Wildlands

In 2016, the leisure landscape was in a state of flux. Emmen Zoo, the largest zoo in the northern Netherlands, was ready to break away from the conventional zoo format to meet the demand of an increasingly international audience. Their primary goal was to transform a familiar, family-friendly destination into a park that celebrates the animal kingdom while offering a rich and immersive experience for longtime guests and new visitors from more distant regions.

This positioning challenge was set against the backdrop of the zoo’s major relocation to a larger site just outside Emmen. The park needed to reinvent itself, and quickly. The new site allowed visitors to wander through distinct zones—like Jungola, Serenga, and Nortica—that reflect different habitats around the world. This new brand architecture set the state for a contemporary park-going experience, and demanded a new name to match.

Adventurous by name and nature

After an extensive strategic process, the new verbal identity for Emmen Zoo came together. Its new name, Wildlands, is authentic to the new guest experience offered by the park. It evokes images of vast, uncharted landscapes and the promise of discovery, reflecting the park’s commitment to genuine animal encounters and engaging experiences. Paired with the simple descriptor “Adventure Zoo Emmen,” this name grounds the new identity in its local heritage, ensuring that the Emmen community continues to feel a strong sense of belonging.

The Wildlands verbal identity comes to life through vibrant key messaging. Two taglines captured the narrative around the park’s new evolution. First, “Het avontuur begint!” (“The adventure begins!”) generated excitement before the grand opening of the new site. Later, “WILDLANDS, een werelds avontuur!” (“Wildlands, a world-class adventure!”) pointed to the promise of the park’s global appeal. By naming each of Wildland’s distinct zones as Jungola, Serenga, and Nortica, the park’s visitors were invited on a journey through diverse environments as varied as scorching deserts, exotic landscapes, and arctic tundra.

A new identity for generations to come

Since opening under its new name, Wildlands has been empowered to further stake its claim as a unique destination where education, entertainment, and animal experiences come together. Globrands’ work on this verbal identity has provided a flexible and enduring foundation that continues to support the park’s mission. By collaborating closely with Weyond on the zoo’s new brand positioning and Total Design for its visual identity, the Wildlands branding has helped set a new benchmark for what a destination park can be in the twenty-first century.