San Diego Zoo "See Conservation from a New Perspective" Campaign

The “See Conservation From a New Perspective” campaign, conceptualized by the David & Goliath, invites visitors to an immersive experience with wildlife that transcends traditional zoo visits. At the heart of this initiative is the belief that seeing these animals up close, eye-to-eye, not only supports conservation efforts but also inspires a commitment to protect these magnificent creatures.

The concept for the campaign was to feature visually arresting print ads and films, including the hero films “New Perspectives” and “Eye-to-Eye,” that capture the profound connections forged when visitors and wildlife gaze into each other’s eyes. The campaign highlights the unique eye-to-eye encounters at the Safari Park, where visitors traverse the expansive savanna habitats aboard safari trucks, in hot air balloons, and even from an exciting zip line high above the park, experiencing the majesty of giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, and rhinos in their natural settings.

There were exciting challenges with this project every step of the way. Filming and photographing extreme, close-up macro shots of wild animals’ eyes, while trying to elicit an emotional response from the animals, can be close to impossible. They are animals, not paid actors and they do not take directions very well. And this is an open park, where the humans are much more contained than the animals, which range freely throughout the park. There were three main action-oriented scenarios that included synchronizing human talent with wild animal behavior. We had to cover a group of safari trucks with people surrounded by giraffes, elicit “joy” from the talent to match a wink in a giraffe’s eye, orchestrate hot air balloon rides with a mother and daughter, and I had to go down an almost mile-long zip line while filming backwards and manually pulling focus as I tracked the talent flying down a zip line next to me.