It’s no secret that one of the highlights of a visit to a zoo or aquarium is seeing the animals eat, and facilities do a great job in holding these feedings in areas that can accommodate large crowds. For example, our feeding of the Kelp Forest Exhibit, in which a diver wears a microphone and hand feeds the fish, is a visitor favorite that can easily accommodate 250 people at a time. It’s posted on the map and draws a crowd.
However, there are dozens of other small-scale feedings (octopus, for example) that are not on the visitor map due to unpredictable feeding times and space constraints at the area. We wanted to maximize these opportunities, so the challenge was to connect guests with these cool, unscheduled feedings while making sure we don’t overwhelm the space, resulting in a net negative customer service experience.
We already had a system in place that alerted us to the various unscheduled feedings: The animal care staff would radio us, and we would interpret the feeding for guests who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. But it was not a service we could advertise to guests—that is, until now.
 The aquarium uses a service offered by a company called Guide by Cell. On our map, visitors receive the following instruction: “Use your phone to get connected! We’ll send you text alerts about unscheduled feedings and other exciting opportunities throughout the day. Text feeding to [five-digit short code].” Once they do this, they receive a confirmation text that they have opted in to be alerted to the various unscheduled feedings throughout their visit.
Five to eight times during a typical day, a message such as this is “pushed” to their phones: “We’ll feed the octopi in five minutes. Join Allison to find out what it takes to care for these brainy invertebrates! To stop texts, reply STOP.”
When we close at 6 p.m., guests receive a final text thanking them for coming and offering them the opportunity to remain connected with us by texting their e-mail addresses to the same five-digit short code.
The Results
This simple program has been well received by our guests. Some of the key thinking we applied when determining how to make the program work well:
Which experiences will, and will not, be pushed as a text? If a particular feeding tends to be dull or happening in an area that is difficult to describe in 160 characters or fewer, we won’t transmit a message.
If the event is already listed as an opportunity on the printed map, we won’t push that as a text. The value proposition for guests is they’ll get the inside scoop on unpublished opportunities to be connected with cool stuff, and adding published programs would dilute the cool factor.
We won’t push a message unless we have a trained staff member ready to stand in front of the exhibit and interpret the action. As fun as an octopus feeding sounds on paper, we know it’s the stories about the animal and the personal connection that make the encounter truly exceptional.
The Challenges
There are still plenty of guests who don’t use texting. We have sensed some hesitation from people who are concerned they will forever be receiving annoying messages from us post-visit. We try to mitigate that by letting people know their numbers are deleted from the system at the end of each day.
Overseas visitors also seem reluctant to try it, presumably because of the cost associated with an international text. We are in the early stages of using this technology, but we like what we see so far, and we’ll continue to do more in the future.
Mike Chamberlain is the manager of innovation, guest experience at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Mike has overseen the public education programs for the aquarium since 1998. Recently he shifted his focus to find new and innovative ways to make deeper connections with guests through technology and interpretation.
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