The Chicago Zoological Society, the private not-for-profit entity that operates Brookfield Zoo moved last week to assert its prominence, rolling out a new website and announcing changes that will downplay the Brookfield Zoo name as its brand.
Stuart Strahl, the CEO of the Chicago Zoological Society (CZS), said there are no plans to rename the zoo. Rather, the point of the change is to emphasize the role of the society, of which the zoo is simply a part.
“We had a confused brand,” Strahl said in an interview last week. “Even some of the employees saw us as Brookfield Zoo, while others saw us as the Chicago Zoological Society. We wanted to separate the mission of the society from the attraction.
“The majority of our work happens at Brookfield Zoo, but a large part takes place overseas and around the U.S. in the form of grant programs and research.”
The website (www.CZS.org) replaces the old Brookfield Zoo.org site. The new zoo site is accessed through the CZS.org home page, which gives nearly equal prominence to the CZS’s animal care and conservation programs.
“The website upgrade defines the Chicago Zoological Society as the institution and the Brookfield Zoo as the attraction,” Strahl said.
The site also gives a glimpse into the kinds of changes zoo-goers will see on the ground. A majority of the signage at Brookfield Zoo will be replaced with signs emphasizing the CZS, and staff uniforms will reflect the change by incorporating the CZS logo-a bison-rather than the zoo’s name. Strahl hinted that the zoo’s member newsletter “Zoo Views” might also undergo a name change.
According to Strahl the CZS rebranding effort began at the end of 2004 as part of its strategic planning effort.
We decided we ought to be thinking about what we are,” Strahl said. “The mission for the Chicago Zoological Society and the vision for Brookfield Zoo-that was the disconnect.
“We focused on one institutional view and decided it was important, if we were going to be one institution, defining what it is and portraying that to the public. We wanted to be very clear we are the Chicago Zoological Society and the place is Brookfield.
“That mission-based information that identified us as a philanthropic institution will be very important as we move forward with building campaigns as well.”
The CZS has an ambitious building plan that it has just begun to implement. Work on a new North American exhibit that will feature new habitats for bison and bears broke ground in February.
A new “pavilions” venue for hosting private and special events for up to 2,000 people opened this year, and plans for a complete overhaul of the Children’s Zoo area is in the works.
Meanwhile, the CZS is trying to raise awareness of what it considers missions equal to operating the zoo-its Center for the Science of Animal Well-Being and its Center for Conservation Leadership.
Within the next two years, the CZS plans to convert the former Reptile House at Brookfield Zoo into the Center for Conservation Leadership with a staff of 100 both at the zoo and worldwide.
The Center for the Science of Animal Well-Being next month will host a symposium featuring seven international experts that is expected to draw over 200 people.
Strahl noted that the zoo’s formal name is the Chicago Zoological Park-a name still on the North Gate along 31st Street. The zoo in time became known as Brookfield Zoo to distinguish it from Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.
However, the place is so well known as Brookfield Zoo, Strahl said it would be folly to try to officially change the name.
“We’re Brookfield Zoo,” Strahl said. “To try to make us somebody else would be silly. We just want to make sure that the institution doing the work is recognized as the Chicago Zoological Society.”