The document summarizes observations from a cultural trip by MCCP Team to Dublin Zoo. The key learnings were: 1) People approach new things with curiosity but also caution. Brands must manage fear while harnessing curiosity. 2) People have a strong desire for interaction that brands should enable. 3) Managing expectations is important, as disappointment occurs when expectations are not met. 4) Stories are an important way people share information. Brands should communicate through easy to digest stories.

1. MCCP learnings from cultural
activities:
MCCP Cultural Trip #1. 2011
Zoo Observation Visit, March

2. What we did: MCCP Team conducted a family
ethnographic experience at Dublin Zoo to
understand family experiences.
Why: Our MCCP DNA is to understand how
people behave in different environments but in
a real not uncontrived way.

3. Focus on our findings
• 1. Observations and learning’s from people’s
interaction with animals
• 2. Observations and learning's from people’s
interaction with people
• 3. Observations and learning’s from the animal
kingdom

4. Observations and learning’s from
people’s interaction with animals

5. Observation: People approach new aspects of
the world with a mixture of fear and
fascination
“When that pelican opens its wings
and flew he was terrified, then ran
after it to see where it went”
Children’s reaction to new animals
typifies our approach to new
things, we are curious beings but
with an inbuilt caution
Learning: We need to manage fear and scepticism of consumers in new products and
propositions, but harness their natural curiosity

6. Observation: People have a fundamental desire for
interaction
“Hi Penguin, hey penguin, I said hi,
HI HI HI PENGUIN”
Children’s repeated attempts to
speak to the animals highlights our
constant desire for interaction
Learning: People constantly want to touch, feel, try out and interact with brands and
products far more than they will ever admit, we need to let them

7. Observation: People become impatient when
expectations are not met
“Why is it not playing with a ball mom?”
“Mammy is there killer whales…is there sharks…is
there dolphins?”
A child’s disappointment at the fact that a seal was
not playing with a ball in the manner in which
stereotypes lead us to believe, highlights the
importance of expectation management and
delivery. As we can see from the killer whale
comment, sometimes expectations are unrealistic
Learning: If we manage to create and expectation, we must deliver on it

8. Observation: You can lead a horse to water,
but you can’t make him drink
“Look at the baby Rhino son”
“Hey dad, look at that big pile of poo”
“look dad, there is a digger”
Children do not always get excited
about the bits we hoped they would.
Neither do consumers.
Learning: Allow the consumers to find their own areas of fascination with brands. Give
them the tools and let them create the excitement

9. Observations and learning’s from
people’s interaction with each other

10. Observations: We engage in repetition type
behaviour to build our own excitement
“The penguins. Let’s see the penguins”
“Yeah, the penguins, the penguins are
great”
“Yeah, penguins, lets go and see the
penguins”
Both parents and adult engaged in
frankly annoying levels of repetition,
however this was an effort to create
excitement in each other
Learning: We need to understand how people build up experiences and help them to
do this

11. Observation: If an experience is not share its
not worth having
We witnessed a child running up to the
penguin enclosure shouting in
excitement. When the child turned
around and its friend was not in tow, all
excitement in the animals was lost. As
if the experience was now pointless
without company
Learning: We are fundamentally social in all thing we do. We need to understand how
group versus solo consumption of any experience or product affects it

12. Observation: We have a strong ritual of story
telling
We witnessed parents elaborate wildly
on the life a tiger has in the zoo after
being asked by a child where the tiger
was. We use stories to build context, to
entertain, to explain, to teach and to
make sense of the world. Stories are
the currency in which people share
information
Learning: We need to form our communications into easy to digest stories that people
can understand. We can borrow from use and create stories.

13. Observation: We have a strong desire for
achievement and recognition
“look how good the picture I took is”
We have a need to be liked. We need to
feel we have achieved and that this has
been recognised by other
Learning: Allow people to feel as thought they have achieved, or give them a way to
be recognised by others as being different

14. Observation: We use reward as a motivator for
desired behaviour in others
“Jack at this rate you are going to end
up with minus stars”
Parents use the promise to reward to
control children just as brand use the
promise of reward to try and control
consumers
Learning: We must understand the nature of reward, how can we make people feel
rewarded?

15. Observation: Operate at the same level as the
consumer
Observation: To fully engage
children in the experience
parents are going down on
one knee to get on the
children’s level before
discussing with them all the
animals that they can see
Learning: Many brand/consumer relationships are much like parent/child
relationships. Coming down to the consumers level when talking to them makes
things more engaging. It allows brands to see the world from their eyes and changes
the relationship from one of authority towards one which is peer to peer.

16. Observations and learning’s from the
animal kingdom

17. 1.Stand out with your Brand DNA
Every business needs to
standout in the market
place. But stand out
because of what you are in
your essence, not with
cheap tricks. The parrot
stands out effortlessly
because of what it is, not
because of what it tries to
tell everyone it is

18. 2. Be agile in the marketplace
We know the importance
of be flexible and agile in a
marketplace where people
want quick turnover,
adaptability and tailored
solutions. You need to be
able to move quickly and
accurately. Like the
squirrel monkey, we need
to remain agile

19. 3.Know your strengths
Observing the penguins at the zoo it was clear that the penguin feels
naturally at home in the water whilst alien on land. It is in the area where
each of us is strongest that we can deliver most for the company as a
whole.

20. 4.Have multiple strengths
Similar to the last point, we need to know our strengths but also develop
where we are weak. If we are uncomfortable in the water, we need to learn to
swim better.

21. 5.Be self sufficient
Look at our friend the bird, on top of the Rhino, feeding from the skin
parasites in her larger friend. Without the Rhino, the birds food source is
lost. The bird is not self sufficient.

22. 6.Go past the low hanging fruit and
look at things from a different
perspective
The giraffe has developed its physiology based on the fact that the low
hanging fruit is in a crowded place. He has adapted himself to be able to
reach further to get the really juicy morsels. We need to reach for a juicier
life. The giraffe also reminds us to look a things from a different perspective