Terrie Carr loves dogs. For many years, TC has integrated her enthusiasm for canines into her actual work as PD/MD/midday talent at Beasley Rocker WDHA/Morristown, NJ, via her “Rock ‘n’ Ruff” initiative, which has become a big part of her on-air brand.
At its core, “Rock ‘n’ Ruff” is a straight-up campaign to get shelter dogs adopted, but it’s grown to become so much more. Carr started it during her first go-around at WDHA, mentioning briefly that she is in her second term at the station, having left for five years in between. “I got involved with a local shelter called Barkfest, but when I heard about the number of dogs being euthanized locally, that’s what sparked the realization that I needed to figure out a way to use my voice to help out,” she says.
While “Rock ‘n’ Ruff” started before the advent of social media, Carr recognized she had a way to literally broadcast her needs to the masses. “I was contacting local shelters myself, but then I started getting the station involved in doing events with them,” says Carr. “It wasn’t difficult to get shelters – I just went on the air and asked them to contact me, and I’d get ten calls on the request line immediately.”
“Rock ‘n’ Ruff” has morphed into a three-pronged approach: First, highlight a shelter on the air and get a sponsor to validate the airtime; second, get listeners to a website so they can actually see shelter dogs in need of adoption; and, finally, third, get listeners involved in this “hyper-brand” so they physically go out to an adoption event or some other R’n’R-affiliated gathering.
“It’s grown into so much more than my initial work,” says Carr, who outlines the current weekly process of having a shelter bring dogs to the station, where she talks about it on-air and then has them film a video with some of the dogs to post online.
“Sponsors love to be associated with it, and we’ve benefited from the growth in the pet industry to be able to get sponsors like companies that make pet clothes or offer pet insurance,” she says. Beyond that, non-pet-oriented companies also like being associated with the brand. “We do ‘Yappy Hours’ with major distributors, liquor companies, and breweries,” Terrie says. “A lot of restaurants and bars are dog-friendly – I did a National Dog Day event at an upscale place with a patio that offered a full dog menu that day and invited listeners to come out and dine with their dogs.”
One thing Carr loves about “Rock ‘n’ Ruff” is how rewarding it is to establish, strengthen, and expand the community around shelters – and her station. “How do people remember your station – PPM? Diary?” she asks. “There’s no better way than to have people look at their animal and remember every time how they got it. One guy won Staind tickets from us, but his biggest comment to us when he won was how he adopted his dog from “Rock ‘n’ Ruff.” I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a comment about the station where they don’t mention “Rock ‘n’ Ruff.’”
While the campaign centers around dogs, other animals can get involved. Carr mentions that cats, bunnies, rats, chinchillas, and other adoptable pets have appeared at events. “The program really is about helping our local community and seeing what we can do for the people who are giving so much of themselves to working in these animal shelters,” she says. It also helps bond people to pets… and also to WDHA.
Terrie also wants to dispel the myths around shelter animals. “Just because a dog is from a shelter, it doesn’t mean something’s wrong with him,” she adamantly states. “Dogs end up in shelters through no fault of their own – people get a new baby, get divorced, have to give up the animal because of a move…. These dogs don’t have behavioral issues and aren’t sick, and older dogs can live for a long time. You can always find someone in your local shelter,” she says, calling out that people looking for particular dogs can find them at breed-specific shelters and rescues.
“There are so many win-wins for any brand who does something like this,” says Carr, calling back to her comment about the attachment to the station and the initiative when people look at their R’n’R-adopted dog and remember how they got it. “I’ve had people who never thought of adopting a dog, but they heard our Rock ‘n’ Ruff program and found out about our dogs, so they got one.”
See more at the Rock ‘n’ Ruff section on WDHA’s website.
Next week: Carr talks about the multiple sub-brands WDHA has built on “Rock ‘n’ Ruff” and gives advice on how to set up a program like it at other stations.
Credit for photos: Joe Frazz Photography
A former air personality and industry journalist, Keith Berman worked at the late Radio & Records for several years, where he held a number of positions before being promoted to format editor. While at R&R, he also served as a writer and reporter, covering breaking news; authoring weekly columns, format roundups and features; and contributing heavily to Street Talk Daily. When R&R folded, he co-founded RAMP (Radio and Music Pros) and spent 3 years covering radio and record labels before taking a hiatus from the industry. His experiences also include time on-air at stations in Connecticut, Boston and Southern California. He can be reached at KeithBerman@gmail.com.
