strategy . planning
Rebranding Chester Zoo to drive both income and impact.
"A 10% uplift in new audience engagement and strong sector recognition, all while growing both income and impact."
The Challenge
For over 15 years, Chester Zoo had built its brand almost entirely around young families - think bright colours, playful tone, and an experience curated for kids. While this worked well, it also boxed the zoo in.
Two big challenges emerged:
1. To grow income, the zoo needed to reach beyond its saturated North-West family audience.
2. To grow influence as a global conservation charity, it needed to show up as a credible force in science, education, and policy, something that wasn’t reflected in the family-first brand.
The Solution
This called for a full organisational rebrand - not just a new logo or a campaign, but a shift in how Chester Zoo expressed everything it does, for everyone it serves.
The new brand started from the inside out, rooted in authenticity. Internal insights and the charity’s mission of preventing extinction were reframed into a more hopeful, forward-looking promise: helping nature survive and thrive.
The rebrand struck a careful balance. It retained the energy and adventure that families loved, while expanding the tone and experience to better connect with young adults and older audiences. Messaging, visuals, and tone were adapted to speak to conservation professionals, government partners, and NGOs - without alienating the core audience.
Visitors were encouraged to see every action, every ticket, every coffee, as part of a bigger mission. This was supported by the launch of a new Conservation Science Centre and International Conservation Academy, both of which helped make the charity’s work more visible and accessible to all.
The Results
In just six months post-launch, engagement with new opportunity audiences rose by 10%. On the professional front, the rebrand landed well, with a successful rollout across the conservation sector and a noticeable lift in brand recognition and distinctiveness in tracking.
Crucially, the rebrand drove tangible growth in income too across on-site spend, memberships, and philanthropic giving. All saw positive lifts as visitors connected more deeply with the zoo’s wider mission.
Rebranding Chester Zoo to drive both income & influence
"A 10% uplift in new audience engagement and strong sector recognition, all while growing both income and impact."
The Challenge
For over 15 years, Chester Zoo had built its brand almost entirely around young families - think bright colours, playful tone, and an experience curated for kids. While this worked well, it also boxed the zoo in.
Two big challenges emerged:
To grow income, the zoo needed to reach beyond its saturated North-West family audience.
To grow influence as a global conservation charity, it needed to show up as a credible force in science, education, and policy, something that wasn’t reflected in the family-first brand.
The Solution
This called for a full organisational rebrand - not just a new logo or a campaign, but a shift in how Chester Zoo expressed everything it does, for everyone it serves.
The new brand started from the inside out, rooted in authenticity. Internal insights and the charity’s mission of preventing extinction were reframed into a more hopeful, forward-looking promise: helping nature survive and thrive.
The rebrand struck a careful balance. It retained the energy and adventure that families loved, while expanding the tone and experience to better connect with young adults and older audiences. Messaging, visuals, and tone were adapted to speak to conservation professionals, government partners, and NGOs - without alienating the core audience.
Visitors were encouraged to see every action, every ticket, every coffee, as part of a bigger mission. This was supported by the launch of a new Conservation Science Centre and International Conservation Academy, both of which helped make the charity’s work more visible and accessible to all.
The Results
In just six months post-launch, engagement with new opportunity audiences rose by 10%. On the professional front, the rebrand landed well, with a successful rollout across the conservation sector and a noticeable lift in brand recognition and distinctiveness in tracking.
Crucially, the rebrand drove tangible growth in income too across on-site spend, memberships, and philanthropic giving. All saw positive lifts as visitors connected more deeply with the zoo’s wider mission.