I occasionally hear the aviation industry compared to realty or automotive industries. I’ve seen some similarities – they are large ticket items that require contracts, financing, due diligence, etc. However, when it comes to the marketing of these unique things – houses vs cars vs aircraft – there is one key component that truly makes jets different: they don’t stay in one place.
A house never makes a day trip to New York, and while a car has wheels, it doesn’t use them at speeds of over 500 MPH at over 40,000 ft in the air. Trying to pin down an airplane is akin to tracking a wild beast. How many industries can say their product flew away? I’d be interested if anyone can come up with other examples. When it comes time to schedule a photo shoot, the most efficient and convenient route is to send the photographer to the ship.
So you ask, “where is it based?”
“At PDK, but it hasn’t been there in 8 weeks.” I’m always happy to hear this – birds are made to fly.
“Where will it be this week?”
“Maybe Miami, but we might leave for New York on Tuesday, but if we don’t we’ll definitely be in LA on Thursday. However we leave at 5 a.m. so you’ll have to do what you need to get done somewhere between 6 p.m. the night before and 5 a.m. that next day. Is that enough time?”
Ummmm…. “Let me talk to the photographer and get back to you, but I’m positive we can make it work.”
And Barry Gray of Biz Jet Photos always does. We are very grateful to him for helping us make the marketing process as convenient for our clients as possible.
It may be tricky to track down an airplane, but that’s what makes my job so much fun – our products fly. And really, who doesn’t love a challenge?
