Sport Aviation Marketing

cessna sitelet update

February 18th, 2006

Back in November I wrote that the Cessna “43 Reasons” campaign was executed nicely but the concept was lacking. Unfortunately, Cessna created a PR nightmare that makes the campaign nearly tragic.

As Aero-News.net has been reporting, the FAA is imposing a fine on Cessna for their inability to ensure that 42 aircraft had been manufactured in accordance with the FAA-approved type design. Ouch.

Here is what I find surprising: The FAA issued an AD for 42 airplanes on March 5, 2005. Best I can tell, the “43 Reasons” campaign began running about six months later. Didn’t anyone think this would be a bad idea? With 43 reasons to buy, Cessna themselves provided 42 well-publicized reasons not to buy.

So, how to turn lemons into lemonade?

First, we all know the aviation community generally lacks admiration for the FAA. However, Cessna needs to give up their fight for lowering the fine and get the story out of the aviation press.

Second, Cessna should create a scholarship fund of equal value to be leveraged by Cessna Pilot Centers. This would result in as many as 500 potential pilots having their training costs covered up through their first solo. With 250 Cessna Pilot Centers, this would easily pay for its self in widespread local PR, and all positive! Plus, they’d be up to 44 reasons to buy a Cessna…

[tags]General Aviation, Aviation Marketing, Cessna, Sitelet, Online Marketing, Online PR[/tags]

Entry Filed under: aviation marketing, cessna, general aviation, online marketing, online pr, sitelet