Competitive Analysis - Hypothetical Toronto Zoo Strategy

Competitive Analysis

Christina Hough November 18, 2014

Have fun and learn about wildlife conservation at the zoo. A redesign of the Toronto Zoos website was initiated in hopes of making the site a more engaging and useful resource for potential donors, volunteers, and visitors, emphasizing the zoos value to the community. Having completed a competitive analysis comparing Ripleys Aquarium and African Lion Safari to the Toronto Zoo, we believe that the zoo can differentiate its visitor experience by emphasizing the breadth and depth of its educational mission, as well as its entertainment value as an attraction.

We chose a theme to sum up the visitor experience we wish to deliver: Have fun and learn about wildlife conservation at the zoo. As we develop the new websites strategy and design, this phrase should be kept at the front of our minds to ensure that all aspects of the website support this desired experience.

We believe this theme encapsulates the value the zoo provides to the community, and encompasses the following benefits to zoo visitors and wildlife enthusiasts:

Zoo exhibits and events are fun, engaging, and family-friendly. They inspire visitors to learn more about wildlife.

The zoo supports a wide variety of educational initiatives. These help drive public engagement with ecological issues, and inspire positive behaviour changes that benefit the environment.

The zoo also supports a wide variety of research initiatives. These deepen our understanding of critical conservation issues, and help the zoo and its partners to promote intelligent, well-informed environmental policy and public calls to action.

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Toronto Zoo Ripleys Aquarium African Lion

SafariValue Proposition

The Toronto Zoo is passionate about wildlife and preserving wild spaces, and strives to inspire the same passion in its community. It offers accredited educational programs, pioneering breeding and release programs, and conservation and outreach initiatives.

Ripleys Aquarium promises to fill you with wonder. It offers an inspiring and educational experience for families, and a stunning environment in which to host private events.

African Lion Safari offers visitors an exotic, entertaining experience. Unlike a zoo, it strives to approximate the experience of going on safari and seeing animals in their natural habitat. It also features animal shows and

How is value proposition supported?

The zoo is involved in a wide range of research and outreach programs, which are described on their website. The website includes detailed factsheets on a remarkably large number of species, and is informative enough to serve as reference material for students, educators and zoo visitors. The main barrier to delivering on the zoos value proposition via the website is organization - both in terms of navigation and in terms of how individual content pieces are organized.

Clean, modern-feeling website featuring beautiful photography - browsing the website is itself enjoyable, and generates excitement about the exhibits. Emphasis is on a menu of available experiences.

Site photography often features un-zoolike experiences, such as zebras and giraffes peering into a car. Video footage of animal activity and shows suggest an unusually intimate encounter with exotic wild animals, with an emphasis on popular species (lions, giraffe, cheetahs, etc.)

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How does the website help visitors?

It is relatively easy to book tickets from the homepage, though the ticketing button is lost on other pages (the Donate Now button appears on every page however). The ticketing system itself is rather clunky and outdated. Hours and directions are easy to find on both desktop and mobile homepages. The zoo provides more information on its website than any of its competitors, but its usefulness is limited in many cases by navigation issues - it is often difficult for visitors to find specific information. The website also includes a large amount of information about wildlife, conservation and outreach programs, but is often not easily findable.

Booking tickets and requesting reservations for events is very easy; a Buy Tickets Now button is available in the same place on every page of the website, and various types of reservation can be done via online forms at the end of the relevant informational page. Hours and directions are easy to find - though hours vary according to private event schedules, calendars clearly convey the relevant information.

Again, booking tickets can be done from any page of the website. The ticketing system is not as slick as the aquariums, but much better than the zoos. Hours and directions are easy to find from the homepage. There is information about attractions and on-site food and shopping.

What topics are covered?

The zoos sections on conservation and outreach cover a very large number of programs. For visitors and donors with a serious interest in conservation, there is significant opportunity to differentiate the zoo from its competition by emphasizing the breadth and depth of zoo conservation efforts and educational programs.

Tightly focused on events/programs and services. There are few notes on the aquariums conservation efforts and staff, and very brief descriptions of each section or gallery of the aquarium, but most of the content explains the different visitor experiences available for different prices. Very little content devoted to information about species and conservation.

Conservation section covers the parks breeding programs, participation in relevant workshops, and a statement about research and development (with few details). There is more of this type of content here than on the Aquariums site, but significantly less than on the zoos.

Toronto Zoo Ripleys Aquarium African Lion Safari

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What content formats are used?

Articles about animals and programs, in-depth pieces on featured baby animals, photo galleries, videos, PDFs, staff bios, some blogs

Calendar, photography with short descriptions of features and initiatives, staff biographies, FAQ

Video and theme song (plays automatically when the page loads), short articles about animals that feature in the parks breeding program, timeline illustrating park history, photo galleries, FAQ.

How is the site organized?

Organized by services, exhibit sections, programs.

Organized by services and exhibit sections.

Organized by services, exhibit sections, programs.

How does the site convey its organizations brand?

Much of the content conveys the zoos seriousness of purpose, but sometimes in a dry and uninviting voice.

Carefully crafted voice used consistently throughout the site. Conversational, enthusiastic, markety. Clean, beautiful visuals support the aquariums brand.

Use of brand images and colours invoking the African savannah.

What does its messaging sound like?

Tone ranges from markety enthusiasm, objective and informational descriptions, and some pieces that convey zoo staffs affection for featured animals.

Emphasizes wonder, adventure, journeys, discovery, exoticism.

A mix of markety enthusiasm and a more objective, informational tone.

How well does the written content communicate?

Zoo content includes a great deal of detailed information, but lack of organization is a significant barrier to clarity. Many headings need to be more descriptive - it is often difficult for readers to quickly understand what a page is about. In most places, conservation problems and zoo solutions could be more clearly highlighted.

Very concise and to-the-point, gives broad overviews of exhibits but few details - not intended as reference material about aquatic species and habitats. Communicates the brand message very well.

More detailed information than the aquarium. Key points are clearly highlighted, focusing on threats to species and park interventions. Headings and subheadings are descriptive and easy to understand.


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How well does the visual content communicate?

Overall look of the site is cluttered and somewhat outdated. Photos/logos are included as icons in many link indexes, which can help to quickly convey information about each link. Often, however, the integration of photography and other visuals into written content is very plain and uninspiring, with little attention paid to layout. Photos are often quite small.

Visual content communicates very well. Website focus is on stunning professional photography, which supports the aquariums branding and value proposition.

Yellow, green and beige brand colours are not very visually appealing. Photographs are used to good effect within the written content. Scrolling timeline celebrating the parks 45th anniversary is communicative and appealing.

How well does the zoo and its competitors engage socially?

Zoos Facebook site is easily accessible throughout the webpage, and its YouTube channel is available from the homepage. Reasonably good use of these platforms to promote zoo events and exhibits. Twitter and Instagram accounts exist, but show little activity, and are not promoted on the site.

Instagram, Facebook and Twitter icons clearly visible. Effective use of social media to convey signature experiences and promote events.

Facebook and Pinterest icons are displayed throughout the site. Reasonably good use of each to promote the park, including a Pinterest contest.


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Competitive Analysis - Hypothetical Toronto Zoo Strategy