We study the behaviour of colloidal particles when introduced into a liquid crystal matrix.First, we probe the influence of the surface anchoring energy by using various mixtures ofsurfactant and then, we investigate the influence of the nematogen shape. Whenthe surface energy dominates, a hedgehog defect is formed and, according toan electrostatic analogy, the distortions around the particles exhibit a dipolarcharacter. By contrast, for weaker anchoring, the configuration becomes quadrupolaras evidenced by the observation of Saturn ring defects in thermotropic systemsand the structure of latex clusters in lyotropic systems. Also, the shape of thenematogens is shown to control the type of defect and interaction that take place in thesystem, going from a dipolar symmetry in the discotic phase to a quadrupolarone in the calamitic phase. A simple scaling analysis accounts for our findings.