San Francisco Zoo
The client who changed the course of my career.
I was at BBDO and working hard on terrible, invisible ads for a large client of ours when I had a chance meeting with a guy who worked at a media agency in the same building.
He said, “The zoo is looking for a new creative agency. Would you be interested?” Well, I wasn’t qualified to say yes or no, but I knew that if I said nothing, I’d likely regret it, so I said, “Yes, we’d be interested.”
Out in the city
I then convinced my boss to let us work on the account, and over the course of 7 years and many more that followed at other agencies the account went with me to (including 215 McCann, MRM/McCann, and Cooper, Levy & Partners), we did absolutely extraordinary things. Work that received creative recognition from nearly every major marketing award show in the world like The One Show, The Cannes International Advertising Festival, Communication Arts, New York Festivals, London International Awards, and more I’m forgetting as I write this. We were on local, national, and global news. Helped the zoo stay open after a catastrophic incident and set a standard that I’ve always been proud of.
Critter Quest
Over a fifteen-year period, I made over 700 pieces of communication for this client. Most importantly, the work got people into the gates. We won an Effie Award for Critter Quest because our campaign led to a 200% increase in zoo visitors. The following represents some of my favorite ones.