Recognizing that conservation means different things to different people, the Zoo and Jump will focus on understanding the changing conservation landscape and how ordinary people think about the topic as a foundation for setting the Zoo’s future course. Jump will create a visual opportunity map to help the Zoo prioritize potential initiatives, partnerships and new revenue streams within the context of competitors, collaborators, competencies and customer needs, and will develop a roadmap of product, service and experience concepts to commercialize the top opportunities identified.

“An opportunity map reframes the competitive landscape by connecting an organization’s strengths with people’s deeper needs. It reveals unexpected sources of competition – like why MTV competes with Nike – as well as untapped areas of opportunity and collaboration,” said Lara Lee, Jump Principal and leader for the program. “Our work will show the San Diego Zoo where they currently sit in the conservation space, where they need to go to thrive as an organization, and how to make a real difference in the world.”

Although this initiative marks the first major collaboration between Jump and the San Diego Zoo, the partnership reflects a natural fit between organizations with complementary strengths. Both Jump and the Zoo rely on hybrid approaches to problem solving, recognizing that the boundaries of academic disciplines don’t align with the most pressing challenges facing our economy and world. The Zoo’s conservation and research team has an established history of bringing together biologists, engineers and social scientists to help preserve threatened and endangered animals and plants, while Jump exclusively hires people who have hybrid backgrounds blending social science, design and strategy.

“Throughout its history, the San Diego Zoo has been a leader in animal care and conservation,” said Douglas Myers, chief executive officer for the San Diego Zoo. “We recognize that effective conservation must be economically sustainable. Our partnership with Jump Associates will allow us to develop strategies that address changing economic times and pressures while increasing our support of threatened habitats and endangered species.”

Both organizations are also well-known for breaking the mold in their respective fields. Since 1916, the San Diego Zoo has led the way by reframing zoos as conservation organizations through such pioneering practices as exhibits without bars, captive breeding of endangered species and the re-creation of vast habitats at the Wild Animal Park. Since 1998, Jump Associates has helped redefine strategy consulting by harnessing empathic and creative methods from a variety of disciplines to create new businesses and reinvent existing ones for world-class clients including Target, General Electric, Nike and Hewlett-Packard.

About San Diego Zoo

The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats. The organization focuses on conservation and research work around the globe, educates millions of individuals a year about wildlife and maintains accredited horticultural, animal, library and photo collections. The Zoo also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, which includes a 900-acre native species reserve and the San Diego Zoo’s Beckman Center for Conservation Research. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.

About Jump

Jump Associates is a growth strategy firm that helps companies create new businesses and reinvent existing ones. Since 1998, Jump has worked with organizations such as Target, GE, Nike and Procter & Gamble to define new growth platforms and reframe competitive landscapes to reveal new sources of value.