The Brief:
Bronx Zoo is one of the most unique corporate event venues New York has to offer and so when they asked if we would design a version of their existing scavenger hunt game in order to guide, educate and engage guests during an event planner’s showcase, we jumped at the chance!
The objective of this invite-only open day was to showcase the huge park and all of its versatile event space options, catering, and amenities. It was also for planners to meet the zoo’s approved vendors and gather information, enabling them to offer their clients new and exciting ideas for their next corporate off-site. Showcasing our app and the Bronx Zoo Scavenger Hunt in this way meant that planners wouldn’t miss a thing with push notifications about things to see and do appearing throughout the day. Whilst also taking part in an activity they would then be confident to promote to their clients as part of their package at the zoo.
The Solution:
We worked closely with the team at Bronx Zoo to customize their existing Scavenger Hunt game to be utilized as the interactive guide to this industry event. We added in permanent hotspot pins denoting the location of the BBQ + Bar, the location of the event vendors to visit, the animal exhibits and the zoo’s amenities. Along with the team driving the runaway beer cart, sponsored by Bronx Brewery, shown moving across the map for players to chase down for giveaways.
All photo and video challenges within the game offered bonus points when players shared their submissions with the day’s special hashtag on their Instagram, Facebook and Twitter account’s via the game, providing a great marketing platform for the zoo.
From our experience in running activations that are not a mandatory part of a Team Building Activity and that require the players to understand how to be ‘game ready’, we advised the team at Bronx Zoo on the steps to take to ensure maximum downloads and continued player engagement throughout the day.
- Make the most out of our app’s push notifications feature; Players will be kept in the know with important event announcements no matter where they are in the park and incentivised back into the game.
- Make it competitive and give them something to play for; Players were rewarded with zoo discounts, prizes and animal experiences as they hit point levels on the live scoreboard.
- Prep them before the day; We helped the zoo send out a short video in their pre-event comms walking through the app & game download process.
- Keep it simple; We helped provide small cards to be handed out as guests entered the park with a visual reminder of the 3 simple steps to download the app and join the game.
The Results:
We were blown away by the response from the event planners in attendance on the day. With 152 teams on the scoreboard competing and exploring using our app as their intuitive and entertaining guide. Scoring points in return for completing zoo scavenger tasks and photo challenges. The Event Director of Bronx Zoo said his Instagram feed had never been so active and that he had been stopped by guests excited about the app all day long.
