During the recent Qingming holiday, while some people were queuing up for "Zootopia" in Shanghai, others were lining up at the zoo in Nanjing. According to announcements, the maximum number of visitors allowed in Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo during the holiday was capped at 80,000, with an instant limit of 40,000 inside the park, and self-service companion vehicles suspended. These numbers rival the daily visitor counts at Shanghai Disneyland.

What makes visitors go crazy for this zoo? How did it transform itself into a top attraction?

In recent years, Hongshan Forest Zoo has been making seemingly avail efforts. Even during difficult times like the pandemic, it remained committed to animal welfare, and the contradictions and struggles of the zoo's work team were documented. This Qingming holiday, Hongshan Forest Zoo once again became a top destination in China.

Facing the crowded crowds outside the venue, the animals at Hongshan Forest Zoo continued to eat and sleep as usual. They didn't need to provide any "emotional value" to humans because they had the "right not to be seen." The leopard cats in the zoo are naturally timid, and their enclosures have many "hiding places." Only through careful observation can visitors possibly spot their ears or eyes. A sign reads: "We are shy and don't want you to see us. We love playing hide and seek."

At this zoo, the animals are the hosts, and the visitors are the guests. Animals have the right not to "serve guests," and visitors must remember not to feed them. Every animal hasitsown name, and they are beautiful, healthy, and confident. "Yueyue," the three-legged leopard, loves to explore and move quickly; "Dudu," the white-faced saki monkey, resembles "No-Face" from "Spirited Away," and a casual glanceofit can amuse everyone; "Nameless," the slender loris, although occasionally bullied, still yearns for the sunbathing of its neighbors...

In 2020, with losses exceeding 30 million yuan and employee bonuses withheld to ensure animal feed, Hongshan Forest Zoo seized the live-streaming trend and launched the "Cloud Tour" mode, marking its first time "going viral online." In order to make this self-rescue movement more sustainable, the zoo introduced "Cloud Adoption" in 2021. Following that, Hongshan Forest Zoo ventured into the cultural and creative industry, launching a series of products such as refrigerator stickers, plush toys, hats, scarves, eco-bags, etc. From 2022 to 2023, it even collaborated with popular tea brand Heytea and online supermarket Hema for cross-marketing, continuously amplifying and promoting the IP of Hongshan Forest Zoo.

Xiao Liang, director of the Modern Commerce Research Center at Zhejiang Gongshang University, believes that Hongshan Forest Zoo has turned each animal into a small IP under the big IP of Hongshan Forest Zoo. With both major selling points and small topics, it can sustain popularity and extend to cultural and creative products, forming a matrix-style cultural IP.

From cultural and creative products, livestreaming, and IP collaborations to various cross-border plays, Hongshan Forest Zoo has opened up new ways to interact with the animal world, finding ways to resonate and empathize with the public, while also conveying the cognition of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

Source :Yangcheng Evening News

日均客流量堪比迪士尼！这座动物园为何能成顶流？

刚刚过去的清明小长假，有人在上海排队“疯狂动物城”，也有人在南京排队动物园。公告显示，南京红山动物园节日期间入园人数最高限8万，瞬时在园人数限4万，自助伴游车暂停运营。这一数据，与上海迪士尼的日均客流量可谓不相上下。

一座动物园为何能让游客们如此疯狂？这座动物园又是如何蜕变，走上顶流之路的？

近年来，红山动物园一直在做一些看似“孤勇”的努力，在疫情困难时期坚持不改动物福利，记录动物园工作团队的矛盾与挣扎……今年清明假期，红山动物园再度成为了国内顶流。

面对场馆外拥挤的人潮，红山的动物们依旧该吃吃、该睡睡，不需要为人类提供任何“情绪价值”，因为它们拥有“不被看见的权力”。园内的豹猫天性胆子小，它们的笼舍有很多“藏身之处”，只有仔细观察，才有可能寻找到它们的一只耳朵或是眼睛。说明牌上这样写着：我们很害羞，就是不想让你们看见，我们爱“躲猫猫”。

在红山，动物是主人，游客是客人，动物有不“接客”的权利，游客也要牢记不投喂动物的约定；在红山，每一个动物都有自己的名字，它们漂亮、健康又自信。三条腿的豹子“越越”，热爱探索、行动敏捷；白面僧面猴“杜杜”，撞脸《千与千寻》中的无脸男，一个不经意的回眸就能把大家逗乐；细尾獴“无名氏”虽然偶被欺负，但仍对隔壁邻居的日光浴充满向往......

2020年，“亏损了3000多万”“扣下员工绩效，保证动物饲料”的红山动物园，紧抓直播风口，开辟了“云游园”模式，这是红山动物园的第一次“出圈”。而为了让这场自救运动更加可持续，红山又于2021年推出“云认养”。紧接着，红山动物园又试水文创，推出冰箱贴、趴趴公仔、帽子、方巾、环保袋等一系列周边。2022至2023年间，还曾携手喜茶、盒马跨界营销，将红山动物园的IP不断放大。

浙江工商大学现代商贸研究中心主任肖亮认为，红山动物园把每个动物都打造成红山动物园这个大IP下的一个个小IP。既有大卖点、也有小话题，能够持续流转，并向文创产品延伸，构成了一个矩阵式的文化IP。

从文创、直播、IP联名到各种跨界玩法，红山动物园打开了动物世界的新玩法，找到了和公众共鸣、共情的方式，同时也传递出人与自然和谐相处、永续共生的认知。

话题主持｜记者 李各力
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