1. Product Overview –

a. Introduction

The San Diego Zoo is a non-profit organization that is committed to saving species of animals worldwide by uniting our expertise in animal care and conservation science with our dedication to inspiring passion for nature. The zoo itself is over a hundred acres and in addition includes a safari park that is a wildlife sanctuary that is home to more than 2,600 animals representing more than 300 species. Its renowned botanical collection represents 3,500 species and 1.5 million specimens. Over half of the Park’s 1,800 acres (730 hectares) have been set aside as protected native species habitat. San Diego Zoo is committed to conservation and research. San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research is one of the largest zoo-based research centers in the world. Founded in 1975, it is dedicated to preserving and protecting rare and endangered wildlife and habitats. The staff develops, gather, and increase knowledge vital for the establishment of self-sustaining populations of wildlife (Zoo, 2015).

b. Problem Statement and Issues

The San Diego Zoo offers educational experiences. Most of these educational experiences offer interaction with zoo animals as well as what the daily life is throughout the zoo. One of the more exciting educational experiences is the wildlife sleep over that offers campers grades 3 through 12 and is designed for school and scout troops a variety of themed evenings inside the zoo. This amazing opportunity is lacking in school and scout troop sign ups and not generating the sales that it had originally hoped for. We feel that the problem is this educational experience is not being advertised more openly and narrowing your target market to only schools and scout troops you are limiting the service to its true target market.

c. Advertising/Marketing Objectives – Your recommendations

Advertising to a more open target market and eliminating the wildlife sleepover to only school and scout troops. By advertising the wildlife sleep over to kids outside of schools districts and scout troops through local radio, television, and traditional advertising through newspaper as well as advertising placed throughout the zoo, you can add individual sales to already pre-existing groups until individual sales are large enough to support groups of their own.

d. Aims of Campaign

The aim of our campaign is make parents aware of this great learning experience that their kids will remember forever. Expanding the target market of the Wildlife Sleepovers to children who are not a part of a scout troop and do not have the opportunity to go with a school group, will allow the zoo to market to more children than they currently are. The campaign will start in the zoo, so the patrons of the zoo will be able to get the information they need while they are there. Then the campaign will expand to radio, television, and newspapers as well as utilizing digital marketing. Digital marketing will allow the San Diego Zoo to expand their reach to grade school children and their parents. With the explosion of digital media, marketing has expanded beyond the traditional newspaper ad. Social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are great starting points to get the word out about Sand Diego Zoo’s Wildlife Sleepovers. Another great way to reach our target market is by blogging. A compelling blog will be completed for each day that a new group of children are at the zoo for the Wildlife Sleepovers. By doing so, others in our target market will get the opportunity to read about the wild adventures the campers are having. Along with blogging part of our strategy will be to add beautiful graphics of the animals at the zoo and the kids enjoying their educational experience. Finally, in regards to our digital marketing strategy, we will utilize search engine optimization leads. This will allow our current and future guests to search for the San Diego Zoo and get more information about the Wildlife Sleepovers. Our overall aim is to make sure parents and children know about this wonderful opportunity the San Diego Zoo provides.

2.) Product Profile

a.      Product Name

Wildlife Sleepovers

b.      Product Classification

Educational workshop for kids

c.       Product Characteristic

Live animal presentations

Private bus tours

Zoo craft activities

Set up your own Zoo tent and camp inside the zoo

S’mores around the campfire

Guided nighttime stroll featuring nocturnal animals

Hot dinner, breakfast, and beverages

Exclusive (pre-opening) morning animal viewing with keepers (Zoo, 2015)

Product offers various themes such as

·         Adaptations and Environments

·         Natural Selection: Genetic Traits and the Environment

·         Biodiversity and Human Impact on the Environment

·         Any Grade: How Do You Zoo? Exploring Conservation Careers

·         Any Grade: Wildlife Heroes Conservation Campout (Zoo, 2015)

d.      Distribution

This service is offered at the San Diego Zoo and is conducted over certain time periods throughout the year. November 2015-May 2016 sleepovers are Thursday 4 p.m.-Friday 9 a.m.; June-August 2016 sleepovers are Saturday 4 p.m.-Sunday 9 a.m.

·         November 12–13, 2015

·         December 17–18, 2015

·         January 14-15, 2016

·         February 18-19, 2016

·         March 17-18, 2016

·         April 21-22, 2016

·         May 19-20, 2016

·         May 26-27, 2016

·         June 25-26, 2016

·         July 9-10, 2016

e.     Product life cycle

The wildlife sleepover is in the growth stage. We are trying to recommend that the San Diego Zoo open up the educational experience to more than just schools and scout troops, but rather every kid in the age range the attraction is targeted for. Being that we want more growth to reach our goal of more sales the wildlife sleepover is still currently in the growth stage of its product life cycle.

f.     The Brand

The San Diego zoo is not just an attraction but rather a way of life. The San Diego zoo cares about wildlife. The zoo offers educational experiences, is committed to the conservation of wildlife, and wants to encourage people in the protection of our planet and the wildlife on it. It has been voted the number one zoo in the world by trip advisor and it just happens to give guest an opportunity to come face to face with some of the most rare and endangered species in the world. It is well known for its lush, naturalistic habitats and unique animal encounters and is home to more than 3,700 rare and endangered animals representing approximately 660 species and subspecies and a prominent botanical collection with more than 700,000 plants (Zoo, 2015). The San Diego Zoo is well known around the world is a front runner in animal protection and conservation through the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy. In terms of branding the name San Diego Zoo speaks for itself.

reference

Zoo, S. D. (2015, November 10). FAQ. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from San Diego Zoo: http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/faq-page#t148n1634