Marketing: The Relentless Pursuit of Relevance Continued from page 13 business aircraft—call it a Global or a Gulfstream—visibly chocked and coned, an expensive car planeside, and a phalanx of attractive women who just happen to be greeting de- planing passengers. It is formulaic. More importantly, it’s not unique. Brand awareness marketing should position your FBO in a manner that is distinguishable from other FBOs. What is it that makes your FBO safer, your service distinguished, or your people unlike any other? A Call to Action The second form of marketing is the Call to Action, and is straight- forward. A consumer is asked to respond to a marketing appeal by a business, for example, to receive a special price, discount, gift, or oth- erwise. The easiest example of Call to Action marketing is one of its first forms—coupons. Though declining in print these days, most familiar is the grocery store coupon that implores, “Bring this coupon in and save X on your next purchase.” A once well- known FBO whose doors shut in 2014 after 45 years of service used the Call to Action form of marketing in the extreme, offering free Omaha Steaks, among other gimmicks, to lure poten- tial customers. Further, while their narrative wasn’t all that unique, the manner in which they told it in their advertising was, featuring cartoons along with coupons. Although many cringe today when thinking of the once-overt nature of Flower Aviation and their Call to Action marketing, it was indisputably unique, memo- rable, and worked for years. Over time however, the Call to Action lost relevance, and failed to evolve quickly enough to a changing demographic. Today, the Call to Action for FBO marketing is much more subtle than in the past. It is executed through email marketing programs, such as MailChimp, Constant Contact, ban- ner ads, and the like. It is measured in open and click-through rates. While an excellent and inexpensive tool, email marketing can have a major drawback to the uninitiated. Notwithstanding the known draw- backs of spamming potential custom- ers, consider the loss of credibility when a potential customer opens the email and clicks through to the FBO’s webpage, only to find a web- page that hasn’t been updated for years, or has no information regard- ing the offer. The law of unintended consequence applies, and FBOs are wise when considering electronic direct mail media to first vet their web presence, including the FBO website and social media pages. Other forms of Call to Action marketing remain: pilot incentive programs, such as Avfuel’s AvTrip Program, World Fuels’ FlyBuys Rewards, or Atlantic’s Awards for example, are immensely popular. The latter of these is colloquially known as Captain’s Bucks to flight crews as the loyalty program literally results in preloaded American Express gift cards. The point being, these pro- grams, along with advertisements that encourage a click through, or a registration in a rewards program, are examples of the Call to Action concept of FBO marketing. Finally, consumers generally need to have an established understanding of “who” is sending the message, so simply advertising an ex- tremely low fuel price doesn’t always work as a Call to Action—especially if the FBO is relatively unknown. These concepts are merely the tip of the iceberg, and don’t consider many forms of marketing such as industry event participation, spon- sorship opportunities, community involvement initiatives, and chari- table giving, among others. Moreover, this is merely a conceptual framework meant to spark an internal dialogue at the FBO level. What is your FBO’s unique narrative? What do you hope to achieve through your marketing efforts? And, what types of marketing mediums and messaging are appro- priate? These questions are critical thinking exercises, best considered behind closed doors with multi- generational FBO personnel in the room, led by a marketing specialist, preferably one that speaks aviation. How do I know all this? A well- educated barista told me. Douglas Wilson is the President and founder of FBO Partners, LLC, an aviation consult- ing firm specializing in hangar subleasing, marketing, mergers & acquisitions, and IS-BAH, among other FBO busi- ness disciplines. He can be reached at [email protected] Aviation Business Journal | 4th Quarter 2016 15
