Airline Marketing Monthly - November 2018

As an industry, aviation provides a lifeline to countless industry sectors, in particular tourism. It’s also made the world a smaller place, giving people the kind of opportunities to see and do things and connect with other people that was out of reach to everyone except the top 1% 100 years ago.

At the same time, aviation is also controversial from an environmental point of view. Witness the inevitable protests when a major airport in Europe or North America plans an expansion or new runway.

As a result, industry body IATA, which represents the world’s airlines, has been running a campaign to show how aviation “enables the free movement of people and goods around the globe.”

IATA says that in 2018, the global airline industry will have transported 3.78 billion passengers and 5.27 million tons of cargo.

The Value of Aviation Campaign, features six short online video clips, each tying into a different area where aviation is essential.

For example, the film “Reunions” shows exactly that - people from across the world flying into different airports, and being reunited with loved ones. “Culture” shows a series of performers in concert halls and venues. Meanwhile the other films cover ‘medicine, ‘relief’, ‘romance’ and ‘adventure.’

IATA has also produced a series of posters to support the campaign, for example one shows a man in his 60s or 70s with a surfboard with a tagline “What’s left on your bucket list”, while another has a man hugging his daughter at an unnamed airport.

The overall direction of the campaign looks to us sound. We like the fact that by focusing on things such as ‘adventure’, ‘romance’ and reunions’ IATA has taken a very human approach, showing how aviation brings people together.

The alternative, to show business people going back and forth across the world and sitting in board rooms might in one sense be more accurate from an economic value point of view, but it would not have the same impact and resonance.

If anything, to us the campaign doesn’t go far enough, and we would extend it out using actual human stories. For example, why not actually find the man in his 60s who has been able to realise his dream of going surfing thanks to aviation.

Why not tap into the huge amount of material that there is around long distance relationships? As a campaign tactic, that would get IATA possible exposure in lifestyle media worldwide, if it was backed up by some PR stories, case studies, surveys and more short films.