Paris Hilton is everywhere, now she's on your headphones
Paris Hilton, orangutans highlight ad strategies
BY DOUGLAS HANKS IIIdhanks@herald.com
Paris Hilton's people called Parrot Jungle Island recently, wondering if the reality-TV star could spend a day taking care of the birds there. She ended up tending to baby orangutans instead.
The swap had little to do with the heiress' job qualifications and everything to do with Parrot Jungle's marketing strategy, which puts much more attention on its jungle than on its parrots.
''We have made a conscious marketing decision to let the public know we're more than just parrots,'' said marketing manager Jeff Abbaticchio. ``We're reptiles; we're primates.''
The strategy pops up throughout Parrot Jungle's marketing efforts. The park restyled its logo to put slightly less emphasis on the word parrot. Click on parrotjungle.com and a crocodile stares back, a serpent sticks out its tongue, an orangutan hangs from a vine. It takes a few seconds for the first bird -- a black-eyed, blue-feathered hyacinth macaw named Ray -- to take center stage.
The five billboards Parrot Jungle rents along I-95 and other major highways feature a crocodile, Komodo dragon, python and Peaches and Pumpkin (the baby orangutan twins) but no birds.
Majority owner Bern Levine began diluting Parrot Jungle's reliance on parrots shortly after he and a partner bought the park in 1988. He brought in monkeys, reptiles, tortoises and a petting zoo -- all designed to broaden the park's appeal beyond a lush place to see exotic birds.
To justify higher ticket prices -- and compete for cruise-ship tours that flock to the Everglades -- Levine faces pressure to make Parrot Jungle more of an all-day (or at least all-afternoon) attraction.
That means giving visitors more things to see. And though they're colorful, the parrots, macaws and other feathered attractions tend to appeal to an older demographic. ''I think the mature audience, they know Parrot Jungle for the parrots,'' Abbaticchio said. ``It's a funny thing. The kids love the reptiles.''
BY DOUGLAS HANKS IIIdhanks@herald.com
Paris Hilton's people called Parrot Jungle Island recently, wondering if the reality-TV star could spend a day taking care of the birds there. She ended up tending to baby orangutans instead.
The swap had little to do with the heiress' job qualifications and everything to do with Parrot Jungle's marketing strategy, which puts much more attention on its jungle than on its parrots.
''We have made a conscious marketing decision to let the public know we're more than just parrots,'' said marketing manager Jeff Abbaticchio. ``We're reptiles; we're primates.''
The strategy pops up throughout Parrot Jungle's marketing efforts. The park restyled its logo to put slightly less emphasis on the word parrot. Click on parrotjungle.com and a crocodile stares back, a serpent sticks out its tongue, an orangutan hangs from a vine. It takes a few seconds for the first bird -- a black-eyed, blue-feathered hyacinth macaw named Ray -- to take center stage.
The five billboards Parrot Jungle rents along I-95 and other major highways feature a crocodile, Komodo dragon, python and Peaches and Pumpkin (the baby orangutan twins) but no birds.
Majority owner Bern Levine began diluting Parrot Jungle's reliance on parrots shortly after he and a partner bought the park in 1988. He brought in monkeys, reptiles, tortoises and a petting zoo -- all designed to broaden the park's appeal beyond a lush place to see exotic birds.
To justify higher ticket prices -- and compete for cruise-ship tours that flock to the Everglades -- Levine faces pressure to make Parrot Jungle more of an all-day (or at least all-afternoon) attraction.
That means giving visitors more things to see. And though they're colorful, the parrots, macaws and other feathered attractions tend to appeal to an older demographic. ''I think the mature audience, they know Parrot Jungle for the parrots,'' Abbaticchio said. ``It's a funny thing. The kids love the reptiles.''
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