Sport Aviation Marketing

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

new CubCrafters site

Job well done to CubCrafters! Since investing in a top-notch designer, Pierre Kotze, the company has launched a new, beautiful, and feature rich website. View it at: http://www.cubcrafters.com.

A few things that really set it apart:

1. Excellent use of typography - it really gives the feeling of a professional company and well-designed product.
2. First class photography - hard not to get excited about flying one of their planes.
3. The ability to watch your plane be built - nice use of Internet technology, webcams, etc…
4. Online ordering and configuration - hard to imagine buying a $100,000 product online but the CubCrafter site design and copy instills confidence by portraying a rock-solid and open company.

A couple of minor things I’d consider changing:

1. The navigation and design of the site is extremely consistent with one exception. When in either the Top Cub or Sport Cub sections of the site, the secondary navigation disappears forcing one to use the “Back” button to click on to the next page.
2. Reversed out type (white type on a black background) can be difficult to read on-screen and can pose issues with printing in certain circumstances.

Overall this is one of the top sites in the industry today. Take note everyone!

[tags]CubCrafters, Light Sport Aircraft, Online Marketing, Aviation Marketing[/tags]

Add comment January 14th, 2006