowded holiday giving season. With a small budget but strong creative, we saw an opportunity to help them break through and drive significant end-of-year support.

The creative

It takes a litter

With just five weeks to execute and a shoestring budget, Curiosity Saves the Cats became our team's first real opportunity to flex our AI capabilities. With an idea, insight, script, and storyboards created completely by humans, we set out to bring the full anthem video to life in just a few days using generative AI. 

To generate buzz and funds for our furry little soulmates, we transformed our dusty ping-pong table into a drawing table and invited every single person at our agency to draw a cat. Besides being a much-needed break during the holiday grind, we were able to crowdsource unique and adorable designs to be vectorized by our design team into one-of-a-kind cat pillows to sell on our website, serve as client gifts, and raise awareness for Cincy cats in need.

The Results

20 cats and counting

Besides absorbing all production costs and personally pledging $1,000 to the SPCA, the community turned up: We plowed through nearly 200 pillows (gotta collect ‘em all) before the holidays thanks to a high-performing, organic social campaign and coverage from Ad Age — racking up nearly 1,000 engagements and hundreds of thousands of impressions.

Plus, SPCA wasn’t the only beneficiary. We partnered with the women-owned creative boutique Handzy to carry our pillows and keep all the profits.

The final numbers? More than 20 cats were saved during launch week, and we raised more than $4,000 in just 2 weeks.

"Thanks to Curiosity's support, 20 cats found homes during the promotion week. This partnership increases visibility for the animals in our care and drives meaningful outcomes for those who need it most. We're grateful for Curiosity's commitment to helping animals find loving homes and for your shared dedication to their well-being."

– Kat Steiner, Chief Development Officer

Become fascinating or be ignored.

Let’s chat.