London Zoo’s Brand Licensing Manager, Abbie Taylor, reveals why now’s the time to tap into the brand

Abbie, welcome! I want to start by saying thank you for a fantastic morning – it’s been an absolute treat! We’ll come onto why in a moment… For now, who are you and what do you do?
My name is Abbie Taylor, and I’m the Brand Licensing Manager for ZSL; the Zoological Society of London – the conservation charity that runs London Zoo.

Perfect! And in your licensing role, which of those brands are you currently looking to promote?
We want to promote both! We’re starting with London Zoo initially because that’s the brand everyone knows and loves. As a ZSL conservation zoo, London Zoo is where we inspire a love of animals and wildlife – be that through fun events, getting to see amazing creatures or our education programmes. London Zoo particularly appeals to families and children, with more than a million visitors a year, we’re a very popular family brand.

Through visits to London and Whipsnade Zoos, now complimented by our licensing programme, we can engage people with all the incredible conservation work we do all over the UK and globally through our international offices and projects.

And the Zoological Society of London?
ZSL is a science-led conservation charity that runs London Zoo, Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire… And a global centre for wildlife research, the ZSL Institute of Zoology. Many people are aware of London Zoo, and many will have visited as children – or with their own. It’s been a huge part of the culture of London.

By using the London Zoo brand, the name people know and love, we can tell more people about our vital work as ZSL, and what we do through ZSL, protecting species and restoring habitats worldwide – and how important the work is while inspiring the public to do more… Because everyone seems to have a memory of London Zoo, don’t they?!

Yes, I think so. I have a very strong memory of watching penguins hop up and down a swirling white ramp into a pool and when I was young. I was mesmerised! Do you have a strong memory of the zoo?!
I do, yes – even though I lived in South Africa as a child! My family visited England when I was 11, and my parents asked where I’d want to go if we were allowed to visit one place in London. Because I’ve always had a passion for animals, I chose London Zoo. It’s one of my fondest memories of that trip.

You must be chuffed to work here! Now, am I right in saying 2024 was your first year properly exhibiting at Brand Licensing Europe?
Yes! We did visit BLE’s event before we launched our licensing programme, and we were so inspired. We knew we wanted to be in the thick of it, so we invested in a stand as we wanted to gauge people’s external interest in the brand and then appoint an agent. The interest was phenomenal! We also met our licensing agent at BLE – Metrostar. But you’re right: this was our first time exhibiting with a proper programme, strategy and our two new style guides by the creative agency, Skew.

What was the feedback like?
The feedback was fantastic! We got so many leads, and we’re very excited to follow them up – some were major retailers with whom we can potentially work and do joint collaborations. We also had conversations about fun activations at our zoos for potential products.

Which is not unprecedented, is it?
No, we’ve explored brand partnerships in the past… In 2017 we partnered with the fashion brand Oasis – they created a custom-range of clothing with designs based on London Zoo’s animals and conservation highlights, which we launched to press with a really fun evening event at the zoo.

Telling stories about animals and conservation is one of the things we do best – it’s the first step in taking people on a journey and inspiring them to help us protect nature. Whether that’s through discovering new facts about frogs in the Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians or spending a night in a lodge in Land of the Lions – every experience at the zoo brings people closer to wildlife.

I’m glad you mentioned the lodges, because I didn’t know about those…
Right! One of the joys of having the physical zoos is that we can provide this space in the centre of London to do really fun and unique product launches: from overnight stays in a lodge near the lions to breakfast with penguins! Great ways to bring people up close to our conservation work while engaging them with products.

And it’s worth saying that you and Joshua Pope just gave me the most extraordinary tour. You have overnight experiences, evening activities, spaces to hire for weddings and corporate events, 13 listed buildings…
Yes, as well as visiting the zoo, we host some truly unforgettable experiences. For many, the zoo makes a special occasion so much more memorable – be that through hosting corporate team-building days, weddings or simply a one-on-one encounter with an animal or their carer. We’re all about forging a connection between people and wildlife – the zoo is where people fall in love with wildlife.

So there’s so much more to the zoo than the zoo… That being the case, the question I was leading to is this: where do you start licensing, Abbie?
That was a big question that we asked ourselves! We’re a much bigger organisation than most people realise, so there were lots of ways we could have approached it. That’s probably been one of the reasons it’s taken us a while to take the leap – the options were overwhelming!

With the help of the agent, though, we were able to focus in on a starting point – and it’s the perfect fit: a children’s programme. We’ve got that going, and we’re really proud of it, so now we’re starting to explore our history and heritage. We also have our library…

Formerly named The Prince Philip Zoological Library and Archives, this is a treasure trove for animal and wildlife enthusiasts. The archives tell the tale of our 200-year history. There are one-of-a-kind zoo records in there, as well as a precious first edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, which he wrote while a Fellow at ZSL.

Wow…
The archive is also home to stunning wildlife drawings that need to be shared with the world, including some from artists like Edward Lear. So that’s what we’re working on now.

That’s Edward Lear, the nonsense poet?
Yes, the one and only! As well as a poet, he was also an illustrator. London Zoo commissioned him to draw the parrots in the early 1930s – those pictures feature in our Heritage style guide. John Gould, an illustrious wildlife illustrator was also a Curator at the Zoo. His collection of bird drawings gives us a wonderful opportunity to showcase our heritage and really begin to show how much of a role London Zoo played in our understanding of wildlife today.

Interesting answer. Thank you. You mentioned that you’re looking to communicate more of your history?
Very much so. 2026 will see ZSL mark the huge milestone of its bicentenary – 200 years! We’ll be delving into our past and looking to our future as we mark the huge anniversary. It really is the perfect time for retailers and licensees to join our programme, as we’ll be celebrating throughout the year.

Let me ask you this, Abbie… Who should be reading this and saying to themselves, ‘Gosh! London Zoo is an untapped brand! We should partner with them…’ Who should be getting in touch?
It seems cliché to say it, but we’ve got something for everyone – London Zoo, and the incredible animals we’re here to conserve, have universal appeal. But more specifically, we’re making great strides with children’s products and we’re currently in talks with major retailers because we want to have a great retail partner in for our 200th Anniversary in 2026. Ideally, they’d collaborate with us to create a range of products across adults, children and homeware.
Toy and game partners should also get in touch.

We already have a very successful retail business across our zoos and online shop with invaluable insight into what sells and appeals to children and parents. We’re keen to extend this product offering outside our zoos to raise income and further awareness for our charity. We’re also aiming to work with UK heritage brands and smaller sustainable brands to do one-off collaborations – maybe with a focus on one particular part of our history. We’ve got a great story to tell, and we’re open to anyone who wants to be part of it.

There’s a good deal of the story that isn’t as widely known, though, isn’t there? In terms of your conservation, for example?
As we discussed earlier, London Zoo is definitely the most well-known brand, so for some people, the vast amount of conservation work that the Zoo does, and ZSL, the charity that runs it, is a surprise. London Zoo is home to animals that no longer exist in the wild, and our zookeeper teams are fighting to protect their entire species from disappearing. Our amazing vets train wildlife vets all over the world and, everyday, we’re on a mission to educate and inspire our visitors – and that’s only a tiny example of what we’re doing at the zoo alone.

And more globally?
ZSL runs projects in more than 80 countries around the world, working to protect species including tiny frogs and giant rhinos, and restore wildlife habitats. We’re identifying wildlife diseases and coming up with ways to treat or prevent them; we’re studying the impact of climate change on wild animals – our work is vast! So we want to highlight that when people partner with us. It’s not just amazing heritage and animal expertise that one associates with London Zoo – it’s a global conservation effort that they’ll be part of.

This is what’s been on my mind this morning because the tour gave me an insight into where the funds go! There’s so much more to do than run a zoo!
Exactly, every licensed item will be a product with a purpose. All proceeds from our product sales directly support our work. Anyone can put an animal on a t-shirt, but what we offer is unique and authentic, with specialist species knowledge and expertise to share… From our zookeepers, zoologists and field conservationists to our dedicated education teams who know firsthand what appeals to and resonates with and inspires children. Our children’s style guide showcases this knowledge, with three different design directions, which can be tailored to suit different retailers and product types.

And that reminds me of the conservation conversation – I’m not going to try and say that again! The conversation we had on the tour about animals that don’t necessarily get their time in the press…
Right! We do try to amplify the conservation focus for species that may be less well-known. In fact, we created a whole conservation programme devoted to these animals. It’s called EDGE – which stands for Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered. It’s a big name but basically highlights the animals that are unlike any others and are in the most need of conservation attention. These species have no or few relatives on the tree of life – which also usually means they play a really unique role within their ecosystem, so if we lose them, we lose their part in the ecosystem too.

Can you give me an example of those?
Many of the species in our new reptile and amphibian habitat, the Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians are EDGE species – they’re all wonderfully weird!

We also shine a spotlight on the threats these animals face, be that habitat loss, disease or wildlife trafficking – which is a huge threat to animals like the pangolin.

Oh! The scaley mammals that curl up in a ball?
Right. Sadly, a pangolin is trafficked every five minutes for their scales. ZSL is a leading partner in their protection, working with local communities to secure an international trading ban and disrupting the illegal trade through anti-poaching patrols and training local law enforcement.

Crikey… Is it hard to stay positive?
We’re always optimistic at ZSL – there’s always something that can be done, and there’s always hope. We believe by inspiring and educating people about the importance of animal conservation, we’re making a major step to turning those people into conservationists. We know the power of fun, and the children who visit our zoos are all potential conservationists! All it can take is a joke about burping gorillas or a gassy colobus monkey and you’ve piqued their interest!

My brother’s the same way…
Ha! Well, we find that kids love anything that’s a bit gross or surprising. We’ve included some of these fun, engaging ways to help tell the story about our conservation work in the guide. There are also beautiful illustrations, of course, but the story behind them is told in a way that resonates with children – who love quirky and interesting snippets of information. All the animals that feature in the children’s style guide have wonderful conservation stories to tell, and the funds raised by products featuring them goes directly back to protecting them. It can’t get more rewarding than that.

And the brand partners for whom you’re looking… Presumably you have a values blueprint in mind. What are the values of ZSL?
I previously led our buying and merchandising team, sourcing products for our gift shops at the zoo. So we’ve long established a very strict set of guidelines in terms of sourcing or producing products in sustainable ways: quality products that can be reused, repurposed, reworn and passed down and conscious when it comes to packaging too.

We strive to make a difference at every stage of licensing. For example, we had a high-selling item in our gift shop, but unfortunately, they came packaged in individual plastic bags. We explained our concern to the supplier and talked them through our stance on single-use plastic. They not only removed the plastic for us but also went on to remove the plastic for everyone they supplied. It made us feel really proud to know we’d made a nature-positive difference to a whole supply chain.

This isn’t the first time you’ve removed plastic from your shelves, though?
In 2016, together with our sister zoo, Whipsnade Zoo, we were the first in the UK to remove all single-use plastic water bottles from our shelves, as part of a ZSL-led campaign to protect the world’s oceans from the devastating impacts of plastic pollution. London Zoo visitors alone got through 155,000 plastic bottles of water in 2015, so we made a switch to more ocean-friendly packaging options – and we’re still encouraging other visitor attractions to do the same.

What should readers do if they think they’ll be a good partner for you?
Contact us! There are so many avenues and partnership opportunities. There are so many layers to us that it can be the biggest challenge… But that’s why we’re happy to invite potential partners to the zoo – they can see our work first hand and see what resonates with them… We promise there’ll be something!

I’ll echo that! Because I’ve had a fascinating morning. And you know, ordinarily I’d get your origin story in the first interview, Abbie… But I have a feeling we’re going to tie in again pretty quickly! So let’s leave that until the next chat. Which means my final question is: what’s the one thing I could’ve asked you today but didn’t?
Hmmm. That’s really tricky… Maybe: have you any questions for me?

Gosh… You turned that round pretty neatly! Alright… Have you any questions for me?!
I do! This is a question we ask people on job interviews… If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?

Oh, I’m a panda.
You’re a panda? As fast as that? Most people are like, “Oh! I don’t know!” What makes you similar to a Panda?

I think a lot of people see a panda as a lovely, cuddly animal, but other people see it as quite aggressive; quite a difficult beast. But a panda is just being what it is. So one might see it as lovely or difficult but it’s more about perception than reality. So yes… Panda. Great question! Let me reverse it… What kind of an animal would you be?
I think an elephant – because I have a very, very good memory. My husband and family are always amazed by it… “How do you even remember that?” And I’m also fiercely loyal and protective of my family and friends. So I’d say elephant.

Great answer. Right! Let’s wrap it up there, Abbie, because I really want to finish an interview on the words, “So I would say elephant!” Thank you, Abbie.