The Campaign

The Kamine Zoo in Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, was looking for ways to boost visitor numbers. People perceived the zoo as old-fashioned, and not as an entertainment option. We wondered whether some new form of entertainment couldn’t be found in the everyday lives of the animals. So we took the animals’ regular playthings – old tires and giants balls – and wrapped them in fabric, to make the world’s first animal-made distressed denim jeans. We felt that the basic idea – designer jeans ripped by real lions, tigers and bears – was strong enough to garner considerable media coverage and generate buzz. Our first task was to get this message out, then make the details available to people who would inevitably want to learn more. A press release was dispatched inviting the media to a press conference and launch event held at the zoo. The journalists and event attendees were treated to an impressive demonstration by lions and tigers, gnawing and clawing at their denim-wrapped playthings. A high quality “making of” video was released on YouTube, and embedded in the Zoo Jeans website, which also went live on the day of the launch event. A Facebook page was created and filled with more behind-the-scenes images, captioned in Japanese and English. We created three versions of the jeans and sold them to the public via an online auction, and returned the proceeds to the animals in the form of donations to the zoo and to WWF Japan.

The Brief

Our communications objective was to reframe “the zoo” as an amusement destination that is relevant to young people today – not an old-fashioned relic of yesteryear – so it was necessary to take an original and unexpected approach, and to do so on a shoestring budget.

Results

In the first two weeks of the campaign, Zoo Jeans was featured in major news channels both in Japan and around the world – a total of 737 media. In the same period, social media users mentioned the jeans made by animals in 28,346 posts, reaching a total 34,572,889 people. With a media spend of zero, the ad value equivalency reached some USD$1,706,759.74, and has continued to climb since. Furthermore, many people participated in the charity auction, with one pair alone selling for some USD$1,500.00. And the zoo saw a 132% increase in visitors compared with the same period last year. From a qualitative perspective, people began to see the zoo in a new light – as an amusement destination that can offer new kinds of entertainment.

Execution

We took the animals’ regular playthings – old tires and giants balls – and wrapped them in fabric, to create the world’s first animal-made distressed denim jeans. A press release was dispatched inviting the media to a press conference and launch event held at the zoo on July 6. The journalists and event attendees were treated to a “demonstration” by the animals. A high quality “making of” video was released on YouTube, and embedded in the Zoo Jeans website, which also went live on the day of the launch event. A Facebook page was created and filled with more behind-the-scenes images, captioned in Japanese and English. We had prepared three versions of the jeans – the Tiger, the Lion and the Bear. We sold the jeans in a public auction, and returned the proceeds to the animals in the form of donations to the zoo and to WWF Japan.

The Situation

Zoos across Japan have seen a gradual decline in attendance since their heyday, especially smaller facilities located outside of the major metropolitan areas that lack the financial resources to procure rare animals and create flashy attractions.

The Strategy

We felt that the basic idea – designer jeans ripped by real lions, tigers and bears – was strong enough to garner considerable media coverage and generate buzz. So our task was to first get this message out, then make the details available to people who would inevitably want to learn more. To maximize buzz, we planned to first approach the fashion media and let them spread the word. Then as the word-of-mouth grew, we would engage general news, sports and entertainment media and TV. The strategy was as simple as it was unique, and resonated with the entire spectrum of zoo visitors – and, more importantly, with young people who were not zoo-goers. Leveraging the natural instincts of the animals both captured people’s imagination and gave them a taste of what the zoo has to offer.