Case Study: Haunt the Zoo: All Grown Up
Partner: Oklahoma City Zoo & Botanical Garden
Roles: Event Creator, Creative Services Manager
Summary:
The Oklahoma City Zoo’s children’s Halloween event, “Haunt the Zoo,” has been a beloved community staple for over 40 years. Capitalizing on this success, “Haunt the Zoo: All Grown Up” was conceived to draw in more adult visitors. Debuting in 2018, this 21+ event quickly became one of the most popular adult Halloween events in the city. It attracted 10,000+ guests and raised $800,000+ from admission, food, and beverage sales over the course of five annual events.
Key Contributions
Event conceptualization, planning, and production oversight
Branding and guest touch-point design including advertising, event map, and signage
Aesthetic direction and fabrication of props, costumes, and special effects
Coordination of internal staff, third party performers and vendors, videographers and photographers
Objective
Marketing research revealed a gap in Zoo attendees ages 20s to 30s without children. In order to attract this demographic and ultimately connect them with wildlife, the Zoo sought to create an event that would cater to this audience.
Approach
Many OKC locals remember attending Haunt the Zoo (est. 1982) as children. Drawing on the event’s legacy and the popularity of Halloween among young adults, we decided to throw a 21+ party of epic proportions.
In order to reach the goal attendance of 1,500 guests for this inaugural event, we needed a powerful concept and campaign. As a member of our targeted audience, I pitched “Haunt the Zoo: All Grown Up,” a nostalgic experience that would blend the childhood magic of trick-or-treating the Zoo at night with the excitement of an adult Halloween dance party. It was a massive team effort to launch, but we met our attendance goal and proved the concept. Each year, we conducted post-attendee research and adapted to improve and grow the event.
Objective
As a reoccurring event, we needed to provide fresh experiences each year to recapture attendees. Our competition included haunted houses, costume contests, and live music. So, we marketed Haunt the Zoo: All Grown Up as the only event in town to offer all of the popular adult Halloween activities bundled into one wild night.
Approach
Certain elements remained staples of the event, such as the dance party featuring local legendary DJs Brothers Griiin, the sea lion presentation, and the haunted trails. But each year, we reinvented the theme. For example, in 2022, we built the “time travel” theme around the temporary Dino Safari exhibit. This featured life-sized dinosaur animatronics installed along the winding, lush trails of the butterfly garden habitat. For the event, we transformed the exhibit into a narrative experience complete with live actors guiding guests on a scientific expedition into the past … gone horribly wrong.
That same year, to set the tone, guests entered the Zoo through a massive, wormhole photo-op constructed from plywood and styrofoam. This extended into a tunnel which we fashioned from a repurposed greenhouse, adding animated LED light strips and fog machines. We transformed the reptile building into a haunted house, paying homage to campy 1980s horror films. The picnic grounds became a 1920s speakeasy featuring a swanky bar and vintage signage, a call back to the Zoo’s early years. The large pavilion housing the dance floor was outfitted with silver siding and strobes as a spacecraft hurdling through time itself.
Objective
All of the Zoo’s endeavors are examined through the lens of its mission to connect people with wildlife and wild places. While Haunt the Zoo: All Grown Up was intended to drive revenue and attendance, we also needed to justify the project by ensuring it furthered the organizational mission.
Approach
One of the pillars of this event was the sea lion presentation. I worked with our talented animal care team to script and produce an evocative show sure to inspire guests to take conservation action. In addition to weaving education into the entertainment elements, we installed touch-points throughout the event where ambassadors worked to convert new guests into ZOOfriends members. After creating a solid foundation for this event series and growing net profits each year, we committed a portion of ticket sales to directly fund the Zoo’s designated conservation partners and initiatives. Post-event surveys revealed that this was an important element of our marketing. Partying for a cause resonated with our target audience and strengthened the Zoo’s reputation as an actionable organization.
Outcome
During its five year run, Haunt the Zoo: All Grown Up successfully captured a previously under-reached demographic. In total, the events attracted over 10,000 guests and netted over $800,000 in operational and conservation revenue.