SEATTLE AQUARIUM
“Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment”
Situational Analysis
Internal Environment
Background
- Seattle Aquarium is a public recreation facility founded in 1977 under the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation. In 2010, Seattle Aquarium Society assumed management of the Organization as a private entity
- Located on Pier 59, Elliot Bay Waterfront in Seattle, Washington, USA
- The Aquarium is the 9th largest recreation facility by attendance and is among the leading five paid tourist attractions in Puget Sound Region.
- The Aquarium operates as a non-profit entity accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums of the US.
- It offers both private and public programs and events for its customer base – Exhibits, Conservation, Education, and Research Activities.
Public Programmes offered are Beach Naturalist Program, Cedar River Salmon Journey, The Summer Camp (Youths aged 4-14 years), and Toddler Time.
- The Organization also offers corporate and private events, including Weddings and Wedding Proposals.
- Education Programmes offered include School visits, College and University-on-site programs, school-based programs.
- The aquarium hosts over 800K visitors, including around 50K students yearly.
Mission Statement
The Aquarium prides itself as the premier resource center for first-hand marine experiences and education on sea-life conservation.
- Its mission is sustainably “Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment.”
Values
Seattle Aquarium values are;
- Promoting sustainable marine practices
- Creating inspiring experiences
- Continuous education and learning
- Honoring its unique location and maintenance of scientific trustworthiness through fact-based practices
Marketing Strategies
The Aquarium utilizes Public Relations, Advertising, Promotions, and Public and Private Events Strategies to reach its audience and attract new customers.
- Seattle Aquarium uses its press media to manage marketing and advertising by publishing articles on three categories; Animals, events, and others.
- Fun Facts Campaign – The Aquarium uses fun facts to promote and advertise to its target audience of families with kids age 5-12 years.
This campaign presents biological facts about its marine life at the shores of the city in an attractive, charming, and educative way.
- Online Media Mix – Offers off-home, radio, digital display, and cost-efficient online videos for its virtual target audience.
- The Aquarium also has active social media engagement especially among millennials
Analysis of its significant social media audience shows
- Instagram – 61.2 Followers
- Twitter – 20.7K Followers
- Facebook – 14, 251 Followers and 115,305 likes per post and average of 10comments/post
- YouTube – 4.64K Active Subscribers and over 2 million views
Four out of five people recommend Seattle Aquarium on Facebook.
The Aquarium also engages its audience on Pinterest, Flickr, and Trip advisor
The content posted covers specific messaging themes such as;
- Virtual field trips
- Connected classroom tutorials for schools
- Octopus and the beach naturalist programs
Some of the content published is education-oriented, while some are adventurous and thrilling.
Seattle Aquarium offers a range of products as displayed on their media accounts. For example, on Instagram, the Aquarium provides Salmon, dive day, beach time, after hours, ASL, Halloween, otters, and dogfish.
The Organization also conducts publicity and manages its reputation through its pressroom and blog, which publishes news and articles about the Aquarium.
Example of a Blog Publication – The Aquarium recently won a Sustainability, Environmental Achievement, and Leadership (SEAL) award for its sustainability efforts.
Seasonal Events and Programs:
Mothers’ day at the Aquarium, Diver Experience, Meet our marine Animals, Story Time, Toddler Time, Game Night, Family Science Weekends, Lightning Talks, Splash weekend, World Ocean Weekend, and Fathers’ Day.
The Organization also runs community impact programs such as Beach Naturalist Program, Volunteer Programs, Connection Programs, and Octopus Survey Programs.
Seattle Aquarium won the best award on advertising. The award – “Best of Show” is an American Outdoor Advertising Association tagged Obie Awards (Copacino, 2020).
Customer Perceptions and Attitudes about Seattle Aquarium
- “This place is very cool. Very family-friendly. All of the workers were very knowledgeable & nice”. Positive customer review on Facebook (Facebook.com, 2020)
- “A little disappointed for an aquarium that you know is on the water.” Negative customer reviews on Facebook.
External Environment
Media Coverage
- Despite the Corona Virus pandemic, “Caring for Seattle Aquarium creatures continues without visitors or volunteers.” Reports Claridge of Seattle Times following the health directive on social distancing that has caused a declined 4000 – 5000 daily visits at the facility
- “Dori: Why can’t Seattle Aquarium provide its own $34M for shark tank?” The reaction by Dori (Client and resident of Seattle) to Seattle Aquarium’s expansion plan that would draw about $34M from the city’s budget.
Market Analysis
Demographics
- The Aquarium’s target audience is families with kids aged 5-14 Years.
- This is composed mainly of millennials aged 24-39 years and Gen-Z aged 20 years by 2020.
- Millennials and Gen-Z make up more than 50% of the US Population (Knoema,2020)
- Millennials are 25% of the US Population, about 82M People.
- Gen-Z is 26% of the US Population, about 86M People
- Seattle Aquarium had a total attendance of over 800,000 visitors. About 400,000 were students from nearly 500 schools.
Psychographic Analysis
Millennials and Gen-Z are of working age, hence have high disposable income – about 47K yearly (Josephson,2020)
They spend most of their time on social media;
- 92% of millennials own a smartphone
- 85% have social media profiles.
General Perspective on:
- Environment – 75 % value Environmental Conservation (Anderson, 2017)
- Animals – 62% advocate for Animal Rights
- Resources – 61% support sustainable use of resources
- Culture – 47% consider cultural diversity (Johansson, 2017)
Competitive Analysis
- Woodland Park Zoo (Zoo.org,2020)
Established in 1899 – The oldest Recreation facility in Seattle
Main Activities
- Habitat and Species conservation
- Research
- Education
- local capacity building and community support.
Specializes in Flora and Fauna (Plants and Animals) conservation
- Discounted Premium Animal Tours Packages and All types of Private events – Has 19 setups for events
- Customer base – more than 1.3m Visitors annually
Partners with conservation partners – For International Projects focused on Pacific Rim, Central Asia, and Africa.
- Seattle Center
Began in 1927- among the oldest attraction centers with a broad segment of activities (Seattle center, 2020)
Segments – Seattle Center Amory, Space Needle, International Fountain, Artists at play, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center.
Specializes in providing – extraordinary levels of art, culture, sports, education and tourism activities
- Free fun activities for all ages at Artists at Play playground
- Partners Sponsors – Coca-Cola, Alaska Airline, T-Mobiles among others
- Center involved in renovations and development of key New Arena.
- Pacific Science Center
Established in 1962
Events and Programmes – All-age events, PacSci Night, Kids and Families, camps, teens, mercer slough
- Teachers and School Programs – Field trips, Science on Wheels, Mercer Slough Field Trips, Homeschool Opportunities.
- Offers Special – Member events, donor events, and Foundation of Science Breakfast.
- Private Events – Private Rentals, Group Sales, Birthday Parties, Wild B’earthday Parties, and guided nature walks.
Key Development of Competitors
Woodland Park Zoo
- Provides Special Programs for Endangered Species
- Launch of Relief fund to support animal care amid Covid-19 crisis
- Launches Super Snack Time on Facebook in 2020
Seattle Center
- Strategic Partnerships
- Free fun activities for all ages at Artists at Play playground
- Wide range of corporate events
Pacific Science Center
- Provides documentary and film Streaming on Imax
Appendices
Sample Fun Facts Campaign Poster
Figure 1: Seattle Fun Facts Campaign. Source: (Copacino,2020)
Demographic Characteristics of Millennials and Gen-Z
Figure 4: Source: World Population Prospects
Reference
Seattle Aquarium Case Study | copacino+fujikado. copacino + fujikado. (2020). Retrieved 21 April 2020, from https://www.copacino.com/work/seattle-aquarium/.
Seattle Aquarium. Facebook.com. (2020). Retrieved 21 April 2020, from https://www.facebook.com/Aquarium.Seattle.
US Population by Age and Generation in 2020 – knoema.com. Knoema. (2020). Retrieved 21 April 2020, from https://knoema.com/egyydzc/us-population-by-age-and-generation-in-2020.
Chan, J., & Chan, J. (2020). Marketing to Millennials: What You Need to Know About This Prized Market Segment. Social Media Today. Retrieved 21 April 2020, from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/marketing-to-millennials-what-you-need-to-know-about-this-prized-market-se/542034/.
How Americans view environmental issues. Pew Research Center. (2020). Retrieved 21 April 2020, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/20/for-earth-day-heres-how-americans-view-environmental-issues/.
The Average Salary of a Millennial – SmartAsset. SmartAsset. (2020). Retrieved 22 April 2020, from https://smartasset.com/retirement/the-average-salary-of-a-millennial.
Johansson, A. (2020). Millennials Are Pushing For Diversity In These 3 Industries. Forbes. Retrieved 21 April 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/annajohansson/2017/11/14/millennials-are-pushing-for-diversity-in-these-3-industries/#44a97a736a5c.
Saving Wildlife – Woodland Park Zoo Seattle WA. Zoo.org. (2020). Retrieved 22 April 2020, from https://www.zoo.org/conservation.
Attractions. Seattlecenter.com. (2020). Retrieved 22 April 2020, from http://www.seattlecenter.com/explore/attractions.