Blair Aerosports Rebel 300. Photo credit: Tony Blair

Asia’s largest aerospace show didn’t disappoint. Record visitors. Record deals. The biennial Singapore Airshow, Feb. 14-19, pulled in 145,000 attendees from 128 countries.

It definitely followed through on its marketing promise of a “Big Show, Big Opportunities.” Boeing’s landmark, largest-ever commercial order came from Indonesia’s Lion Air. Its order for Boeing 737 aircraft rang up at $22+ billion. Let’s put that in perspective. Total signed deals made during the last Singapore Airshow in 2010 brought in less that half that: $10 billion.

Growing Stronger Every Day

While aviation’s rebounding worldwide, the Asia-Pacific is the site of its strongest growth. Attendees weren’t just tire-kickers – but power-hitters. Sultans and prime ministers. Heads of defense and captains of industry.

Building Capacity

First-time exhibitors included BBA Aviation and Dallas Airmotive, which also celebrated the opening of its Singapore regional turbine center. FlightSafety International did some celebrating in the region, as well, hosting a highly successful public grand opening of its Hong Kong Learning Center on February 14.

Air force aerial displays from Singapore, Malaysia, United States and Australia demonstrated the power and possibilities of man and machine. Blair Aerosports of Australia made history by putting on the show’s first stunt aerobatic performance. Actor Jackie Chan’s splashy red and yellow Embraer Legacy 650 drew added interest to the static display.

We have to wonder what’s in store for the next show in 2014. Something tells us, it will be big.

Mobile marketers rejoice: Industry leaders have finalized guidelines to make on-the-go advertising more streamlined for advertisers, online networks and agencies alike.

The global nonprofit Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) recently released guidelines that standardize a handful of mobile ad sizes that should be widely used and accepted. This will make it easier to create, buy and sell ads for smartphones, feature phones and tablets.

To narrow down the ad sizes, the MMA analyzed billions of global mobile ad impressions and chose those that represented the most frequently used. They then pared down 60-plus sizes to a mere six. I’m grinning. Are you?

Compliance or Bust

As if all this added convenience weren’t enough, we get a stamp, too. Ad networks and publishers have until the end of April 2012 to become compliant. At that point, companies that have opted in will be issued a MMA Universal Mobile Ad Package Compliance stamp to place on their websites and marketing materials.

As if you need to be convinced that this is a good thing for our industry, let me give you more proof. This collaborative effort between the sales and buyer sides of the equation has garnered the support of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Newspaper Association of America.

The Joy of Simplicity

This is a case where less is definitely more. Just as mobile devices provide consumers ease and efficiency, the MMA’s guideline changes greatly simplify the work of mobile advertisers and media planners.

Hallelujah.

With the MMA’s new guidelines in place this spring, are you planning to add mobile advertising as part of your organization’s 2012 marketing plan? You can download guidelines at http://mmaglobal.com/policies/education.

More than 19,000 attended Heli-Expo 2012 at the Dallas Convention Center. For the fourth year in a row, the show featured a record number of exhibitors – 650, up from 625.

Two helicopters. Separated by the length of the Heli-Expo 2012 convention floor. Worlds apart in every way. Except one: Both ignite your imagination, as only a helicopter can.

A Bell OH-13, with its roots in World War II, anchored the south end of the million-square-foot Dallas Convention Center. On the north end, a prototype Bell 525 Relentless represented the latest in just about everything – composite materials, engine design, avionics.

In Dallas, folks navigated to the heritage helicopter display using an app on their smartphones that contained virtually everything they might want to know. Schedule. Maps. Exhibitor list. Area resources. Even a handy access portal to social media. People also used Twitter to keep in touch while pursuing individual agendas and alerting each other to don’t-miss opportunities.

Nothing Stays the Same

On the floor, virtually every booth represented a different aspect of rapid development. Night vision goggles – a novelty just a few years ago, now are becoming a virtual requirement across a growing number of helicopter missions. MD Helicopters’ new NOTAR system does away with the familiar tail rotor. Several booths, including FlightSafety International, testified to the growing importance of simulation-based training. Even financing continually changes, as Richard Santulli’s Milestone Aviation Group showed with its announcement of major leasing agreements.

My colleague Kevin Jenks and I, looking at the show through the perspective of aviation marketing, found a common theme among many exhibitors – from the small entrepreneurial start-ups to the largest global conglomerates. The blistering pace of change leaves them scrambling to keep their marketing on pace and in synch with their products. That’s a challenge for everyone these days, but it’s especially acute in the helicopter industry.

The good news is – most of them know it and are working to catch up. This is an innovative, forward-looking industry. Whether it’s cutting-edge avionics, revolutionary design changes or smarter, more integrated use of online and social media, the helicopter crowd can’t abide any position other than out in front, leading the charge.

*Originally published in the February 16 issue of BlueSky Business Aviation News.

Highly targeted email helped fill every seat at Bombardier's last Safety Standdown.

Effective Email Marketing

Email marketing has always seemed to be the redheaded stepchild of the Internet. Its reputation isn’t surprising, given the infuriating amount of spam and phishing schemes we’re subjected to every day. But despite this, email marketing’s benefits make it a vital part of your total marketing budget. Its main strength lies in its role as a permission-based medium. Because email marketing can only to be sent legally to those that opt-in to receive it, you can safely assume that everyone seeing your message already has an interest in your product or service. Coupled with the fact that it’s inexpensive to get started, email marketing can lead to a higher ROI than other marketing channels.

The issue with email marketing has nothing to do with the medium itself. It’s the fact that in most cases it’s done so ineffectively. Too often companies send emails out as an afterthought, with no strategy and without realizing the pitfalls that can derail a campaign. The following tips can turn an otherwise scattershot approach to email marketing into a campaign that produces results.

Target Your Message

When done right, email marketing can be highly targeted. When someone signs up to receive emails from you, you can add questions to your signup form asking what types of information they’re interested in. You can also adjust your message based on demographic information such as age, gender or location. This allows you to increase the relevance of every email received by tailoring the message to the individual, rather than just sending out one blanket email to your entire distribution list. Since studies show that targeted emails outperform bulk emails by a wide margin, you’re doing a disservice not taking advantage of targeting.

Test Different Options

A worthwhile practice that’s unfortunately underutilized is conducting A/B testing of differing marketing messages to see which has the better response, whether that means a higher open rate, more call-to-action completions or another metric that you define. Simply adjusting your subject line can affect the number of people that open your email, and the only real way to know what works is through testing. In addition, the information you get testing one campaign can be invaluable to future campaigns.

Take Care of Your Lists

Email campaigns live and die by the distribution lists they’re sent to. For your lists to stay healthy, you need to have a strategy to grow them with quality prospects. Having an email signup form on your website is of course mandatory, but there’s many more places you can take advantage of. It’s possible to put your form directly on your Facebook page, post a link to your form via Twitter or put the link in your outgoing email signature. Printed materials can include a QR code that leads to your signup form.  Getting the message out through all of these channels helps ensure that your lists don’t atrophy due to people unsubscribing or changing email addresses.

It’s also vital that you eliminate non-productive email addresses from your lists. Failing to prune bad email addresses wastes money, as most email distribution services charge you whether or not an email is valid. More importantly, it can affect your overall deliverability, as ISPs may block emails that are repeatedly sent to email addresses that don’t exist, or if valid recipients don’t open your emails.

Embrace Mobile

As more people receive email on their smartphones and tablets, it becomes necessary to tailor your emails to those devices. That means a separate design optimized for those smaller screens, rather than just reducing the size of the design you’re using for desktop computers. It also means adjusting content to emphasize clickable phone numbers and links that take the viewer to mobile-optimized sites. This ensures that the user experience is relevant to the device, both while reading the email and beyond.

Do you have an email campaign win or loss you’d be willing to share?

The theme of this year’s Singapore Airshow – “Big Show, Big Opportunities” – doesn’t overstate its case. Regional growth and pedal-to-the-medal economies make Asia Pacific the place to be. Especially from February 14 to 19. Plan now to make the most of it.

Brush Up on Your Etiquette

If you or some of your team members haven’t been to Singapore before, a quick protocol review might be in order. Here are some tips we’ve found helpful.

• Show respect. Your face is your grace. Interpersonal communication is key.

• Understand that business is more formal there than in most western countries.

• Be careful with any gift-giving. Avoid alcohol for Malaysians, pig products for Muslims, leather for Indians and knives for Chinese.

• Ratchet down a too-aggressive style to accommodate Singaporeans, who prefer a more soft-spoken and calm demeanor.

• Avoid showing the soles of your shoes (a sign of disrespect). That probably means not crossing your legs.

• If handing something to an Indian or Malay, use your right hand. Muslims consider the left hand unclean as in their culture it’s used for personal hygiene.

• Make appointments. Now if possible. And once set, be sure you’re there on time. Punctuality isn’t just a virtue. It’s a measure of respect.

• Allow time for small talk before you get down to business.

• Exchange business cards using both hands with type positioned toward the recipient. When you receive a card from someone, take time to look at it thoughtfully. The way you treat the business card is seen as how you will treat the relationship. Casually or carefully?

• Pause and give thought before answering a question. Responding too quickly shows a lack of respect.

• Avoid touching the other person. A pat on the back or hand on the arm can come across as flirtatious or even as aggressive.

• Allow at least an arm’s length of space between you and the other person.

• Never raise your voice or lose your cool. Anger leads to loss of face.

• It’s never good to point, but in Singapore pointing with your finger is considered especially rude. If you simply must gesture, use your entire hand with your palm up.

• Don’t jaywalk, litter, chew gum, spit or eat on a bus. You can be fined or even arrested.

Take Us To School

If you’ve found other business etiquette tips helpful, hope you’ll share. We’re eager students of culture.

Most of the global aerospace and defense industry leaders who exhibited at the last airshow in 2010 are returning. New exhibitors include BBA Aviation and Dallas Airmotive, which is celebrating the opening of its Singapore regional turbine center. FlightSafety International is doing some celebrating of its own, too. On February 14, it’s hosting a public grand opening of its Hong Kong Learning Center. To learn more, you can email HongKongGrandOpening@flightsafety.com or call 201.528.0168.

Aside from the lure of spectacular warbird aerobatic performances and the latest-and-greatest commercial/corporate aircraft static displays, an aviation leadership summit and Asia Pacific security conference will address key issues. Nothing surpasses the value of this kind of high-level, face-to-face discussion and problem solving.

For some things, you gotta have a helicopter. You can’t land an airplane on an offshore drilling rig or right next to a traffic accident. Or pluck hostages from a hostile encampment in the dark of night. The helicopter industry remained relatively stable while the rest of aviation struggled, and most analysts predict robust growth extending into the foreseeable future.

That general optimism will be on full display in Dallas at Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2012. Statics. Elaborate booths. The latest gizmos. A colleague and I are going, and I can’t wait to experience it firsthand.

Why You Should Go

All that glitz and shine of new aircraft and advanced technology is fun and serves a critical role keeping the industry in-touch and up to date. But the real value, as always, isn’t what you see. It’s what you hear. Networking remains the most important reason to attend.

Once again, much of the talk will focus on safety. How the industry fares. Improvements made. Challenges ahead.

Safety First, Safety Always   

Overall, the helicopter industry sports an excellent safety record. Today’s aircraft carry an impressive array of lifesaving safety equipment, and the vast majority of operators emphasize safety above all other considerations. That doesn’t quench the industry’s continual thirst for improvement. Every study, commission and industry report cites, among its recommendations, the need for continued emphasis on professional training.

We’re proud to be associated with the industry leader in helicopter training – FlightSafety International. It relentlessly drives to improve its training, expand programs, add locations and develop ever-better training technology. FlightSafety will have a booth – 5305 – highlighting current and future investments in professional helicopter training. Stop by and check it out.

We’ll be there, too. Hope to see you at the show.

Going to Heli-Expo? What do you expect to be the highlight?

Spirit AeroSystems CEO Jeff Turner

This year’s trophy went to Spirit AeroSystems and its most-deserving CEO Jeff Turner. Jeff gave a speech full of humor, humanity, humility and hope. He said, “We’re on our way and improving every day.” He was talking about Spirit, but he could just as easily have been talking about Wichita. They are so interwoven.

He spoke of Boeing’s divestiture of Spirit back in 2005 and the vision and bravery it took. Thousands of skeptical employees overcame their fears and forged ahead. “Transforming something is as hard or harder than starting something,” he said. As proof, he said, just look back at photos of him at the time, then at his gray hairs today.

Keeping it Light

Jeff toyed with the audience at first, saying he’d been given no time limit and had decided he would tell Spirit’s full, remarkable and long story “from the empty field on South Oliver and Lloyd Stearman up to today.” Then midway through his talk, he stopped to tell us he was on page three of six for those keeping track.

Among his many memorable comments were those about parachute journalists who come into town already knowing what they plan to write. About a recent one who came determined to write about the demise of Wichita aviaiton, Jeff said, “I don’t know if I ever convinced him we were alive and well, that he was hearing rivets going into planes, not nails in coffins.”

The crowd especially liked this line: “We’re not the next Detroit.”

There’s No “I” in Team

Jeff spoke from the heart as he acknowledged the men and women of Spirit on whose behalf he was accepting the award. And he mentioned challenges as well as opportunities. Something you don’t always hear at these sorts of celebratory banquets. “If we don’t care for our company, no one else will. There are no sugar daddies. It’s just us. That can be freeing, and also terribly frightening at times.”

Jeff, with you at the helm, we are not afraid.

A big thank you to committee co-chairs Ashley Bowen Cook and Becky Tuttle and their hard-working committee members. Their above-and-beyond efforts paid off with the best gala yet.

Signature TailWins logo.

Signature Flight Support brought it all together at the recent NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference in San Diego. It launched a groundbreaking loyalty program and an aviation card that complements and builds upon Signature’s already-strong, values-added program, Signature Status.

Real Rewards for Real People

The new Signature TailWins^TM customer loyalty program serves pilots, crews, schedulers, dispatchers and flight departments. Rewards range from travel and technology to watches and purses. And more. Those who sign up also have the option of donating their points to charity and sharing with crewmembers. How cool is that?

 Leveraging the Show

To support the program launch, Greteman Group created a TailWins logo, messaging and look that work alongside Signature’s distinctive brand. Prior to the rollout, coming-soon posters and counter cards appeared in domestic FBO locations, building interest and awareness. Rack cards, point-of-sale stands and posters were placed in FBOs the day of the launch. Staff (at both the S&D conference and the FBOs) sported Ask-Me-About-TailWins buttons. Signage and materials in Signature’s conference booth put TailWins front and center. Digital efforts included a website landing page, branded rewards site and multiple email blasts. A business-card-sized scout card was placed in attendees’ bags given out at S&D registration. The card’s QR code led to a landing page with program details. A print ad in trade publications is running now.

Signature created a real buzz at S&D. With schedulers and dispatchers such key target markets, it proved to be the perfect show to launch this program. Sign-ups within the first 48 hours more than exceeded expectations and the number continues to grow. In an industry that relies on the highest levels of service, FBOs and charter companies use the show to build relationships. A rewards program such as Signature TailWins goes far in the relationship-building department. The good, good, good vibrations in the booth said it all –  Signature’s customers love this new program.

More About the Program

Participants sign up online and begin accumulating points that day for fuel (both AvGas and Jet-A) and handling at Signature locations in the States and several locations abroad. (Watch for this to expand soon.) You earn double points if you sign up and use the Signature Flight Support aviation card, underwritten by U.S. Bank and Multi Service Aviation, on those purchases. Members can also earn points for purchases of fuel wherever the U.S. Bank Multi Service Aviation card is accepted, worldwide, at over 7,500 locations and in 190 countries.

The Greteman Group-designed logo made its first public appearance in today’s Wichita Eagle.  Tomorrow an event hosted by the Wichita Downtown Development Corporation will celebrate the new energy and promotions planned for this event –  which currently attracts about 4,000 people a month.

The Thinking Behind the Mark

The logo unites Final Friday’s two F’s, forming a yin-yang symbol that is both playful and powerful. The bright, bold color palette will help the mark become a readily identifiable beacon for people looking for participating galleries.

This event has always been popular with our group and I’ve been a fan from day one. My husband and I have purchased the lion’s share of our art at Final Friday and are close friends with several of the artists. This monthly event has changed the landscape of Wichita and brought the visual arts to the general public. We now have a casual, welcoming venue where people come together and celebrate creative works and those who maybe see the world a bit differently.

No Reason Not to Buy

If you have yet to purchase art at Final Friday, you now have more incentive than ever. A campaign just launched to encourage more local art purchases. Take part in a monthly drawing for $100 in Art Bucks – funded by the Wichita Arts Council. That will go far on these traditionally value-priced pieces of art. Buy art you love. More often galleries and artists allow you purchase art on layaway plans. Your investment will enrich your life and possibly your pocketbook if you ever decide to sell.

You can a find entry forms and a drawing box – and redeem your Art Bucks – at any qualifying Final Friday venue. The more you visit, the better your chances are to win. And to have a really great time. See you there.

Take a look around for the new logo next time you’re out for Final Friday.  And take the time to  “like” FinalFridayICT on Facebook to see if you are the Art Bucks winner.

What can marketers and clients do when they want to spread the word about an important topic on a shoestring budget? The answer often lies in guerilla marketing, word-of-mouth and earned-media tactics.

U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo recently announced www.AmericaFlies.us, a new website and online petition inviting all Americans to show their support for the general aviation industry. While the Kansas congressman is clearly interested in focusing his support around the Wichita aviation cluster, he is using the site to attract, motivate and engage pro-business audiences. He wants them to remind the President and current administration that general aviation is “the last great manufacturing jewel in America.”

Back to Basics

To create buzz and drive traffic, Pompeo organized a press conference at the Kansas Aviation Museum (great location) and invited leaders from aviation, supply-chain and the manufacturing unions to join him at the podium. The press release earned attention from every local and several regional and national online and print applications.

Pompeo also announced his team will be running ads and earning coverage on aviation-specific websites – including many smaller but highly focused outlets such as the Cessna Owners website and Sport Pilot Talk forums – as well as placing posters and scout cards in FBOs across the country. The posters and scout cards include a QR code linking to the online petition.

Immediate Results

As a marketing agency specializing in aviation and based in the Air Capital, we agree with Rep. Pompeo that private aviation is “an important tool for…competitiveness.” And we are heartened by the public’s response to his call for support. Since the press conference, hundreds have signed the petition while others have shared their individual stories about general aviation’s impact. Multiple news and social media outlets have covered the story – one that began with tried-and-true word-of-mouth. And that’s what will be needed to increase the viral reach. So, please, talk it up.

What grassroots, guerilla tactics have you successfully used?