Sport Aviation Marketing

columbia aircraft “FlipTheBird123″ and “iPO” promotions

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]

Add comment March 4th, 2006

cessna sitelet update

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]

Add comment February 18th, 2006

cirrus sitelet update

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]

1 comment February 18th, 2006

general aviation marketability thesis

Last fall a Florida State University undergrad named Milota K. Srkal published a thesis titled The Marketability of New Rules and Technologies in General Aviation.

The author himself points out that the paper is lacking for several reasons, including a limited sample size. However, he also notes that no one has ever done a similar analysis. With that in mind, it is certainly worth a quick read if you are marketing an airplane.

Here are a couple of highlights:

1. As the respondents got older, they would not be willing to pay a premium for the Whole Airplane Recovery System and the availability of this technology in a new aircraft would not make a difference with their decision making process for a purchase. (page 51)

2. The more knowledge that pilots generally have about [Glass Cockpit] technologies, the more they feel that Glass Cockpits greatly increase the safety of an aircraft, and they would be willing to pay a premium to purchase this technology. (page 52)

So what to do with this information? Whether your plane has a parachute or not, you can leverage it as a benefit with specific age demographics. Also, don’t rely on avionics manufacturers to promote the features of their products. If you’re using them in your plane, educate your potential customers accordingly.

Thanks to Milota for doing the research. If you ever update it, please let us know!

[tags]General Aviation, Aviation Marketing, Online Marketing, Light Sport Aircraft, SLSA, Sport Pilot[/tags]

Add comment February 16th, 2006

general aviation’s blue ocean strategy

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:

1. DO NOT compete in existing market space. INSTEAD you should create uncontested market space.
2. DO NOT beat the competition. INSTEAD you should make the competition irrelevant.
3. 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]

Add comment January 14th, 2006