Chester Zoo has announced the launch of their brand-new, “clean, fun and honest” website, which has been designed especially for the attraction and now boasts more than 1000 pages.
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The site, which uses a unique, hand-crafted font, is intended to help create a strong communication platform for Chester Zoo and give it a specific feel, which the Zoo is hoping will become associated with it all over the world.
This branding will further aid Chester Zoo’s conservation efforts around the globe and will reflect the Zoo’s “ambitions, achievements and challenges”.
“We wanted an identity that encapsulates what is special about Chester Zoo, ” said Barbara Smith, Chester Zoo managing director.
“The new website is modern, vibrant and personal and will stand out from other organisations.
“It incorporates our very own, newly created illustrated font and deliberately moves away from a corporate look to instead reflect the real personality of the zoo. It gives us a completely distinctive visual identity and allows us to communicate a conservation message in a compelling way.
“The reinvigorated site is great news for Chester Zoo. It’s clean, fun and honest and will really help us to connect with our many different audiences in a very natural and genuine way.”
The new design has an improved navigational structure which makes finding Chester Zoo information on the site a simple affair. Further to this, the Zoo’s social media channels are more accessible via improved links and a mobile version and app are expected to be launched later this year.
Chester Zoo’s online marketing manager, Simon Hacking, added: “The new web design offers great flexibility for campaigns and will enable us to easily highlight our key messages, news and events.”
“It’s very well tailored to the needs of our target audiences – from families looking for a great day out and people across the globe that want to know more about the zoo’s conservation work.”
Chester Zoo is one of the UK’s premier attractions and is “critically acclaimed” as one of the top zoos in the world. The Zoo welcomes more than 1.4 million guests per year and last year saw record figures for visitor numbers and shop sales.
This is thought to be due in part to the Zoo’s investment in digital technology, with online bookings seeing a YOY increase of 26%.
The new website has a host of features including: an online shop, tickets, gifts and experiences, zoo membership and animal adoptions.
The website was designed in collaboration with Manchester-based Code ‘Computerlove’ and the rebranding was assisted by Manchester’s ‘Music’ creative agency.
