San Diego Zoo
Walkabout Australia
In 2018, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park debuted its newest, most interactive exhibit to date, Walkabout Australia. We created a 360-degree campaign including mixed media key art, radio, and video that invited visitors to get up close and personal with some of Australia’s most extraordinary creatures.
In 2018, we were tasked with developing a campaign for the launch of the newest safari experience at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
It was the first time in many years that an interactive safari would be launched at the Park and while a new exhibit launch is exciting in itself, we also needed to help change perceptions about what to expect from the Safari Park since this would be an Australian, not African, Safari. Additionally, we needed to differentiate this new exhibit from the Australian Outback exhibit at the Safari Park’s sister property, the San Diego Zoo.
Walkabout Australia would introduce visitors to Australia’s unique species on a scale that had never been seen before in the U.S. In fact, until this exhibit was opened, the only way to see 80% of Australia’s animal species was to visit Australia itself.
This new exhibit not only brought those extraordinary creatures to our backyard, it also provided the opportunity for visitors to interact with them up close. Walkabout Australia was truly a Safari, Aussie Style.
The Way of the Roo
To demonstrate just how close you could get to Australia’s wondrous assortment of creatures at Walkabout Australia, we created a character to help lead us on the path of discovery: The Kanguru.
A friendly amateur expert on all things Australia, he guides us through everything the new exhibit has to offer, interacting with Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, Echidnas and even a cranky old Cassowary along the way.
Key Art
In our key art executions, we put the promise of the Walkabout Australia experience front and center, making the close proximity to Aussie animals the hero. Our color palettes and graphics were inspired by Australia’s epic sunsets and aboriginal art.
The Results
The Walkabout Australia campaign launched with paid support 5/28/18 and this continued through 8/12/18.
Through its paid efforts the Walkabout campaign resulted in: