On November 30th 2012 Rose-Tu, an elephant at the Oregon Zoo, gave birth to a 300lb baby girl calf. The excitement of a new baby animal at the Zoo lead to extensive coverage of the new addition. From the controversy over whether or not the new calf would stay at the Zoo, to the public naming of the baby, to Lily’s first birthday, this calf has been widely covered in the news over different forms of media.
The Oregon Zoo’s Facebook page is “liked” by 151k and is not only locally renowned but is recognized worldwide for their breeding program of Asian elephants which has spanned 50 years. Packy was the first Asian elephant born at the Oregon Zoo in 1962 and Lily’s grandmother, Me-Tu, was the second Asian elephant born at the Oregon Zoo.
Our team focused on the way in which the Oregon Zoo used social media in different ways to attract the attention of baby Lily and the different Public Relations tactics and theories that they used to increase the awareness and attendance to see Lily.
