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The journey toward a purposeful brand is hard work. And fraught with misled travelers. Being clear about who you are—it’s at the center of branding.
At Gardner Design, we’ve helped hundreds of clients refocus and relay brands that get to the point.
Join us as Bill Gardner and our clients discuss how they found their brand voice. In these episodes, we will correct misconceptions and dispel fears as we relate first-hand experiences of branding. None of these episodes are the full story for these brands but, we hope, offer helpful tidbits for your own branding journey.
Ep01
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Sweet Spot Branding Intro
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[00:00:00]
Bill Gardner: You know, in branding occasionally you get into a project that is just kind of like it, it's candy, it's cake, it's pie, it's, it's all the stuff that you ever really wanted in that sweet shop, and I've got to tell you that this is going to be one of my favorite conversations because it's about the Sedgwick County Zoo.
And I'd like you to welcome my, uh, my very dear [00:01:00] friend, uh, Jennica King, who's the, uh, director of marketing communications for the Sedgwick County Zoo. And I'm so glad that we're gonna do this, by the way.
Jennica King: I'm excited. I'm so happy to be here.
Bill Gardner: Yeah. You, you know, um, as, as we first came to know each other, um, and through the Sedgwick County Zoo, which is, by the way, for anybody outside this market, um, it's in Wichita And I think, you know, people know where Wichita is, but Sedgwick County, that's a little bit of an anomaly because people are like, "Well, where is Sedgwick County?"
Yeah. You wanna, you wanna kind of set that up a little bit?
Zoo Origins and Partnership
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Jennica King: Our zoo is very lucky to have a public-private partnership. So Sedgwick County owns the zoo. Yeah. And, um, that was thanks to, you know, a group of very civic-minded individuals who wanted a place to conserve wildlife and educate the public and connect our community with, um, these am- you know, amazing animals that call the [00:02:00] zoo home.
So Sedgwick County, um, was able to procure land for the zoo back in the '60s. Yeah. Yeah. The zoo opened. I
Bill Gardner: hate to admit, I remember when they were procuring land. You were there? It was way out there. I mean, it was, it was miles away. Now it's in the heart of the city.
Jennica King: It is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Yeah. And they, they had the foresight to procure way more land than we actually needed. Yeah. So we are not, um, you know, facing some of the difficulties that some zoos are in being landlocked. We've got quite a bit of room to grow still, so that's hopefully the next
Bill Gardner: phase.
Kansas Top Attraction
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Bill Gardner: And, and, and not only is it just an amazing zoo, it...
Do I recall it is the number one visited attraction in the state of Kansas, or how- It is. What, what, what's that stat?
Jennica King: The, the official stat is we are the number one outdoor family tourist attraction in the state of Kansas.
Bill Gardner: Okay. And, you know, that puts the Cawker Ball of Twine- ... the giant ball of twine in Cawker City way down on the list.
Jennica King: It does. It does. Yeah. Which is a very exciting attraction.
Bill Gardner: No, it really isn't. But. But it does [00:03:00] have wildlife 'cause I understand there are rats that live inside of the, the ball of twine. Oh, okay. So it's
Jennica King: doing its own conservation.
Bill Gardner: It, it is. Okay. It is.
Why Rebrand at 50
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Bill Gardner: Uh, so here's the thing that I loved about this project, is that it is, you know, obviously so well-attended, and it is a beloved institution, uh, throughout Kansas, but that this idea of going in and doing a rebrand on something that is so beloved is something that always is, uh...
I don't, I, it, it's, it's gotta feel a little bit uncomfortable for the person who says, "I have permission to pull the trigger."
Jennica King: Certainly. Yeah. And I was given that permission within about six months of starting my job there at the zoo, so I was fairly new to it. Why? Uh, it, because we were coming up on our 50th birthday.
Bill Gardner: Yep.
Jennica King: So we started this process and launched the new brand in 2019, and 2021 was the zoo's 50th birthday. And so that's sort of, [00:04:00] you know, obviously a big milestone for the zoo- Yeah ... and an opportunity to take a look at the master plan, the strategic plan, the mission statement, the vision statement, and make sure that we're sort of, you know, maintaining a great trajectory- Yeah
and maintaining those standards that we hold ourselves to.
Master Plan Phase One
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Bill Gardner: And, and as I recall, you guys, uh, at the time, were just introducing, uh, that master plan, which really expanded en- enormously. I mean, it, it, uh, it they, they constructed a new entrance for the zoo. Uh, they rethought about how to bring people in. They, they brought in a train to the zoo.
Uh, you wanna talk about some of the other plans and things that kind of came out of that? Yeah.
Jennica King: So along with our 50th birthday celebration, we introduced phase one of this master plan, uh, and raised $15.1 million in a capital campaign. Wow. And there was an animal aspect to that. We opened the Slawson [00:05:00] Family Asian Big Cat Trek- Oh,
Bill Gardner: yeah
Jennica King: within that phase. But the rest of that phase was really geared toward the visitor experience, really elevating that visitor experience, giving people more things to do while they come to the zoo. Um, and so, you know, we started with a new entry complex- Yes, yeah ... which really- Beautiful, by the way. Yeah
puts a, puts a beautiful face to the zoo. Yeah, it
Bill Gardner: does.
Jennica King: Uh, and lets you know that you're coming to an organization that, you know, does great work, takes themselves seriously, is a wonderful place to see animals and be entertained, but we're also, we're also a serious business of conservation and protecting and preserving wildlife.
Conservation Story Focus
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Bill Gardner: I, I'm glad you just brought up the word conservation, because I know that, uh, Jeff, uh, who was, uh, the director of the zoo at the time, was very, uh... I mean, that was one of his real missions, was the idea of introducing conservation back into the zoo. Of
Jennica King: course.
Bill Gardner: And, and, and frankly, as I recall, as we started into development of [00:06:00] branding, that was one of our major focuses, the things that we really knew that we had to introduce- Yes
as part of this new brand.
Jennica King: Yes. And conservation has always been something that the zoo has done, and been very involved with ever since the beginning, and all AZA zoos are involved with. Um, but it's not a story that we really had a chance to tell. Yeah. Uh, and so that was, that was really the main focus-
Bill Gardner: Yeah
Jennica King: of this strategic master plan. The rebrand is really finding a way to tell that story.
Bill Gardner: Yeah. And, and I'm glad you brought the word story up, because when, when you think about branding, it, it is about storytelling, so much of it. And sometimes people have heard a story so many times that they just kind of become snow blind to it.
They, they don't listen to it. And I think it gave us that opportunity to really engage not only the public, but to engage [00:07:00] the staff there at the zoo, as well as the board of directors, and all of these different parties in determining what was the story that we wanted to tell.
Jennica King: Mm-hmm. And I think that was- One of my biggest surprises, um, during this whole process of rebranding was, uh, and it was a great surprise- Yeah
uh, was just how invested your team is in the story. Yeah. Is figuring out what that story is, and that really was a lot of, of the whole process and took- Yeah ... really the most amount of time, was trying to figure out what is the story. Uh, but, but the dedication to that I think really, really helped put my mind at ease that we were going someplace
Bill Gardner: good.
Well, and, and the fact that you folks were as invested in it as you were.
Research and Interviews
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Bill Gardner: When, when you think about, um, and we, we certainly did, what other zoos have done as far as their branding and their identity and their logos go, you know, uh, you, you, you came [00:08:00] to see a lot of the same thing repeated over and over again.
And you don't necessarily feel like there's a story. Either they've got a key animal that they focus in on-
Jennica King: Mm-hmm ...
Bill Gardner: um, or they take the word zoo and they plug a couple of animal faces in the middle of the O's. Um, but, but there are just these repeated antics that go on over and over again, but they don't necessarily tell a story.
And as part of trying to determine what that story is, we talked to a lot of people.
Jennica King: Mm-hmm.
Bill Gardner: Um, as I recall, we did, uh, probably close to 1,000 intercept interviews with, uh, people that were, uh, either members of the zoo-
Jennica King: Mm-hmm ...
Bill Gardner: or, uh, people that were there at the zoo. Right. Can you recall some of this process?
Jennica King: Yeah, and that was just the external survey. Yeah. We also surveyed m- many, or most of our staff. Yeah. Uh, and we had a really good, uh, involvement rate in that survey, uh, and I think that's really what helped the staff embrace this rebrand [00:09:00] process, and I think that's why we got such amazing results- Yeah
and such a robust story to go along with our new brand.
Bill Gardner: So when, when you're talking about that survey, and you're starting to engage the community in it, there is a little bit of, uh, conversation that starts to go on in the community about what's going on at the zoo and what are they gonna do. So it kind of reactivates a, a population that had kind of been quiet about the zoo and gets them to thinking, and obviously with your master plan introduction and the likes, I mean, they could tell there was something going on.
Website Before Brand
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Bill Gardner: But before any of this started- We had kind of an inauspicious beginning to this project- ... because really you didn't come to us about the branding initially.
Jennica King: That's true.
Bill Gardner: What'd you come to
Jennica King: us for? That's true. Came to you for a new website.
Bill Gardner: Yeah.
Jennica King: And you laughed at me along the way. I remember.
Bill Gardner: Oh, I
Jennica King: did that?
Uh, we laughed together-
Bill Gardner: Okay ...
Jennica King: uh, because you, you said, "We're kind of doing this backwards."
Bill Gardner: Yeah.
Jennica King: If you wanna [00:10:00] rebrand, we need to decide the brand. We're almost- Yeah ... you know, developing your brand with this new website and introducing it that way. Uh, but I think it worked out perfectly for us.
Bill Gardner: It, it, it did, and I've gotta tell you, uh, Jay Walter, our, uh, director of digital here, um, uh, didn't even blink when he was told that he was going to be establishing what that general look was going to be going into this- Mm-hmm
and that it was going to have to be something that the brand would have to work into, and did a really great job of, you know, uh, we started to lay down color and texture and a lot of the palette, uh, the visual vocabulary that hangs with an identity- Mm-hmm ... uh, before we really knew what that identity was.
Meet Dandy the Logo
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Bill Gardner: So it, it, it boxed us in a little bit, but not too much, and when we started into, uh, the actual development of that, uh, that key element, the logo, I'm going to reach into my pocket because I happen to have Dandy.
Jennica King: There's
Bill Gardner: [00:11:00] Dandy. Um, yeah, the, uh, and this is where we're ultimately going with this thing is, uh, is, is we went into this process and we started looking at all these other zoos and what they had done.
There were certain things that came out of that survey that we wanted to focus in on Conservation was obviously one of them. Uh, but one of the things that was really important was us to identify regionality- Mm-hmm ... uh, within this.
Jennica King: Mm-hmm. So Dandy here-
Bill Gardner: Yeah ...
Jennica King: uh, he's sort of just grown into that name.
Someone said, "Oh, you know, he, he's a flower." Try, we named him Dandy. "He's the shape of a flower." Talk about, yeah. Uh, "He's a dandy lion. How cute is that?" Yeah, yeah. "Let's call him Dandy." Yep. And it just sort of grew on its own, and now everyone at the zoo calls him Dandy. Right. That's just what he is. Yeah. The, the file, the file name on our logo in our, in our brand elements folder- It's Dandy Lion
is Dandy. Um, so he's the dandy lion, but when we first introduced him, and when, you know, we came here [00:12:00] for the concept- Yeah ... um, he was introduced to us as a Kansas lion, because he takes the shape of a sunflower, which is the state flower, obviously. Yeah. Um, but it feels very Kansas, and, but, you know, lions aren't from Kansas, and so it just really beautifully ties in the story of the conservation work that we do here, um, affects the world.
Yeah. And, you know, we're all connected.
Going Viral Worldwide
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Bill Gardner: I, I loved a little insight that you shared with me. We had a chance to talk yesterday, um, about, um, a member or delegation that, uh, went down to, was it Panama?
Jennica King: Yes. Am I- And that was the president of our zoo.
Bill Gardner: Oh, you're the-
Jennica King: The president of our zoo.
Bill Gardner: Mm-hmm. I'll, I'll give, I'll give you Dandy.
Jennica King: Okay. Here's Dandy. Um, the president of our zoo, uh, Scott Newland-
Bill Gardner: Yeah ...
Jennica King: he was in Panama on a conservation trip,
Bill Gardner: right.
Jennica King: And we were In that moment, kind of in the [00:13:00] middle of going viral on social media because of a chimpanzee that was born.
Bill Gardner: I recall
Jennica King: this, yeah. Um, yes. And so we had just recently, uh, gained quite a large international- Yeah.
Oh ... audience. Yeah. We had, uh, 3.2 billion people saw this viral video. No kidding.
Bill Gardner: Yeah. Really?
Jennica King: Yeah. Wow. Wow. So it was, it was exciting. Um, so the, uh, president of our zoo is wearing all of his, you know, zoo-
Bill Gardner: Regalia ...
Jennica King: regalia. Yeah. Yes. And his hat has Dandy right on his forehead. Right. And, uh, he went into just a little restaurant in Panama, and the area that they were staying didn't have very many options, so it was a tiny little restaurant.
And the waitress came up and she said, "Oh my gosh, you're from that zoo." So- ... you know, this- I love this story ... this little guy- Yeah ... this little Dandy has international recognizability. Yeah, yeah. So he's, uh, he's pretty special to us, and we, we love
Bill Gardner: him. You, you, you never know what, you know, kind of effect, uh, a brand or an [00:14:00] identity is necessarily going to have, do you?
Exactly. And, and something like that really drives it home. And as, as you start to think about what we actually did, um, with this logo, I mean, you, you made the point to us that there will always be a lion exhibit at the Sedgwick County Zoo. Yes. And, you know, it's e- it's easy for you to kind of go, okay, the lion, you know, king of the jungle, and there's all this lore associated with lions.
But being able to identify him and that Kansas sunflower and combine the two of them together, uh, really gave us that kind of perfect mashup, if you will, that starts to tell a story. And, and one of the things that came out of some of the interviews, um, is we identify clients as we are working on their brand based off of different personality traits that we try and convey that people build an allegiance to through brand.
And, um, uh, there was a certain [00:15:00] level of excitement, uh, associated with yours, but there was also this little hair of ruggedness- ... uh, that was in there that we needed to convey. And the texture- Mm-hmm ... that happens in here is not just texture that happens inside, we call that mesitant, but not just inside the logo, but it's part of that language- Mm-hmm
that carries across to everything at the zoo. Mm-hmm. You guys use it in your, uh, literature, you use it on, we use it on the website, which we're gonna get back to in just a second.
Style Guide and Teams
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Bill Gardner: But one of the things that is unique about the Sedgwick County Zoo is you're obviously, you know, the director of their marketing department, but you've got a team of designers yourself that have to work with this.
Jennica King: Yes, of course. And so that was- That was one thing that I was very, very pleased with, was how easy that transition was made for us. So you guys came up with this beautiful visual [00:16:00] style book for us, and then handed that off with all of the assets that we needed. And then, you know, I used to be a marketing team of one person.
Uh, and so I have, you know, I work with some, you know, other design teams- Yeah ... you know, here and there. Um, and then I've now been hire- able to hire two more people- Yes ... on my team. Yeah. So now I have a marketing team of three people. Um, and then there's, you know, a graphics team- Sure ... that handles all the signage and the way finding and the- That they do an amazing job, by the way.
Yeah ... the maps, and they have been able to come in and sit down with Jay and, you know, really seamlessly, uh, be able to take over, uh, that kind of house style. So,
Bill Gardner: so, so you said something in there that made, triggered a thought, which was you said, "I, I used to be a marketing team of one." Yes. And when you start to think about, uh, who's going to administer a brand, who's gonna be the steward of a brand, [00:17:00] a lot of times it is just one person And, and in those situations, if that person has all the knowledge, I guess that's okay for that person because they're gonna know if it's on or off-brand.
Mm-hmm. But when you have a team-
Jennica King: Mm-hmm ...
Bill Gardner: then you have to document in some way those assets so that everybody knows how to use them, because everybody's gonna have a different opinion-
Jennica King: Right ...
Bill Gardner: about how they might end up getting used.
Jennica King: Yeah.
Bill Gardner: Does that been valuable?
Jennica King: Absolutely. Yeah. It's definitely valuable, especially since, you know, I work with, you know, different agencies on different projects, um, you know, from our, you know, annual advertising campaigns- Right
or, you know, marketing materials or the membership cards. And, you know, we also have an operations partner, um, that handles all of the admissions and retail and food service at the zoo, and so they have their own design team. Um, [00:18:00] but, you know, someone coming to the zoo doesn't know that, you know, the, the admissions manager is getting a paycheck from a different company than the zoo.
Yep. And they have, you know, a design team that now has our style guide. And so the ticket, uh, portal of the website is not managed by me.
Bill Gardner: Yep.
Jennica King: We have nothing to do with it, but it at least has the same colors and fonts and textures on that so that it provides kind of a seamless experience. So- Now
Bill Gardner: I, I've gotta throw some credit at, uh, Jay Walter.
And, and I'm always glad to throw as much credit as I can at his- He
Jennica King: deserves it. This could just be a Jay Walter fan podcast as far as I'm concerned.
Bill Gardner: It, it pretty much could. Um, uh, and what's, what, what's odd is I happen to know that Jay is sitting on the other side- He's listening ... of this wall- Yeah, and he's pissed
and he's listening to this entire-
Jennica King: Stop talking about me,
Bill Gardner: guys.
Website Love and Awards
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Bill Gardner: But, um, one of the things that, uh, Jay really invested, uh, heavily into was the, the website, uh, for the zoo. And, [00:19:00] you know, I, I know that he builds a passion into just about everything that he undertakes. But in particular, he has a particular love, uh, for this project.
And- And
Jennica King: it shows.
Bill Gardner: Yeah, it, it does, doesn't it? And you get into the website and it is so much more than, uh, just a website. Do you wanna talk about how that kind of grew and the things that have come out of it?
Jennica King: That was such a fun i- project- Yeah ... and it, it's never ending. Yeah. And I think that's the most exciting thing is that- Jay loves it
there's always- He loves that it's never ending. Yeah. He's got job security.
Bill Gardner: Well,
Jennica King: no, it's not job
Bill Gardner: security. He's always updating the website. But maybe it is. I don't know. But, but I, I will tell you that, uh, I can tell from his passion that he especially loves working on it, so.
Jennica King: Yeah, yeah. And, and you can tell in the website.
It's beautiful. We've had, you know, comments from Everyone, you know, everyone you talk to, especially what's been really fun is at Association of Zoos and Aquariums- Yeah ... [00:20:00] conferences and you meet people in other marketing departments at other zoos, and they've seen your website, and they love your website, and they ask who made your website.
And so that's been really exciting for me. But, um, you know-
Bill Gardner: Jay, can you hear this? Can you ... No
Jennica King: I, he, he knows Okay ... and I told him, I said, "Just don't give them a better website than you give us." Oh, okay. Like, the ours has to still be the best one.
Rebrand Fears and Buy In
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Bill Gardner: so I'm gonna jump to a different topic here for just a second, which is when you go through any kind of a, a rebrand, one of the first things that occurs to you is, boy, am I gonna get in trouble?
Is the public gonna respond poorly to this? Am, uh, are, are we g- are we going to have trolls? Are we g- Do you kinda wanna talk about any apprehension that you may have had, or the results of that, or?
Jennica King: Yeah. I, you know, there's certainly a natural level of apprehension, just, you know, worried that not everyone is [00:21:00] gonna love Dandy as much as I loved Dandy.
Um, but- You know, the zoo has been through several different logos, um, or brands, but, you know, we never really, until this process, had a full brand in, you know, the whole sense of the word. More than just a
Bill Gardner: logo.
Jennica King: Yes. Yeah. Something to
Bill Gardner: really carry
Jennica King: through all the people. We have, we have had several different logos.
Bill Gardner: Right.
Jennica King: Um, the logo that we had was not... I mean, we had equity in it, but it wasn't, you know, uh, loved as much as Dandy is loved, you know? So I, I think we felt okay that the public would, would be fine. Um, you know, there were a few people within the zoo that, you know, we were a little bit worried that some of the employees might say, "Oh, well, you know, we're focusing on a mammal here- Sure
with the lion and, you know, what about a bird? What about a snake?" And, and so there's always a little bit of that, a little bit of fear that- Should
Bill Gardner: we, should we have done a snake?
Jennica King: Maybe. I don't, you
Bill Gardner: know. No. [00:22:00] I, I know Jack wants a snake.
Jennica King: What would you call him? Yeah. There's no, you know.
Bill Gardner: Sly. I don't know. I, uh.
Jennica King: A snake doesn't fit well in a sunflower shape either, so. No,
Bill Gardner: it, it really doesn't.
Jennica King: Yeah. Yeah. But so, so there was a little bit of apprehension with that, but, um, what I think really, really smoothed that process, uh, was the fact that there was a whole story. There was research. There was an opportunity for all of the staff to give input.
There's a reason, a very specific, you know, lengthy reason why we chose the lion and why he's the Kansas lion and why he's, you know, Dandy, and, and why he looks the way he does. And he has a personality that represents pride and conservation and, you know, the wildlife, and that's, that's what we embody at the zoo.
And-
Bill Gardner: I, I couldn't say that better. Wonderful. No, really.
Wrap Up and Partnership
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Bill Gardner: And, you know, when, when I look back, uh, on this project and I [00:23:00] look forward on this project, because I know that it's an ongoing effort, that, you know, uh, it's not just a, "Well, here's your logo." Yeah. Uh, but it is a partnership, and we appreciate having that partnership with you.
And, you know, uh, as you continue to grow as an entity, I will tell you that, uh, I have had so... We, we do hundreds of identities and lots of brands, but there's probably been no one brand that has had such broad appeal to people, that they've all just loved it. So you gave us the opportunity to knock something out of the park.
Jennica King: And, and you delivered. Yeah. You delivered. I will say that, you know, when I, when I decided to call you guys and say, "I need a new website," that was the best decision of my career.
Bill Gardner: You already know. Okay. We got that. Thank you.
Jennica King: Thank you. I
Bill Gardner: appreciate that. [00:24:00]