Title:

Author:

Consumer Relations with an Emphasis on

Social Media, and PR Ethics at the Pittsburgh
National Aviary
Bethany Snedden

Faculty Sponsor:

Katrina J. Quinn, Ph.D.

Abstract
This paper analyzes consumer relations with a focus on social media and
website analysis at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, PA. Along with this is
an examination of the Aviarys PR Ethics. This paper also compares
consumer relations activities at the Aviary with the Pittsburgh Zoo &
Aquarium. The methods used to gather this information include analysis of
the social media and websites of both organizations. In addition, an
interview was conducted with Robin Weber, the Director of
Communications & Marketing at the Aviary. Lastly, the ethics of the Aviary
were examined using the Public Relations Society of America Code of
Ethics. Overall findings were that the consumer relations and ethics of the
Aviary were very good, with a few minor recommendations for
improvement. Suggestions include updating the Aviary YouTube Page more
frequently, and reducing prices for some of the events, such as the BirdDay parties.

The National Aviary is Americas only independent indoor nonprofit

zoo dedicated exclusively to birds (Aviary About Us, 2014). The Aviary is
home to more than 500 birds from all over the planet as well as over 150
species (Aviary About Us, 2014). Along with this, the Aviary is home to bats
and sloths. Many birds that live at the Aviary are members of endangered
species (Aviary About Us, 2014). The Aviary is set up to simulate various wild
environments including a rainforest and desert.
Unlike a zoo, where animals are kept behind glass, many exhibits allow
guests to walk among free-flying birds in their native habitats. The Aviarys
main focus has to do with providing families an engaging, educational
experience with the animals, as well as teaching the importance of the
conservation of animals and nature (Aviary About Us, 2014). Their mission is
to inspire respect for nature through an appreciation of birds (Aviary About
Us, 2014).
When it comes to consumer relations, the Aviary does many things to
strengthen their relationship between external and internal publics. They
have a website which is designed in a way to impart important information
about special events, media coverage, animal and habitat information, and
conservation efforts. Along with this they are active participants of a variety
of social media.
Outside of their website and social media activities, the Aviary holds
many special events which allow publics in the community to get involved. A
large part of these programs has to do with the education and entertainment
of children. For example, children are invited to celebrate their birthdays with
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special Bird-Day Parties which include a special rental room, goody bags,
and Aviary discounts for the day for all party members ( Aviary Bird-Day
Parties, 2014).
Another activity for children which can be considered a part of the
Aviarys consumer relations are summer day camps. These camps allow
children to interact with and learn about the various animals within the
Aviary, as well as about the conservation of their habitats (Aviary Summer
Camps, 2014). There are also events for all ages such as shows and animal
feedings, which include opportunities for publics to interact face-to-face with
the animals.
Furthermore, there are special outreach programs offered to various
institutions, such as schools, where Aviary staff will bring birds to publics
(Aviary School and Group Outreach, 2014). An example of the Aviarys use of
their outreach program was when they brought some of their birds to Little
Sisters of the Poor, a local Pittsburgh nursing home and assisted living
facility, to allow residents who could otherwise not get to the Aviary, to have
the Aviary come to them (Aviary Visit, 2014). These programs show how
ethical of an organization the Aviary is for offering free programs to such
people (Aviary Visit, 2014).
The Aviarys social media efforts include a Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube page. Their Facebook page has 10,938 likes, and includes their logo
as well as a banner picture of guests interacting with one of the Aviarys
birds. This page is updated daily, with each post including a picture of one of
their birds, a related nature picture, or pictures from an event, as well as a
short informative description.
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Their Facebook page also includes a map to show customers which

routes to take to get to the Aviary. As well as this, their address, telephone
number, link to their website, and hours of operation information are on the
page. The Aviarys Facebook also notifies publics as to whether the Aviary is
open or closed. Their page also includes a photo gallery and videos of
happenings within the Aviary.
The Aviarys Twitter page has 6,447 followers and is almost identical to
their Facebook page in appearance and with much of their posts. Although
most Twitter pages are mainly words, the Aviarys Twitter has a large amount
of pictures and videos. Something that separates their Twitter from their
Facebook is that with their Twitter they often post multiple times in a day,
and re-tweet consumers posts.
The Aviary also has a Youtube page, which has the same banner
picture and logo as their Twitter and Facebook, and includes sixteen videos.
Although there are not many videos, they seem to have been updating more
often, so that could change. Their YouTube page includes a link to their
website, Google Plus, and their Twitter.
The organization I chose to compare consumer relations and social
media activities with was the Pittsburgh Public Zoo and PPG Aquarium. Both
the Zoo and the Aviary have similar styled organizations and websites. The
Zoo website has more advanced design themes, with fancy fonts and many
different vibrant colors. In contrast, the Aviarys site has a more simple
design.
The Pittsburgh Zoo has a Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube page. Their
Facebook is set up extremely similar to the Aviarys, except the Zoos
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Facebook does not have their logo. Also, the Zoo posts every few days, as
opposed to nearly every day like the Aviary. Something different is that the
Zoos Facebook has something called Fun Fact Friday, where a new animal
fact and corresponding picture is posted every Friday. This is an interesting
way for the Zoo to draw in publics and keep them coming back. The Aviary
could benefit from doing something similar.
When it comes to Pittsburgh Public Zoo consumer relations activities
outside of their website and social media efforts, there are many similarities
they share with the Aviary. For example, the Zoo hosts special birthday
parties, as the Aviary does. The difference is the Zoo includes many more
things with their birthday package than the Aviary, such as food and drinks, a
zoo-themed cake with ice cream, a gift, goody bags, and party supplies (Zoo
Birthday Parties, 2014). Also, all Zoo party guests receive free admission on
the day of the party, unlike the Aviary, which just gives guests a discount
(Zoo Birthday Parties, 2014).
The Zoo, like the Aviary has educational, interactive, day camps for
children. Something the Zoo has that the Aviary doesnt is overnight
programs which allow children and their families to take part in special
activities which are part of a sleepover (Zoo Overnights, 2014). This is a
great way for guests to feel comfortable with an organization. Programs like
this could be offered by the Aviary to increase consumer relations. The Zoo
also offers outreach programs, which allow Zoo staff to bring some of their
animals to places like schools (Zoomobile Outreach Programs, 2014).
When it comes to the Aviary, I think they have a great consumer
relations program. Their website design is colorful, engaging, and
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informative, and there are large attractive pictures of resident birds on many
of the site pages. Although there is a lot of information piled into almost
every page, the information is important, and not extraneous. Their website
also includes links to all their social media pages, which is important, but I
would suggest placing the links at the top where its easier for people to find.
Their Facebook and Twitter is very visually-oriented, interactive, and updated
regularly. Outside of the Aviarys web-based consumer relation activities,
their special events which allow publics to interact with and learn about the
animals, is a great way for people to feel involved.
However, there are some issues. For one, their YouTube account is
lacking significant content. Although their Facebook and Twitter is updated
regularly with pictures and postings of special events, the same events are
not usually posted to their YouTube page. The Aviary would do well to utilize
their YouTube page, as posting more videos would interest potential publics,
and increase their chances of visiting the Aviary or even becoming members.
If the Aviarys YouTube were to be integrated with their Twitter, visitors to the
Aviary could have videos they took interacting with the birds, and that were
tweeted to the Aviary, and the Aviary could upload the videos to their
YouTube. This would be a great way to get more publics involved and
increase consumer relations activities, as well as allowing more entertaining
content to be created to attract more publics.
When it comes to consumer relations outside of the web, the Aviarys
Bird-Day party comes to mind as having parts that need fixed. Most
organizations like the Aviary, such as the Pittsburgh Zoo, include a birthday
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party package for children. This is a great consumer relations tactic that
creates a family-like atmosphere. The problem with the Aviarys birthday
party package is the price is $250 for non-members. This is very expensive in
general for a party, even one that would include food, cake, and supplies.
However, the Aviary only grants guests a party room, goody bag, and a
discount on the admission ticket for that day (Aviary Bird-Day Parties, 2014).
Party guests must even supply their own cake (Aviary Bird-Day Parties,
2014).
I think the Aviary should take a similar route to the Zoo, and supply
food, beverages, a cake, supplies, and free admission for the guests. If the
Aviary wants to get more publics to celebrate their birthday with them, they
should either significantly lower the price or contribute basic party supplies.
Also, I would suggest the Aviary to include a face-to-face animal encounter
for the party guests as part of the package. Currently, such encounters are
offered for around $50 or $100 dollars extra (Aviary Bird-Day Parties, 2014).
The Aviarys special events are mainly geared towards children.
Including children as a major public is very important. The only problem is
childrens activities at the Aviary are quite expensive, so I think the prices
should be lowered if the Aviary wants more people to participate in such
things.
I think the Aviarys outreach programs are an excellent way to bring in
more publics. I like how they dont just cater to childrens schools in this way,
but also to places like nursing homes and assisted living facilities. I think
expanding this program as an option for more places that have people who
cant get to the Aviary would be a great plan. These programs strongly show
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the Aviarys ethics and devotion to their goal of education about animals and
nature.
The ethics of the Aviary are shown throughout most of their actions.
Being an organization dedicated to the care and conservation of birds,
animals, and nature in general, ethics are what their mission and goals are
built on. The Aviary has their 2013 Annual Report posted to their website,
which highlights their achievements in areas of ethics mentioned in the PRSA
Code of Ethics (Aviary Annual Report, 2013). This document shows the
Aviarys transparency, as necessary quantitative information was placed
throughout the report (Aviary Annual Report, 2013). This included all of their
financial information, and numerical data such as rates of attendance for the
Aviary and their programs (Aviary Annual Report, 2013).
Each section of the document focused on a different program the
Aviary had, and included important numerical information for each one
(Aviary Annual Report, 2013). However, the primary focus of the document
was on the impact the Aviary had on animals and nature, people, children,
and organizations affiliated with the Aviary (Aviary Annual Report, 2013). The
first page of the report summarized some of the impactful and ethical
activities the Aviary had participated in, in 2013 (Aviary Annual Report,
2013). This page claimed that numerical data is important, but what is truly
important is the experiences of all involved (Aviary Annual Report, 2013).
The report also talked of some of the Aviarys many community projects
(Aviary Annual Report, 2013). These allow anyone interested to become

involved in bird research and conservation efforts (Aviary Annual Report,

2013).
Also mentioned in the report were their outreach programs (Aviary
Annual Report, 2013). This was highlighted earlier in my paper with the
outreach program that allowed residents of a nursing home to interact with
the Aviarys birds. In the 2013 Annual Report, outreach programs that
allowed children in local hospitals to experience the interactive bird
experience were highlighted (Aviary Annual Report, 2013).
Finally, the report ended with a page that went into detail on how the
staff at the Aviary care deeply for every bird, and see them all as individuals
with different needs and personalities (Aviary Annual Report, 2013). They
mentioned how they cater not just to their physical needs, but their
psychological and social needs as well (Aviary Annual Report, 2013).
Extensive research is done to make sure each bird is made to feel as athome as possible (Aviary Annual Report, 2013).
I think this report shows to the Aviarys publics how strongly the
Aviarys actions and decisions are based off of ethics. I did notice however
that the Aviary website did not have a code of ethics page, as many
organizations, particularly non-profits, have. I think it would be a good idea
for the Aviary to add this, to show their publics the specific ethical goals
behind their actions.
In relation to the Aviarys ethics in consumer relations activities
mentioned in much of my report, Id have to say they seemed very ethical
for the most part. Their website strongly shows their ethics through such
things as their conservation information pages and community programs.
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Their social media is transparent, and allows publics to say what they feel.
The only things that could be seen as not entirely ethical are how expensive
events like their birthday parties are. Publics could be put off and question
ethics when presented with such expensive prices when so few things are
included in the birthday package. This also applies to some of their events
which are extremely expensive.
For my interview I interviewed the Director of Marketing and
Communications for the Aviary, Robin Weber. The first question I asked was
about what the Aviarys future plans were for new consumer relations
activities. She said that for 2015 the Aviary will be focusing on seasonal
themes for all marketing, social media, and events. For example, the first
theme will be called Bringing Paradise to Pittsburgh. In January they will be
holding an event called Unveiling Paradise and in February there will be an
event called Flamingo Fest. The week before a new theme is unveiled;
there will be a media event at the Aviary to highlight activities around the
theme. For example, a bird show may be held. She also mentioned how
social media will be integrated into these events and themes. Social media
will be used to promote events, but a video or picture of a bird will be used to
tell a story that will get people interested.
For my second question I asked if the Aviary had any plans of building
onto their YouTube channel. Ms. Weber said they were planning to add more
videos to their YouTube channel on a more regular basis. Their goal currently
is to get at least one new video per month which will be integrated with their

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social media and website. She said they were hoping to eventually get to
uploading one new video a week.
My third question was about what some upcoming Aviary campaign
plans were. Ms. Weber said they were going to hold fundraising events to go
along with their seasonal campaigns. One upcoming event she mentioned
had to do with a social media event done by many nonprofits called Giving
Tuesday. The Aviary was going to make their own version of it, and allow
guests who were donating to the Aviary to pose with one of their birds and
take an unselfie. This means they would cover their face with a sign that
said why they were choosing to donate, and then they would upload this
picture to social media. She said this event would be promoted almost purely
through social media.
For my fourth question, I asked what the Aviarys most successful
campaign was. Ms. Weber said it was not a campaign, but an event where
they hatched baby penguins. This occurred last year at the end of December.
She said media from all over Pittsburgh was there the day of the hatching,
and the news and footage ended up getting picked up by national media
across more than fifty outlets. After the babies hatched, they were taken to
the Aviarys Avian Care Center to be hand-reared. During this time, guests
were able to see them in the window as they grew. She said this event
brought in more people than anything in Aviary history.
My fifth question asked how the Aviary measured success of their
campaigns. Ms. Weber said they measure revenues, the number of people
coming in the door, and the number of people buying experiences at the
Aviary. She said to measure each campaign and vehicle used to get the
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messages out, google analytics is used. For social media, tools that come
with Facebook and Twitter are used to see who the Aviarys audience is and
what they want. Also, she said they find out success through visitor surveys.
As can be seen from much of this paper, the National Aviary is very
successful. They have a strong positive relationship with publics of all kinds
from their employees, to guests, to the media. Stories about the Aviary are
not uncommon to find on Pittsburgh news sites. These stories are always
positive, detailing interactions at the Aviary between birds, staff, and
customers.
For example, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ran a story on the Aviary.
The story quoted Aviary staff talking about how much they love the animals
they work with, and how much the birds teach them (Hodan, 2014). This
story ties into consumer relations because it can get people interested in the
organization.
The Aviary has even achieved recognition from national news and
television, as was talked about by Ms. Weber in the interview. For instance, a
story ran on CBS news in 2012 about the training of some of the Aviarys
vultures to appear on the David Letterman show (Dayton, 2012). They were
used to educate audiences on the role vultures play in the ecosystem
(Dayton, 2012). This ties into consumer relations by serving to get publics
interested not just in the Aviary but in conservation efforts.
In conclusion, my research shows that the Aviary does a wonderful job
with consumer relations. Although there are some minor flaws, for the most
part their consumer relations activities are strong. They are a part of every

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action the Aviary takes, and tied into their mission of connecting people with
birds and nature.
References

Aviary Visit. (2014, February 19). Retrieved October 23, 2014, from
http://www.littlesistersofthepoorpittsburgh.org/blog/181-aviary-visit
Dayton, R. (2012, February 14). National Aviary Practicing For National TV
Appearances. Retrieved October 23, 2014, from
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/02/14/national-aviary-practicing-fornational-tv-appearances/
Hodan, K. (2014, September 28). North Side's National Aviary hosts 150
species of birds. Retrieved October 23, 2014, from
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6681190-74/birds-majeran-wetlands
(n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2014, from http://www.aviary.org
(n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2014, from http://www.pittsburghzoo.org

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