To promote the Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks exhibit at the San Diego Zoo, which encompasses flora and fauna from six different African habitats, M&C Saatchi L.A.and production company Gentleman Scholar took the “Africa Rocks” theme and ran with it.
The resulting animated spots are colorful, imbued with 80s nostalgia (in the music, font choices, color-scheme, etc.) and psychedelic imagery. Think safari-themed Lisa Frank folder come to life and you’ve got the idea. There’s a 30-second anthem ad, as well as six 15-second spots focusing on the exhibits different animals and habitats.
M&C Saatchi worked with designer SCROJO, who has worked with Moby and The Red Hot Chili Peppers on gig-style posters for the campaign’s OOH component. The agency also collaborated with illustrator Kyle Lambert (Stranger Things, Super 8) on print ads.
“By choosing the name ‘Africa Rocks’ for the Zoo‘s newest habitat, we knew rock and roll would play an important part in telling our story,” San Diego Zoo chief marketing officer Ted Molter said in a statement. “Our collaboration with M&C Saatchi LA and their creative partners brought the spirit, nostalgia and diversity of rock to this amazing collection of engaging content, setting the stage for an unexpected African experience showcasing the Zoo‘s Rock-stars – penguins, lemurs, baboons, meerkats, crocodiles and leopards.”
“The team was given an incredible creative opportunity with the exhibit’s name ‘Africa Rocks.’ We were inspired to illustrate the diversity of habitats & animals through familiar rock themes and iconography we all grew up with,” added M&C Saatchi L.A. associate creative director/art director Ron Tapia. “By implementing a different style for each media and habitat, the ‘Rock’ theme was consistent, but every piece of creative felt both fresh and a little familiar at the same time, appealing to the San Diego Zoo’s wide audience.”
Credits:
Client: San Diego Zoo
Chief Marketing Officer: Ted Molter
Marketing Director, Communications & Interpretation: Debra Erickson
Associate Director, Design: Damien Lasater
Associate Director, Communications: Mike Warburton
Agency: M&C Saatchi LA
Executive Creative Director: Maria Smith
Associate Creative Director/AD: Ron Tapia
Associate Creative Director/CW: Ben Lay
CW/AD: Stephen Reidmiller
Director of Content Production: Dennis Di Salvo
Print Production Director: Brian Bushaw
Group Account Director: Mike Wilton
Account Director: Makeia Carrier
Print Poster Illustration:
SCROJO
Kyle Lambert
Production Company: Gentleman Scholar
Directors: William Campbell and Will Johnson
Executive Producer: Jo Arghiris
Head of Production: Rachel Kaminek
Art Director: Michael Tavarez
Producer: Nikki Maniolas
Designers: Hana Eunjin Yean, JP Rooney, Macauley Johnson, Andy Lyon, Brandon Smith, Cam Floyd, Hanna No, James Levy, Kelly Jung, Paul Kim
2D Animators: Chris Finn, Macauley Johnson, Andy Lyon, Danni Fisher-Shin, Henry Pak, Jeffrey “Jip” Jeong, Yoogin Seol
AE Compositor: Ramzee Hogan
Cel Animators: Abigail Magno, Andy Lyon, Laura Yilmaz, Sean Buckelew
3D Animators: Jamie Sawyer, Sarah Wolfe
3D Generalists: Chris Finn, Tim Hayward, Jacques Clement, Jessica Ramirez, Mike Cahill
3D Rigger: Tim Hayward
Nuke Compositor: Chris Brown, Matt Lavoy
Music Company: Yessian
Creative Director: Andy Grush
Executive Producer: David Gold
Senior Producer: Katie Overcash
Composers: Jimmy Haun, Andy Grush
Mix Company: Margarita Mix
Mixer: Paul Hurtubise