“Wonders Of Water” National Launch

The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) and PCI planned a national news conference in Chicago on April 1, 2005 to launch “Wonders of Water,” a public awareness campaign to make zoo and aquarium visitors aware of the organization’s mission to provide excellent care for animals in accredited zoos and aquariums, a great experience for visitors, and a better future for all living things. The communications team planned a satellite media tour, national media relations outreach (including an online media kit, www.AZAWondersofWater.org), and a member tool kit to help its 213 member zoos and aquariums conduct their own local media relations, thus expanding the program’s reach even further. The primary objective was to gain maximum media coverage of the news conference, defined as 100 placements reaching at least 30 million people nationwide.

The communication team knew that the launch of “Wonders of Water” was not enough by itself to garner the desired amount of national media attention. To increase the news value of the launch, the communication team designed AZA’s first-ever Animal Wild Card, a “top-10” list that highlighted species at risk, explained the threats they face in the wild and described what accredited zoos and aquariums were doing to help conserve these creatures and their habitat. To tie in with “Wonders of Water,” the communication team decided that the Card would feature a variety of animals that live in, on or near the water and face serious threats to their survival. This served two purposes: to increase the media appeal and to highlight the conservation work of AZA members, which was not well known by the public.

To increase the news value even further, the communication team enlisted the help of world-renowned wildlife conservationist Jack Hanna to act as spokesperson, along with AZA’s executive director.

On the national news stage, there were major breaking news stories competing for airtime, including the much-publicized March 31 death of Terry Schiavo and the impending death of Pope John Paul II. Despite these considerable challenges, the news value of AZA’s launch was so compelling that hundreds of media outlets maintained their commitment to run the story. Thanks to the team’s thorough preparation of the spokespeople, detailed planning and consistent pitching, the satellite media tour was even more successful than expected, with AZA spokespeople conducting 30 interviews across the country in less than four hours. Both conventional and online national media relations efforts were well executed and consistent, with the team making more than 500 follow-up phone calls after the materials were distributed.

From March through June 2005, the communication team secured a total of 412 print and broadcast placements, reaching an audience of at least 94,240,786. These included two placements on CNN, as well as placements on Fox News Channel, Tribune Media Services, Time for Kids (Time magazine’s children’s edition), Newsday (New York), Nick Jr. Family Magazine, and hundreds of local TV stations in markets around the country, which was especially important for AZA members. Because public awareness of “Wonders of Water” was driven entirely by public relations for the April 1 launch, AZA credits the communication team’s efforts for a large measure of the success of the year-long “Wonders of Water” program.