Posts filed under 'cirrus'
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) recently reported record setting numbers for deliveries in the industry. Cessna led with 187 shipments. Cirrus had the best-selling model (SR22), with 124, plus another 35 SR20s. Diamond Aircraft and Columbia 400 both shipped 46. Finally, The New Piper Aircraft shipped 39 aircraft.
So how do these numbers relate to the effectiveness of each companies website? Alexa.com is a free online tool that gives overall reach and page view statistics for popular websites. Here are charts for both website reach and pageviews for each of the top five manufacturers:
A few interesting things to note:
First, prior to January, Cessna really dominated reach and pageviews. In the last few months they seem to be losing their grip on both. Cirrus and New Piper have been steadily trending up while Cessna has taken some hits.
Second, Diamond and Columbia have equal sales and Diamond has been around a bit longer. Yet Columbia is making great improvements in both measurements while Diamond barely registers on the scale. Time for Diamond to step it up. I believe they redesigned their site not too long ago but it appears to be ineffective.
Third, this is anybody’s game. Cessna and Cirrus certainly have leads but they are not insurmountable. None of the current websites go beyond typical brochure-ware. If any one of these manufacturers were to decide to “own” the web channel from a marketing and lead generation perspective, they could accomplish it with a reasonable investment.
Alexa is a fun tool. Go play with it to see what you can learn about your own company and competitors.
[tags]Aviation Marketing, Aviation Website, Cessna, Cirrus, Columbia Aircraft, Online Marketing[/tags]
May 18th, 2006
If the following characteristics describe your typical customer then this press release from Sport Pilot Television should be received with great interest:
- Male
- College Educated
- High Disposable Household Income
- Travel and Adventure Enthusiast
- Outdoor and Sports Minded
- Homeowner with vacation home and/or large plot of land
Right now it looks like Cirrus is the primary aircraft manufacturer sponsoring the show. With the reach of Sport Pilot TV expanding to 40 million homes it sure seems like a good time for others in the aviation industry to leverage the opportunity.
I haven’t had a chance to see the show but my hope, as a Time Warner customer, is that my house will be included in the expanded coverage.
[tags]Aviation Marketing, Cirrus, General Aviation, Light Sport Aircraft, Marketing Promotions, Sport Pilot[/tags]
March 18th, 2006
Columbia Aircraft is running some interesting promotions these days. The first, FlipTheBird123, targets existing aircraft owners by helping them sell their current plane to upgrade to a Columbia. The second, iPO (Initial Purchase Option), targets newbies by discounting the purchase price by $7,500 for those who received their training in a qualified airplane.
I’m impressed by both programs but not for their financial viability for a potential customer. The financial benefits are insignificant when considering the cost of even the most basic Columbia aircraft. Instead, I think these promotions are effective in two ways:
First, they are a great framework for beginning a conversation with a potential customer. A prospect either owns an aircraft, or does not own an aircraft. Either is a pilot, or is not a pilot. In any case, Columbia has a story to tell. This is a great door-opener which is evidenced by the wide-spread coverage both programs have received in the aviation press.
Second, the promotions do a great job of defining Columbia’s competition as far less superior. The FlipTheBird123 sitelet has a 14 question quiz to determine whether or not you need to sell your plane. I scored 0 out of 14 for my plane to which the site responded, “Do you actually fly this plane? You should consider a Columbia - today.” Funny…effective…and true…
Additionally, The iPO promotion lists all of the other general aviation industry leaders as trainers, including the Cirrus. The text states, “Once you’ve completed your primary flight training…a step up to Columbia is a natural and logical progression.” I don’t think any of us would have considered a Cirrus SR22 a trainer until this promotion came along. Again, very effective.
Are the promotions all good? No. As with the Cirrus sitelet reviewed here and here, the execution of the promotions falls short of the quality one would expect for an airplane priced at $380,000 on the low-end. The flycolumbia.com website, overall, is decent. However, the promotion pages, especially for FlipTheBird123 look more like a children’s game site. As with Cirrus, this baffles me. The idea is the hard part, and Columbia did a great job in that respect. The execution of those ideas should be easy, why skimp?
Either way, Columbia has raised the bar a bit in terms of promotions. It’ll be fun to see if/how the competition responds.
[tags]General Aviation, Aviation Marketing, Aviation Website, Cessna, Cirrus, Columbia Aircraft, Sitelet, Online Marketing, Online PR, Marketing Promotions[/tags]
March 4th, 2006
A while back I wrote a quick analysis of the Cirrus and Cessna sitelets. At that time, it had been over a year since I had flown commercially. Over the last two weeks I have had four commercial flights with another trip scheduled for next week. I like the “I am not that guy” concept even more today than I did back in November. Flying commercially is a nightmare. Put me on the list for an SR22.
With that said, the execution of the campaign is also more flawed than I originally thought. The opportunity exists to make a strong impact with the sitelet. The mountain scenery doesn’t resonate with me (I’m a flat-lander) and the engine noise makes the site feel more like one of the websites my 3-year old plays with rather than a sales tool for a $300,000 product.
While in Chicago last week I waited in line with hundreds of other travelers for a full 45 minutes. None of us were happy. A well-executed campaign could really resonate with those business travelers who experience the hassle on a regular basis and have the income to afford an airplane.
Cirrus should keep the ads but replace the sitelet. Designing a new site would be an insignificant cost in relation to running the print ads that are used to drive traffic.
[tags]General Aviation, Aviation Marketing, Cirrus, Sitelet, Online Marketing[/tags]
February 18th, 2006
One of last year’s hottest business books was Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. Leaders in the general aviation industry would be wise to order a copy. According to the authors, “red oceans” are crowded with competitors while “blue oceans” represent untapped market space with the opportunity for highly profitable growth. Among the strategies for leveraging “blue oceans” are the following:
- DO NOT compete in existing market space. INSTEAD you should create uncontested market space.
- DO NOT beat the competition. INSTEAD you should make the competition irrelevant.
- DO NOT exploit existing demand. INSTEAD you should create and capture new demand.
I’ve written about this previously but it is worthwhile enough, in my opinion, to repeat: Women represent a blue ocean for the aviation industry. Only 5.8% of today’s private pilots are female. What’s more shocking is that the percentage hasn’t changed in 15 years. What’s going on here? Does it have to be this way? Are only 5.8% of women really interested in flying? I think not.
Consider the field of medicine. in 1970 only 7.6% of physicians in the United States were female. By 2003 that had steadily climbed to 25.8%. This is still seems low but, unlike the aviation industry, there has been consistent progress. The aviation industry needs to adjust it’s methods for going to market to reach women more effectively.
If the aviation industry could achieve what the medical field has done it could result in over 100,000 new pilots. At first glance that seems to good to be true. However, I think we’ve all become too complacent with the with the glut that the industry has been in since it peaked at 827,000 pilots in 1980.
Broadening the base of female pilots could be the shot in the arm that the industry needs. There have been several instances in the history of aviation where the number of pilots has doubled or even tripled in under 10 years. We need to think big here - let’s make it happen again!
So which company will capture this blue ocean? Cirrus currently leads the industry in sales - can they capture the female demographic? The majority of today’s male pilots learned how to fly in a Cessna - are they capable of training a new segment of women pilots? The sport pilot rule lowers the price for entry - can Flight Design CT, CubCrafters, or one of the other LSA designs gain the market? It just takes a commitment from an industry leader willing to think outside the box.
Sources used for this post:
Women in Aviation, International
AOPA
American Medical Association
[tags]General Aviation, Women in Aviation, Aviation Marketing, Marketing to Women, Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, AOPA, Cirrus, Cessna, Flight Design[/tags]
January 14th, 2006
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