Brookfield Zoo Chicago and DEPT® reimagine the digital experience to bring visitors closer to the animals, mission and impact
Brookfield, IL — Brookfield Zoo Chicago has partnered with growth invention company, DEPT®, for a bold reimagining of the Zoo’s digital experience, transforming how audiences connect with the iconic institution before, during and after their visit.
Websites for zoos, museums and other visitor-driven cultural institutions are often built as operational tools, centered on hours, ticketing and basic information. Today’s audiences expect mobile as a given, seek personalized recommendations and engage long before and after their visit. The new Brookfield Zoo Chicago platform reimagines the site as a true digital front door, blending immersive storytelling, seamless commerce and intuitive navigation to inspire exploration, simplify planning and deepen engagement across the full visitor journey.
“As expectations around mobile performance, accessibility and personalization continue to rise, we saw an opportunity to rethink how our mission to inspire conservation leadership comes to life online,” said Katie Back, associate vice president of marketing at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. “Together with DEPT®, the new website makes buying tickets easier, planning visits simpler, learning about animals more immersive and supporting conservation more accessible than ever.”
DEPT® led the engagement across digital strategy, experience design, creative direction and technical development with a clear objective: to build a scalable platform that transforms inspiration into action. Designed around the full visitor journey, the experience seamlessly connects storytelling with commerce, driving ticket purchases, membership, donations and deeper ongoing engagement.
Through a series of discovery workshops and audience research, the teams identified key opportunities to simplify how visitors navigate the Zoo’s offerings while elevating storytelling around animals, habitats and conservation work. The result is a scalable platform designed to guide audiences naturally from exploration to participation.
“Our collaboration centered on building a digital experience as dynamic as the Zoo itself,” said Carryn Quibell, Americas CEO at DEPT®. “By combining creativity, technology and data, we’ve helped create a scalable growth engine that deepens audience connection while advancing the Zoo’s conservation mission.”
The new site organizes content across four intuitive pillars — Visit, Explore, Conserve and Support — creating clear pathways from discovery to participation. Enhancements include:
A streamlined ticketing and event registration experience designed to reduce friction and increase conversion
A dynamic daily activities schedule that extends the in-park experience into the digital journey
Rich animal and habitat storytelling that strengthens emotional connection and amplifies conservation impact
A mobile-first, accessibility-forward framework built to evolve alongside future campaigns, programming and partnerships
On the design and technology side, the platform was built to balance immersive storytelling with operational flexibility for internal teams. Modular content systems, scalable architecture and accessibility-first design principles ensure the site can continuously evolve as the Zoo expands its programming, partnerships and conservation initiatives.
The new website is now live at brookfieldzoo.org.
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About Brookfield Zoo Chicago: Connect. Care. Conserve.
Since 1934, Brookfield Zoo Chicago has been a global leader in animal well-being and conservation, inspiring conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature. The Zoo is a private nonprofit organization that operates on 235 acres of land owned by the Forest Preserves of Cook County and is home to more than 3,500 animals representing over 500 species—including many of Earth’s most endangered. Brookfield Zoo Chicago was the first zoo in the world to be Humane Certified™ by the American Humane Society for the care and welfare of its animals, and is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, and ArbNet. For more information, visit brookfieldzoo.org or follow @BrookfieldZoo on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Threads.
About DEPT®
DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50/50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021.www.deptagency.com.
