A Magical Christmas at Copenhagen ZOO

Christmas is a season of traditions – traditions Danes tend to adhere to year after year. But For ZOO, these fixed traditions present a challenge: how do we inspire Danes to make a visit to ZOO part of their Christmas routine? Needing a solution that expressed the unique experience of Christmas at ZOO, we developed a campaign that let its residents do the talking.

Situation

For the third year in a row, ZOO is open to visitors for Christmas. ZOO likes to stick to well-known Christmas traditions but with an added element of surprise. For example, traditional Christmas music played in the gardens with the added twist of humorous sounds coming from the monkey cave. Or, the opportunity to not only greet Santa, but his reindeers as well.

This is what makes Christmas at ZOO so unique – and we needed a way to communicate that to the target audience.

Challenge

The Danes love Christmas but are afraid of change, especially when it comes to holiday traditions. Since Christmas at ZOO has only been a reality for two years it’s a relatively new event compared to the many competing attractions and events in December.

Therefore, the challenge for ZOO was to get the traditional Danes, who tend to do the same thing every Christmas, to visit ZOO and make it part of their Christmas tradition.

The challenge required a solution that both presented and conveyed all the unique things about Christmas at ZOO, and communicated ZOO’s annual cards and gift cards as the perfect gift ideas for Christmas.

Solution

Giving the animals the starring role, Sunrise developed a campaign that communicates the Christmas mood and magic at ZOO. The campaign’s key visual makes visitors want to explore the special Christmas magic and invites them to visit the gardens after dark to have a unique experience with the animals in the glow of over 200,000 Christmas lights.