WWF
WWF tells new adoption story with the tiger who came to tea tv campaign
WWF is aiming to write a new fundraising chapter with a TV ad campaign to highlight its tie-up with beloved children’s book The Tiger Who Came To Tea.
Earlier in 2022 the global wildlife charity secured a licensing agreement with publisher HarperCollins, and integrated marketing agency WPNC is now calling on the story to highlight WWF’s Adopt A Tiger appeal.
The 60-second ad, airing from October on TV channels including Channel 5, Sky News and Yesterday, shows a young girl and her grandma reading The Tiger Who Came To Tea. They discuss tigers’ status as an endangered species, and how donations can support them in future. The ad will be supported with digital marketing.
The campaign has been specifically devised to diversify WWF’s TV creative executions and attract new audiences to the charity. While previous campaigns have generally focused on footage of an endangered animal, the Tiger ad is designed to encourage families to discover more about WWF’s work.
The aim is to engage a family audience, primarily animal lovers and fans of the story, drawing upon the nostalgia of the book which is loved by generations of people.
The ad is airing ahead of the key Christmas donation period, and encourages viewers to adopt a tiger in the wild by making a regular gift.
WWF’s wider objective is to communicate issues that have led to the loss of 95% of tigers’ historical habitat, which has been destroyed, degraded and fragmented by human activity. The clearing of forests for agriculture and timber, as well as road-building and other developments, poses serious threats to tiger habitats.
Polly Bianchi, WWF Director of Individual Marketing and Legacies, WWF, said: “The Tiger Who Came To Tea is an established and much-loved children’s story, which is more successful now than it was when it was first published.
“The partnership is a powerful brand collaboration, which we are using to drive donor acquisition and animal adoption - one of our most popular products. This fantastic ad is the result of the dedication and ingenuity of everyone who has been involved.”
Hannah Williams, Client Services Director WPNC, added: “This was a wonderful challenge presented to our creative and TV teams, to attract a new audience to WWF adoption through The Tiger Who Came to Tea book partnership. It has been a truly collaborative journey in story and filmmaking, producing a great ad in time for Christmas.”