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
Last week I had the opportunity to discuss the state of the light sport aircraft market with Aero-News.Net Editor-in-Chief Jim Campbell. He recorded our conversation and published it as a Featured Aero-Cast (Podcast). As Jim summarized,
“Today, Coffey suggests to ANN’s Jim Campbell that Sport Aviation may be a little too introspective, catering to too narrow a field of potential buyers. Maybe, even a little… ingrown. Again, however, Coffey offers several suggestions on what can be done differently.”
Listen to the full Aero-Cast.
Thanks to Jim for giving me the opportunity to express a few opinions to such a large audience. I hope we can do it again sometime!
[tags]Aviation Marketing, Light Sport Aircraft, Marketing Promotions, Online Marketing, SLSA, Sport Pilot[/tags]
March 17th, 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
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]
February 18th, 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
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