A presentation at the 2013 AMMC Conference on the right mix of Marketing, Mission and Membership for a growing membership program.

1. A Magic Mix for Success
AMMC 2013
Mission – Marketing - Membership

2. • Dana Hines, President and CEO, Membership
Consultants - Moderator
• Karin Jaros, Head of Membership and Annual
Fund, The Morton Arboretum
• Rosie Siemer, Principal, fiveseed
• Maureen McCarthy, Manager, Membership
Programs, Saint Louis Zoo
Presenters

3. Dana Hines
President and CEO
A Magic Mix for Success
Mission – Marketing – Membership
Introduction

4. Membership Department Positioning
Where do we fit? Are we marketing? Are we
fundraising? Are we the promoters of our
organization’s mission?
We are all of that!
Mission – Marketing – Membership

5. How is Membership Positioned in Your Organization?

6. Does Membership planning occur with and do you have the
support of the following Departments? (check all that apply)

7. • Membership is out in front of other departments with
graphic needs
• Membership can’t “fit into” Marketing or IT’s email
communications schedules
• Institutional marketing messages and Membership
marketing messages are disparate
• Marketing databases and Membership database don’t talk,
overlap but no one coordinates
• Members expect to “know first” – and should!
• Member online communications are not specific to their
membership status
• …and many other scenarios!
Common Challenges

8. Karin L. Jaros
Head of Membership and Annual Fund
A Magic Mix for Success
Mission – Marketing – Membership
Membership and Marketing

9. Full color vintage illustration of the Three Bears discovering that someone has eaten their porridge.
Drawing was scanned from a 1933 children’s fairy tales book.
Membership and Marketing can be like
Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
The porridge is too cold. It’s too warm. Or –
if you’re lucky – it can be “just right”!
The Three Bears

10. Or, Membership and Marketing can be like
the Goldilocks Zone – an area of space in
which a planet is just the right distance
from its home star (or sun) so that its
surface is neither too hot nor too cold.
For example, Venus roasts in a runaway
greenhouse effect and Mars exists as a
frozen, arid world. But in between - on
Earth - the conditions are just right (so that
liquid water remains on the surface of the
planet without freezing or evaporating out
into space). Planets that may be “just right”
are in the Goldilocks Zone.
The Goldilocks Zone

11. How does this analogy play out for
Membership and Marketing?
It’s a bit like standing around a campfire on
a very cold night. Stand too far away and
you freeze, stand too close and you catch
on fire and burn to death.
If the Membership and Marketing
departments are too far away, then the
relationship freezes and life can’t emerge. If
they orbit too closely the relationship can
be roasting hot and nothing can live.
It gets a bit more complex than this, of
course! And it also has some pretty
significant implications for the search for
extraterrestrial life . . .
Just Right

12. How do you get it “just right”?
• Process
•Communication
•Communication
•Communication
•Communication
•Communication
•Communication
•And More Communication
Just Right

13. Mission – Marketing – Membership

14. Mission – Marketing – Membership

15. Make Membership and Marketing your
Goldilocks story.
If the porridge is too cold. If the porridge is too
warm. If the bed is too big. If the bed is too
small.
It’s your job to . . .
Make it “JUST RIGHT.”
Get into the Goldilocks Zone!
Your Goldilocks Story

16. Rosie Siemer
Principal
A Magic Mix for Success
Mission – Marketing – Membership
Digital Integration

17. • Content Strategy
• Authority and Responsibility
• Advertising/Promoted Posts
Facebook

18. • Special Promotions
Facebook

19. • Membership Tabs
Facebook

20. • Raise awareness, drive traffic to membership
webpages, capture prospect data
• Highly targetable
• Thread in mission-oriented messaging
• Capture member stories
• Integrating online/offline
• Earned and paid media
• Adherence to TOS
Contests

21. • Shared goals, metrics, schedules & reporting
• Google Analytics (traffic and conversion goals)
• Google AdWords/Targeted Display Advertising
• Tailored email campaigns and landing pages
A Seat at the Table

22. • QR Codes
• Text Campaigns
• Mobile Optimized/Apps
• SoLoMo
The Mobile Imperative

23. Mission – Marketing –
Membership: A Magic
Mix for Success

24.  Saint Louis Zoo Overview
 Brand Messaging
 Media Campaign 2012
 Media and Membership
Saint Louis Zoo

25. Mission of the Saint Louis Zoo
 To conserve animals and their habitats
through animal management, research,
recreation and educational programs
that encourage the support and enrich
the experience of the public.

26.  Animals: 19,000
 Acres: 90
 Forest Park: 1,371 acres, 7th largest
urban park in the U.S.
 Annual Visitors: 3,000,000+
 2012 Record Year : 3,500,000!
 2nd only to Arch in Tourism Attendance
 AZA – Association of Zoos and
Aquariums
 Named America’s #1 Zoo in 2004
Saint Louis Zoo

27. Organization Structure
External
Relations
Development
Public Affairs
Marketing -
Membership
Public Relations
Group Sales
Welcome Desk
Operations
Internal
Relations
Human
Resources
Training
Volunteer
Services
Internal
Communications
Visitor Relations
Information
Systems
Animal
Collections
Registrar
Aquatics/Herps
Carnivores
Primates
Antelope
Elephants
Birds
Invertebrates
Children’s Zoo
Water Quality
Zoological
Operations
Animal Health
Education
Conservation
Research
Animal
Collections
Business
Operations
Food Service
Gift Shops
Rides
Facilities
Grounds and
Housekeeping
Distribution
Finance
Guest Services
Architecture
& Planning
Planning and
Project
Development
Design
Construction
Administration
27
President & CEO

28.  Organization Structure
 Vice President of External Relations
• Responsibilities include Marketing and
Membership
 Membership reports into Director,
Marketing
 Manager, Membership Operations
and Programs
Saint Louis Zoo

29.  Manager, Membership Operations and
Programs
• 40 Employees – Full time, Part time, Seasonal
• Welcome Desk “Front End Staff”
• Membership Services “Back End Staff” – Data
Management, Fulfillment, Communications
• Zoo Friends Services – Donor phone calls
• We support donors, visitors and events
• Seasonal peaks exist in all areas
Saint Louis Zoo

30.  Membership Department benefits from
being part of the Marketing Department
 Membership messages are consistent
with overall Zoo media plans
 Media may feature new Exhibit,
Theme, Animal News or a Zoo Event
Saint Louis Zoo

31.  Strong Marketing, Public Relations,
Development and Membership
Departments have existed for many
years
 Core Brand messages remain
consistent
 Animals Always Zoo logo
 “It is all about the animals…”
Saint Louis Zoo

32. Can You Come Out and Play?
 Launched in 1997
 Based directly from brand position:
• The Zoo is a great place to spend the day outdoors
with your family
• Always features animals and families
• Campaign is always TARGETED to women 25 – 54
• Tone is always fun; reminder that a Zoo visit is fun

33.  Can You Come Out and
Play?
• Research Based
• Part of our Brand Message
• Emotional Connection with Visitors
Saint Louis Zoo

34. Billboards

35. Web Banner Sample

36. Web Banners
 These appear on other
web sites
 Clicks take user back
to Zoo site.

37. Web Banners Sample

38. Membership Marketing
Can You Come Out and Play?
Featured on Direct Mail

39. Membership Marketing –
Can You Come Out and Play?
Animals + Attractions

40.  Membership Department benefits from
being part of the Marketing Department
 Membership messages are consistent
with overall Zoo media plans
 Sea Lion Sound exhibit opened in 2012
Saint Louis Zoo

41. Sea Lion Sound 2012

42. First Major Exhibit Since 2009
 Sea Lion Show
rated among
top value
attractions
 Sea lion basin
among original
exhibits

43. Sea Lion Sound - Plans
 Creative Strategy
• “Immerse yourself in the new Sea Lion Sound
exhibit as sea lions swim over and around you for
a one-of-a-kind experience.”
 Strategic Direction
 Internal Communication
Critical for Success

44. Communication
External
Relations
Development
Public Affairs
Marketing
Membership
Public Relations
Group Sales
Welcome Desk
Operations
Internal
Relations
Human
Resources
Training
Volunteer
Services
Internal
Communications
Visitor Relations
Information
Systems
Animal
Collections
Registrar
Aquatics/Herps
Carnivores
Primates
Antelope
Elephants
Birds
Invertebrates
Children’s Zoo
Water Quality
Zoological
Operations
Animal Health
Education
Conservation
Research
Animal
Collections
Business
Operations
Food Service
Gift Shops
Rides
Facilities
Grounds and
Housekeeping
Distribution
Finance
Guest Services
Architecture
& Planning
Planning and
Project
Development
Design
Construction
Administration
44
President & CEO

45. Sea Lion Sound
 The Living Promise
Campaign
 $18 million investment
 Underwater viewing tunnel
 Opened June 30, 2012
 Member preview week
prior

46. Sea Lion Sound
 New Sea Lion Show
Arena
 Sea Lion Show
Tickets are a
Member Benefit

47. Sea Lion Sound

48. Change in Promotional Calendar
April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Can You
Come
out and
Play
Can
You
Come
out and
Play
Can
You
Come
out and
Play
Sea
Lion
Sound
Sea
Lion
Sound
Sea
Lion
Sound
Boo at the
Zoo
Wild
Lights
Wild
Lights
 Tunnel Delayed
 Scheduled for June 30 opening rather than early May
 Adjusted New Member Mailing schedule accordingly

49. Billboards

50. Billboards

51. Bus Shelters

52.  Membership direct mail campaign
coincided with opening of exhibit
 Media coverage of exhibit
opening
 Delayed Mailing from May to June
 Shared photography
Sea Lion Sound Extended to
New Member Campaign

53. Sea Lion Sound New Member
Direct Mail Program

54. Sea Lion Sound New Member
Direct Mail Program

55. Media Excitement

56. Sea Lion Sound New Member
Onsite Brochure

57. Sea Lion Sound

58. Sea Lion Sound
 Great Public
Excitement!
 TV
 Radio
 Print
 Membership
• Show tickets
• Extended “New Member
Season”

59. Saint Louis Zoo 2012
 Great new Animal Experience
 Media Support
 Great Weather
 Record 3.5 Million Visitors
 Membership – Record Year
with 48,000 Members!

60. Lessons Learned
 Marketing Support of Membership
Efforts is critical
 Zoo Support is important
 Feature your logo
• – Reinforce brand message
Saint Louis Zoo

61. Lessons Learned
 Aim for consistent messages to
Consumer
 Share Imagery, Headlines when it
makes sense
 Stay consistent with core brand
messages
• Animal Imagery
• It’s all about the animals!
Saint Louis Zoo

62. THANK YOU
To conserve animals and their habitats through animal management,
research, recreation, and educational programs that encourage the support
and enrich the experience of the public.

63. THANK YOU
Maureen McCarthy
Manager, Membership Programs and Operations
Saint Louis Zoo
mccarthy@stlzoo.org

64. THANK YOU
Maureen McCarthy
Manager, Membership Programs and Operations
Saint Louis Zoo
mccarthy@stlzoo.org

65. A Magic Mix for Success
AMMC 2013
Dana@Membership-Consultants.com
Rosie@fiveseed.com
Mission – Marketing - Membership