Meet The Breeds Returns

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154 – March, 2023

By Amy Fernandez

Like countless other AKC projects, Meet the Breeds is best described as an ongoing experiment in customer relations. Modeled on the incredibly successful British version, Discover Dogs, AKC dabbled with various translations of the concept for years. Their earliest forays into direct marketing featured no actual event planning. AKC called a bunch of NYC locals and asked them to bring their dogs to Madison Square Park, which was conveniently situated right across the street from their old downtown headquarters. Those early events were tiny and highly disorganized. However, in terms of test marketing, they succeeded beyond all expectations. Word got around, and by the second year, vendors, sponsors, and doggy entertainment acts spiced up the roster. Every September, that minuscule sliver of NYC green space was overrun with local dog lovers. Like all great ideas, it was unstoppable.

Around 2009, it was officially christened Meet the Breeds, and AKC issued the first edition of its authorized purebred guide a year later. The most notable characteristic of the book and the event was their daring abandonment of group classifications in favor of alphabetical listings. Bluntly, that signaled a radical new direction… appealing to that broad swath of dog-loving Americans outside our sport.

Click here to read the complete article
154 – March, 2023

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