Ark MorronZoo, a digital breakfast meeting

Format: Digital event
Target audience: Employees
Event type: Conferences and meetings
Project Manager: Ulla Lindström

Background information

Arken Zoo tried for the longest time to pause their store manager meetings during the pandemic, but with the great pressure they experienced on their business, it was finally impossible to refrain from meeting. Contrast was asked to reschedule the original meeting as a digital meeting.

Challenge

Arken Zoo is Sweden’s largest “everything for your pet” chain, with over 100 stores across the country. Twice a year, all store managers meet as part of the ongoing development of the business. These meetings had to be put on hold during the pandemic, but eventually the need to meet became too great—not least because stores were seeing record sales as many people chose to get pets. Arken Zoo asked Contrast to reimagine the original meeting and create Arken Zoo’s first digital meeting.

Solution

A studio broadcast can take place virtually anywhere, and often the best—and most lively—results come from broadcasting directly from the heart of everyday life. We chose to set up a studio in one of Arken Zoo’s stores, with the dog grooming room as the backdrop and dogs in the studio. We kicked off a two-hour broadcast before the store opened and invited the entire staff—not just the store managers—to breakfast—featuring Arken MorronZoo!

A major advantage of digital broadcasting is the ability to reach a larger audience, both live or later. This in turn allows everyone to be reached by exactly the same message. In addition, the entire workforce has the opportunity to get to know the management team - and vice versa.

Thanks to the digital broadcast, Arken Zoo was able to roll out the idea of engaging all store staff in marketing efforts on their social channels. Frida Boysen spoke about the possibilities of social media, and reminded Arken Zoo of their golden opportunity; they hold the internet's most engaging content in their hands every day, i.e. lots of cute animals!

During the digital broadcast, participants were able to ask questions and give feedback through our meeting app, which was picked up by the studio editorial team where representatives from the management team were sitting. Other engaging content we worked on included competitions and interesting videos from some of the stores that we prepared for the digital meeting.

Outcome

“We have to do this again!” was the general sentiment after the breakfast broadcast, shared by both management and staff. Although a digital broadcast might initially be perceived as something that creates distance between people, Arken MorronZoo proved that it is possible to organize an event that—on the contrary—fosters closeness, increases knowledge, and strengthens relationships.