AKA, the independent fully integrated agency for culture, entertainment and leisure brands, has been appointed by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) to oversee the media planning and media buying activities for its Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park sites. Having been invited to a three-way pitch alongside incumbent agencies The Lane (Edinburgh Zoo) and Space and Time (Highland Wildlife Park), AKA Scotland impressed with its ability to bring activity for the two brands under the control of one central account team.
The focus for AKA Scotland is to deliver multiple campaigns for Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park aimed at driving visitor numbers, increasing RZSS memberships and highlighting important research and conservation projects that the charity supports around the world. The campaigns will also promote visiting exhibits at the attractions such as The Giants Lanterns of China and key seasons like school and public holidays.
Because of AKA’s data-driven approach, there will be considerable audience segmentation and profiling work undertaken to ensure maximum value is generated for RZSS from any media spend.
Ben Supple, Head of Marketing, Communications and Membership at RZSS said: “AKA Scotland’s approach to planning and experience of working with audience segmentation tools were important factors in our decision to award it the account. We were also impressed with its buying power, proven ability to drive attendance numbers and its impressive list of UK visitor attraction customers. Being able to bring together our Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park accounts with AKA Scotland means we can now work with one team across both brands. This will be more efficient, cost-effective and help to ensure consistency in our outreach.”
Gillian Thomson-Woolley, Managing Director at AKA North and AKA Scotland said: “We’re thrilled to be working with two renowned Scottish attractions for RZSS and to help promote the invaluable work with rare and endangered animals that the charity is involved in. This is a statement win that strengthens our portfolio in this sector, increases our presence in Scotland and further demonstrates the confidence that visitor attractions have in AKA’s ability to get people to go places. We look forward to profiling the exciting schedule of events coming up at both Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park.”
RZSS joins other leading attraction operators that are working with AKA Scotland, including the National Galleries of Scotland, Ambassador Theatre Group (King’s Theatre Glasgow, Theatre Royal Glasgow and the Edinburgh Playhouse) and Continuum Attractions Scotland (Real Mary King’s Close).
This account is the latest win in what is proving to be a period of rapid growth for AKA as it continues to diversify into new markets. AKA North has recently taken over Transport for Greater Manchester’s media planning and buying, while AKA is the new strategic media planning and buying agency for English Heritage, which cares for more than 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites around the country.
