Scope: The Saint Louis Zoo (“Zoo”) is seeking a full-service agency to supply a broad range of marketing and communication services including but not limited to marketing strategic planning, campaign management, creative development, media planning and buying with a focus on digital advertising, event advertising and image campaigns. The Zoo views its marketing agency of record as an extension of its team.
Partnerships may be formed to provide the services outlined in this RFP. Identification of a lead agency is required. The agency or partnership must bid on full scope of this RFP. All communication and payment will be executed through the lead agency.
Working with the Director of Marketing and members of the Zoo Marketing Team, the selected agency will be responsible for the delivery of the following scope of work to enter a three-year contract with the option to renew for up to an additional two years if mutually agreed upon by both parties.
The Zoo has three areas of work which are required by a marketing agency of record:
I.Strategic Direction and Planning
A.The Zoo’s Director of Marketing and staff work closely with the agency to determine
the best strategy against which to develop advertising concepts.
B.The agency will assist to develop comprehensive plans that incorporate traditional, digital, and social platforms designed to reach key targets. The selected agency will be provided access to audience research. Examples of recent targets include:
1.Parents 25-54 (who plan visits to the Zoo)
2.Families traveling to St. Louis (Tourism)
3.Recently engaged or soon-to-be-engaged young people looking for venues (Internal Client – Private Events)
4.Teachers (Internal Client – Education)
5.Individuals who live by the Zoo seeking employment (Internal Client – HR/Business Ops)
C.Agency to keep up with marketing trends and techniques and continually advise the Zoo on innovative approaches to achieve our marketing goals.
D.Agency to have status meetings, reporting meetings and quarterly business reviews with the Zoo. In addition, the agency must provide regular strategic reporting that includes performance metrics, insights, and recommendations to inform ongoing and future marketing efforts.
II.Creative Development and Production
A.Agency should be prepared to support traditional advertising needs and creative along with video production, web developer support and emerging tech support.
B.In a typical year, the Zoo and agency collaborate to produce 15-20 paid campaigns- major image-oriented, attendance-building advertising campaign
C.Promotions and Events
1.Summer Events
2.Fall/Winter Events
a.Zootoberfest – Weekends in October
b.Boo at the Zoo – Multiple evenings leading up to Halloween
c.Wild Lights – 25+ select evenings of holiday lights at the Zoo from Thanksgiving through New Years
3.Spring Events- Animals Aglow
D.Educational Programs
E.Private Events for weddings and corporate meetings
F.Philanthropy and membership support
G.Support for various internal clients as needed
H.Additional creative support for on grounds and merchandise as needed
III.Media Planning
A.The Zoo’s media budget is approximately $1.7M annually (adjusted by year). This includes all advertising buying for the year. This does not include the agency and creative fees.
B.The Zoo expects its advertising agency to recommend, place and bill all advertising throughout the year. This includes a meeting with all reps, large and small, of media companies.
C.The agency is expected to be well versed in the full scope of digital and social media.
Due Date: end of day CST on October 1, 2025
Contact: Candace Bingham cbingham@stlzoo.org
