Mark Shekoyan PhD

World-famous for its animal collection and recreational attractions, the San Diego Zoo is also a non-profit organization with deep experience in conservation. Despite the Zoo’s considerable conservation programs, these efforts are not well-known to the public and costly. We helped the Zoo create a conservation leadership strategy that would develop new sources of revenue.

I lead the team as we developed an opportunity map with fourteen growth areas that define the landscape of… Show more

World-famous for its animal collection and recreational attractions, the San Diego Zoo is also a non-profit organization with deep experience in conservation. Despite the Zoo’s considerable conservation programs, these efforts are not well-known to the public and costly. We helped the Zoo create a conservation leadership strategy that would develop new sources of revenue.

I lead the team as we developed an opportunity map with fourteen growth areas that define the landscape of revenue-generating conservation activities. Seven areas were prioritized as having high potential for the Zoo. These came to the forefront for reasons such as their ability to leverage Zoo capabilities and their revenue potential. In addition to opportunity areas and strategy, Jump delivered strategic imperatives to help the Zoo make good decisions about which areas to pursue as it develops new initiatives going forward. Jump’s work was met with great enthusiasm by the Zoo’s top fifty executives, including the CEO, COO, and CFO. The Zoo was also excited to find that our work helped to clarify why some initiatives in the past had been successful internally and externally while others had failed. Show less

In 2006, amid several years of declining ratings, NBC Sports took over the iconic Monday Night Football show and decided to move it to Sunday night. Network executives sensed that they had an opportunity to radically improve how people watched and experienced pro football in a rapidly evolving media landscape. Yet, exactly how NBC Sports would pull off this transformation remained unclear. To address this challenge, NBC leaders turned to Jump to help them make the most of their new… Show more

In 2006, amid several years of declining ratings, NBC Sports took over the iconic Monday Night Football show and decided to move it to Sunday night. Network executives sensed that they had an opportunity to radically improve how people watched and experienced pro football in a rapidly evolving media landscape. Yet, exactly how NBC Sports would pull off this transformation remained unclear. To address this challenge, NBC leaders turned to Jump to help them make the most of their new investment—fast. In four weeks, we needed to figure out how to make NBC’s return to football broadcasting a success, and to create services, products, and promotions that would make people want to watch every single week, no matter who was playing in the game.

I lead a collaborative team from Jump and NBC. We interviewed, played games with, and watched sports with dedicated fans in their homes to understand how watching football had changed. One of the most interesting things we discovered about sports fans during our cultural immersion in their lives is that even dedicated fans have many interests competing for their attention these days. What this meant for NBC was that it could make Sunday Night Football a must-see if it shaped the program to bridge their many interests. As a result, we recommended framing Sunday Night Football as a social experience, bringing friends and families together for a shared cultural event. This inspired the program’s immensely popular tagline, “Sunday Night is Football Night,” which has helped NBC drive ratings growth.

We provided NBC with a promotion, and broadcast strategy to increase viewer engagement. We then crafted concepts to help audience members become more active participants in the game and connect with family and friends socially.The show has consistently outpaced its predecessor Monday Night Football. The 2006 average ratings alone were up 8.2 percent, the highest regular season football ratings in a decade. Show less