jump to navigation

Bahrain Air Show: The invisible online aerospace event January 26, 2010

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, Conference, International Business Development, Internet Marketing, Management, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , , ,
add a comment

Last week a brand new Aerospace event debuted in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This bi-annual event in a key location for international business promised to be a contender for the marketing budgets of a number of Aerospace companies. The show preview by Flight Global pointed out the potential. The organization by Farnborough International guaranteed a well-run event, and by all reports, the show was a success with over $1 Billion contracted over the three days.

However, for an event that is trying to launch and grow, online coverage was completely ignored by the organizers. Of course you could Google “Bahrain Air Show” and find a mish mash of over 400 articles about the event, but there was no concerted effort to promote this opportunity using social networks before, during or after the show.

In 2010, it is no longer enough to build a “static” website and hope that people will come visit it. Event organizers must interact, broadcast, discuss and engage the global audience they are targeting. I feel that Farnborough International made the classic mistake: they strictly marketed this year’s event instead of using it to promote the next one.

Many Aerospace companies will always take a “wait and see” attitude toward new events, especially ones that require a significant investment. How do the organizers make them feel like they ought to be there next time? By involving them in the current event and make them realize they are missing something. It is called “buzz” and today it happens largely online.

So here are five things Farnborough International could have done better in Bahrain:

  1. Build-up the show by centralizing information about the event and making it interactive: write a blog, create a twitter account, retransmit stories created by others, create a YouTube channel, solicit comments, and participate in the conversation.
  2. Involve the participants: out of the 40 exhibitors, all of them have websites and at least 10 have a Twitter presence. Build up links to the sites, create a twitter list of exhibitors, feature it on the event website, and encourage the participants to share information about the show online.
  3. Target future participants: what is it like at the show? How does it compare to others? What did the participants like? Use the various mediums (e.g. blogs, twitter, discussion forums) to share this information and interact. Not all of it needs to be public; you can have an access controlled exhibitor area in LinkedIn for example.
  4. Crowd source new ideas and wishes: there is always room for improvement and further expansion. But this information is better captured during the event rather than weeks later. Leverage the social media platforms to gather this information as well as wishes for next time. This can then be used to create a better show in two years.
  5. Do not end the dialog when the show ends: organizers should maintain a presence online during the gap between shows. Streaming news and information about the event or location, piggy back on other Aerospace events, and keeping the interaction going will keep the next show in the mind of the Aerospace companies that have to include it in their marketing budgets well in advance.

I know what you are going to say: that is a lot of work and with limited resources, we cannot afford to do much more than we have done so far. The secret is not to add resources, but instead to shift resources. Move away from the traditional promotion methods that have run their course and move budget and personnel toward social media to migrate into the newer way of interacting. A recent survey shows the shift in marketing methods for 2010.

As for participants, they can also take the initiative. Discussing the show and its positive happenings contributes to its success and validates the decision to invest there. ADS Group announced in Bahrain that they were opening offices in the Middle East, but they never posted it on Twitter. AIA told me that they wouldn’t be tweeting from Bahrain because their new media guy could not justify traveling there. But that is just the problem. AIA could “relay” information from the show onto twitter and still provide a valuable service to their members.

The upcoming Singapore Airshow (#SIN10 on Twitter) is gearing up to have a great online coverage, however not from the organizers but rather from Aviation Week and Flight Global. Other major aerospace shows seem to be going the way of Bahrain. I predict that the ones who embrace this technology, and particularly some of the ideas above, will definitely become more successful. It will be interesting to see what Farnborough International does for their summer air show.

Social Media Score Card for top Aerospace Associations January 13, 2010

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, FaceBook, International Business Development, Internet Marketing, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , , ,
3 comments

A few months back I wrote about the “Three must-do for industry associations’ websites.” I received promising feedback from several prominent groups, so I thought I would check out their progress as we begin this New Year. I reviewed the websites of 42 Aerospace, Aviation, and Defense Associations websites, and the results are unfortunately dismal.

With every other industry embracing Social Media whole heartedly, it was not surprising to me that our community would be slow to react. However, recent signs of movement have appeared and I am starting to see traction from major Aerospace companies and many Airlines. All that have tried it are indicating early success and are eager to grow the use of Social Media in 2010.

Most of the associations I researched had very similar goals: promote the members’ capabilities, provide networking opportunities, gather feedback and create a “representative” voice. You would think that with these goals, associations would jump on the benefits that Social Media has to offer. But yet, most are completely ignorant of this new trend.

FAILING GRADE

For example, the Air Transport Association (ATA) who’s many members have seen great benefits from social media (See article from SITA), has remained on the sidelines. Elsewhere in the United States, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the Helicopter Association International (HAI), and the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA) have no Twitter presence, no website interaction beyond email, and have no way to share their information on other social media sites. In Europe, the Aerospace & Defense Industries Association of Europe (ASD) as well as all but one of its 28 members have no social media features on their website. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) does have an unpublicized twitter account (@iataevents) which it uses for a few of its big events.

That seems to be the approach the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA) is taking by having twitter feeds set-up for some of events in 2010. This was no doubt inspired by the pioneering social media work done by its subsidiary the Association For Enterprise Information (AFEI) (Disclaimer: I supported those efforts in 2009). Despite some of its most prominent members such as Pratt&Whitney, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman going full speed ahead with Social Media in 2010, NDIA remains mostly uninvolved. But there are some rays of hope.

COULD DO BETTER

The venerable Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and its UK counterpart A|D|S (former Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC)), are both active on Twitter. Although @AIA_News mostly posts the main headline of its daily briefing, a couple of more interesting posts have appeared lately. Also the last few editions of their AIA eUpdate newsletter finally have the standard “Share” button at the bottom of their pages. I do not understand how this is not used more throughout the site. From the UK, @adsgroupuk has been a fairly active and militant account and I have seen a good bit of interaction with them. However, neither AIA nor A|D|S publicize their twitter account on their home page. There also doesn’t seem to be a Social Media strategy from A|D|S for the upcoming Farnborough air show, but that will be the subject of another blog post.

Patrick Carlson, Online Communications Manager at AIA, says that Social Media is a major agenda item for the association in 2010. The experimentation they did last year with the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) was very successful and they now need to determine the best way to engage various portions of the AIA audience from young people, to industry, and to staffers on the Hill. “We believe there is an opportunity here” said Carlson, “and you should see a lot more from us this year, particularly during the upcoming major Aerospace events.” That is very encouraging.

TOP OF THE CLASS

Three associations are noticeably ahead of the rest.

The National Air Transport Association (NATA) has established a presence on Twitter (@NATAaero) as well as on FaceBook. They responded to some of their pioneering members such as Duncan Aviation, Cutter Aviation, Priester Aviation and DB Aviation who are all active users of Social Media. They advertise their presence right on the home page, and they maintain an active blog. They provide members with the ability to interact mainly on the blog, but they do not have the ability to share information on other Social Media sites.
Score Card: B-

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has been the most active and vocal about Social media. They have established a strong and active presence on Twitter (@NBAA) and on FaceBook. They have used social media at their events by taking advantage of hashtags. They even have had dedicated Social Media sessions at their conferences (See #NBAAsm). These sessions have generated huge interest and been very well attended and received. They are advertising their social media activities right on their home page and they have a “Share” button on just about every page. I would like to see a regular blog to round out their presence, but I guess it would be duplication the great job Benet Wilson is doing at AviationWeek’s Business Aviation Now blog. Patrick Dunne, NBAA Communications Manager, says: “Social Media is a great way to reach out to our community, participate in the conversation, and offer support. Even though our members have interacted on our AirMail forum system for years, we find the social media platforms offer new opportunities for engagement.”
Score Card: B+

But by far the best implementation of Social Media by an Association can be found at the Air Force Association (AFA). No doubt encouraged by the US Department of Defense superb use of Social Media, the AFA has taken advantage of all the benefits of these platforms in its activities. From Twitter (@AirForceAssoc) to FaceBook as well as LinkedIn, AFA is omnipresent. Much activity is generated before during and after its events. The content on the site can be shared on other social media sites. And there are many good opportunities for interaction on the site and on the blog. Chet Curtiss, Director of Communications at AFA says their implementation of Social Media was an absolute requirement: “Our mission is to advocate and educate the American public and the younger audience in particular, about Aerospace Power. As technology started to evolve, we could not be left behind and Social Media is where the conversation is taking place.”
Score Card: A+

CONCLUSION

In the days before the Internet, associations were necessary to help members of an industry interact with each other and to represent their common interest to the public and the government. However, with the advent of technology and Social Media, such tasks can be achieved easily without such intermediary and often opinions and information circumvent the associations.

Don’t get me wrong, I think trade associations are needed, but they need to adapt. They need to find ways of brining new benefits to their members and they need to embrace and exploit new ways of doing so. I believe Social Media is a great opportunity to be more involved with the membership and carry-on a true conversation. It can also be used in trade events and associations could do far worst than leading the way in its implementation and teach their members how to do it in turn.

Tweet for Tweet: Competing Defense Programs Resort to Social Media to Make Their Case January 7, 2010

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, FaceBook, International Business Development, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , , ,
4 comments

The Aerial Refueling and JSF Dual Engine Programs are two major US DOD initiatives that have pitted several major Defense contractors against each other in search of elusive government budget awards. Even though these battles have been chronicled regularly in both industry and mainstream press, they have also been fought on the Internet through the use of Social Media. I thought it would be interesting to see how targeted websites, blogs, and Twitter have been leveraged by the various players. I will be using some of the measures from my “Social Media Report Card for the Top 10 A&D Companies” post to evaluate these initiatives.

Aerial Refueling:
Boeing KC-7A7 vs. Northrop Grumman/Airbus KC-45

Except for Northrop Grumman, these companies’ main websites do not use Social Media and yet, for this particular program, they have gone out of their way to provide a direct information channel. Here is what they are offering:

  KC-7A7 KC-45
Website UnitedStatesTanker.com BestAmericanTanker.com
Photos Yes Yes
Videos Yes Yes
Blog (#Posts) Yes (31) No
Twitter (#Posts) @USTanker (35) @NorthropGrumman
FaceBook Page No Northrop Grumman

Positives:

The Boeing Site is nice, clean and harmonized. It features a very active blog as well as a news feed right on the home page. The Blog is also available from an RSS feed or via email subscription. They have good comment solicitation in the blog and via a “Share Your Story” page. You can even request to be sent a free Boeing Tanker sticker (success measurement technique?). The Twitter account is advertised right on the home page.

The Northrop site does not have a blog but does have a number of additional functions to make its case. There is an interactive map of where the jobs for this program would go. It also has a “Contact Your Elected Representative” section that provides all you need to send a message to the appropriate official based on your zip code. The use of FaceBook is also unique and, although not specific to the program, it gives the KC-45 another channel to deliver its message.

Negatives:

The @USTanker account has been under utilized which is a shame since it could at a minimum post the press links published on the home page. There is also not a way on the website to post a link to the blogs or press releases elsewhere via a now standard “Share” button.

The KC-45 message is very fragmented. One can find news and facts about the program not just on the website mentioned above, but also on northropgrumman.com/kc45, eadstankerupdate.com, aerospacealliance.com/the-tanker, and keepourtanker.com.

Verdict:

I think Boeing has a better platform, but they don’t seem to know how to use it beyond the traditional way of putting the URL on printed advertising. They should take advantage of the Twitter account and implement ways for people to spread the content.

Northrop Grumman should take some of the innovations it has recently implemented in its main site and put them on this site as well. They might want to create a dedicated Twitter account for the program and then retweet the posts in the main account as appropriate. Finally, the KC-45 message seems to be fractured with multiple voices trying to tell the same story but not coordinated or linked to each other. Coordinating facts, blogs, and news through a central website and twitter “mash-up” might be more beneficial.

JSF Dual Engine:
Pratt&Whitney F135 vs. GE/Rolls-Royce F136

Where the Tanker debate has essentially focused on the DOD Procurement process, the JSF Engine battle has been much more about head-to-head combat. Social media has been used in this case to put forward a lot of arguments and opinions against the opponent. It has had much more negative undertones than the Tanker debate. Here are the platforms that have been used.

  F135 F136
Website F135Engine.com F136.com
Photos Yes Yes
Videos Yes Yes
Blog (#Posts) Yes (70) No
Twitter (#Posts) @F135engine (299) @F136 (57)
FaceBook Page F135-Engine No

Positives:

The Pratt&Whitney site is very professional and complete. It has all the main features plus integrated social media and blog. It has also a “Contact Congress Now” page. The @f135engine account is used very effectively and is very active. The blog is written expertly to amplify information that surfaces as well as dismantle counter-arguments from the opponents. The dedicated FaceBook page is also very active.

The GE site is a bit more austere and does not feature a blog. However, it does display the Twitter feed from @f136 which is a nice touch. The “Tell Your Senator” page is featured prominently and is much more elegant than the outsourced tool used by Pratt&Whitney. It offers the option to Tweet the Senators which is very smart. The program is also supported on Twitter by GE corporate accounts @ge_reports and @GETech_Infra. The later account has been an extremely vocal defender of the F136. I also like the fact that most of GE’s arguments (particularly on Twitter) are attributable to a specifically named employee or outside source. GE reports that traffic on f136.com has surpassed 100,000 unique visitors since the summer.

Negatives:

The F135 site offers very little direct feedback other than the “Contact Us” page. One can leave comments on the blog (powered by Blogspot) but they are moderated so it might not represent a true conversation. The parallel campaign waged by Citizen Against Government Waste has been called into question by some, and might have tarnished an otherwise very professional and effective use of Social Media.

The Rolls-Royce website offers very little information about the program and does not link to the f136.com website at all. There is also very little information in the official team website at f136engine.com. It seems to be redundant with the main site. Like the F135 site, the GE site provides little opportunity for feedback or conversation. The @f136 account is not very active.

Verdict:

Pratt&Whitney is practically setting the standard for Social Media use in this scenario. One small improvement would be to have tweets from @f135engine reposted to @PrattandWhitney rather than the other way around. Management is reportedly very pleased with the feedback it is receiving and the effort has been deemed a great success. Erin Dick, Communications Manager for Pratt&Withney Military Engines says: “By using Social Media we have been able to move into a conversation about the program rather than a one-way information distribution. We have been able to engage thousands of people from all over the country in the debate in a way we could have never achieved using traditional methods.” To that point, I would like to see more solicitation of feedback from the site.

GE needs to add a few of the elements used by the other companies to this website to make it more integrated and useable. A blog would be very nice to amplify the points made in the quotes and on Twitter. The excellent arguments and posts generated by @GETech_Infra should be reposted to @f136 (or vice-versa). There should be more links from the GE and Rolls-Royce sites to the program site.

Conclusion

Pratt&Withney seems to be the only one that has a well organized all encompassing plan of attack (pun intended) where others seem to have pieced a few tools together to “have a go at it”. All seem to still treat these new methods as another information distribution channel and I wonder when they will try to start “listening” more and react to the conversation rather than trying to drive it. You can follow the development via the two Twitter Lists I will be maintaining: Tweet4TweetTanker and Tweet4TweetJSF.

Nevertheless, I applaud all these companies for exploring the use of social media to address challenges in a new way. Hopefully, this will provide lessons and expertise that will lead to more use in the main business processes.

Jeff DeMarais, Executive Director of Global Communications at GE, (and the voice behind @GETech_Infra) seems to agree: “The social media campaign is viewed as a very successful component of a well-rounded and successful communications effort. We learned a great deal about the platforms and continued to optimize their use as the year went on.  If you look back at GE Aviation’s social media efforts during the Paris Air Show and Oshkosh you’ll see that we’d been doing some very different things in 2009. The JSF dialogue helped us identify new areas to develop and we’re ready to tell our story in 2010.”

Please Santa give me more Aerospace & Defense Twitter Lists December 2, 2009

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, International Business Development, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , ,
2 comments

As we approach the gift giving season, I was thinking that the new Twitter Lists seem like the perfect present many organizations could give the Aerospace & Defense industry. This versatile tool, recently introduced by Twitter and now available on both TweetDeck and HootSuite, tremendously improves the ability to sort and manage industry interaction and knowledge transfer.

The basics

I follow less than 100 people on Twitter. Any more than that becomes noisy and inefficient, so I go for quality rather than quantity. I follow people that I trust and rely on them to share the information from others I might not be following. Using HootSuite and TweetDeck, I organize them in different columns (e.g. A&D Journalists, Social Media visionaries, etc…) so I can manage the streams in a focused and efficient way. However, on many occasions, I want to temporarily read a group of people on a particular topic of interest. Short of following and sorting everyone in rigid columns, it is nearly impossible. But now, the good folks at Twitter have recognized this shortcoming and created “Twitter Lists”.

Anyone on Twitter can now create a list of people and organize them under a single “topic”. You can then follow the list and see a “mash up” of all the tweets from the people on the list. Twitter lists can be assigned to columns in TweetDeck and HootSuite without having to follow each member on the list. You can read the very good overview of Twitter Lists on Mashable, so I am not going to spend too much time on the basics. However, where lists have taken off in many industries, our industry has once again lagged behind in their implementation. I therefore decided to suggest A&D lists that I think would help all of us and “appoint” owners that would have all the knowledge, motive and stamina to keep them up to date for our benefit.

Twitter Lists from A&D Media

  • Journalists: Both AviationWeek and FlightGlobal have already created these lists. However, I think it is important to have a hierarchical strategy and purpose for the twitter accounts and lists. Lists could be organized by subjects, publications or geography (bureau). But it is important not to mix or duplicate. I don’t like that AviationWeek includes their job account in the list. That seems like a separate category all together. I also think that if @AviationWeek and @FlightGlobal are going to be “headline repeaters” they should not be included. I can follow these accounts in my main stream to get the top info while following the journalist list separately to get the details.
  • Correspondents at a show: FlightGlobal was the first one to do this and I loved it. It listed which accounts would be reporting “live” from the recent Dubai airshow. Nice, easy and useful list. I think this is a model to follow.
  • Award Winners: Most media organizations already create “lists” in their magazines: Top Performing Companies, Web Awards, etc… Why not translate these lists in Twitter lists so we can easily follow the winners? This can also be extended to cover things like “Top 10 A&D companies”.
    (I actually created that one here)
  • Developing Story: Most big stories in our industry carry on for months at a time. Why not create a list of interested party so we can get the “raw feed” of what is going on. For example, there is a great Twitter exchange of opinions going on between GE and Pratt & Whitney regarding the F135 engine. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to follow a single list of all the people involved in this story?

Twitter Lists from A&D Associations and Special Interests

  • Members: This seems like a no brainer. NBAA, AIA, ATA, IATA, NDA, ADC and many others are all good candidates for this. Limitations on the number of accounts in a list might be a factor, but then associations can always create multiple lists (e.g. associate members). This is a great way to create a “voice of the industry”.
  • Working Group Committees: Each association has special committees working on specific topics. If these members create Twitter accounts to share their work on the subject and these accounts are organized in lists, progress can easily be followed by everyone else. Areas like environment and safety would be extremely relevant for these lists.
  • Government Committees: Most associations lobby the government is some capacity. Most government officials on the key committees are on Twitter. Why not create lists of relevant senators and congressmen on the various Aerospace & Defense committees so we can all follow what they are up to.
  • Job Lists: there is great debate and activity around job creation and safeguard in our industry. Wouldn’t the associations that have these kinds of initiatives centralize a list of twitter accounts that advertise A&D jobs.

Twitter Lists from Conference and Trade Show Organizers

  • Exhibitors: If I am going to attend an event that will have an exhibit area, I would like to know more about the vendors before I get there. I don’t want to have to go look at each website. I’d rather follow a single list for a few weeks before the show and while at the show to get the pulse of what is going on and help me decide who I need to see. How difficult would it be to collect twitter accounts from exhibitor registrations and provide such a list? This would also make an excellent twitter feed for the show’s webpage as well as an added “advertising” incentive for vendors that sign up.
  • Speakers: Most speakers that have Twitter accounts will reach out before they have to present and interact with their audience. Allowing conference attendees to watch the speaker stream would be very useful to make any event more interactive and educational.
  • Press Correspondents: Since press has to register at every event, why not provide a list of all the journalists that will be reporting from it. This is a great way to “mash up” all the news into a single stream to allow people to easily follow all the action while at the show or from far away.
  • Local Hotels and Attractions: For larger shows, attendees would love to be able to find out all the deals and activities going on around the event. Compiling a list of twitter accounts from local hotels, restaurants, bars and attractions would be very useful for the visitors and might even be a revenue generating opportunity for the organizers.

Twitter Lists from A&D Programs and Projects

  • Mission Participants: There are more and more participants in specific missions on Twitter. From recent space shuttle flights, to operation “Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan, it is possible to gather a list of participants in a single place and get the relevant information necessary for education and business strategy.
  • Contractors and Subcontractors: I believe in the future, large aerospace contractors will be setting up Twitter accounts for specific programs. For example, @NorthropGrumman might be providing high level information about the company while a new account like NG_B2 might provide more detailed information about the B2 program. Subcontractors could then follow suit and thus enable the creation of a list of all the accounts in for one specific program (e.g. All B2 Info).

Four Rules for A&D Twitter Lists

If you endeavor to create an Aerospace & Defense list, you should really consider abiding by the following four principles:

  • Avoid judgment: your list will be more successful and potentially less controversial if inclusion is based on facts rather than opinion. For example, “Most Talented BizAv Journalists” could be much more difficult to manage than “BizAv Journalists”. Generally, rules for list inclusion should be very specific and easy to handle. A user should be in or out without any grey area. It should also be as inclusive as possible.
  • Keep it up to date: unless you are prepared to update the list and keep it current, you should not create it in the first place. That is why I suggest you review the credentials of a list owner before you subscribe to it. There is nothing more frustrating than relying on a “lame duck” list.
  • Manage the relevance: In the list description, identify the relevance and timing of the list. For example, you could state: “This list is relevant only for the duration of the 2010 Farnborough Airshow” (HINT!). Including a “last update” date is also a nice touch. Deleting lists that are no longer relevant is essential to maintain credibility.
  • Advertise the list: unless people know you’ve created a list, nobody will be using it. Including a Twitter widget on your website that tracks the lists you have created is a good way to promote them, and use them. You can also use Twitter itself to promote your lists particularly with the #FollowFriday hash tag.

So if you work for one of the organizations listed above, I hope you will grant me my wish and create these A&D Twitter Lists. Otherwise if, like me, you would like to see these lists created, please point the suggested owners to this post. Feel free to suggest more lists or post comments. I always appreciate the feedback.

Dubai Air Show Online Coverage by the Numbers November 20, 2009

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, Conference, International Business Development, Internet Marketing, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , , ,
8 comments

Dubai Air Show 2009, the 11th and largest in the biennial series with 890 exhibitors from 47 countries as well as 130 aircrafts on static display, concluded yesterday with an onsite order book of over $US13 Billion. Not bad for a recession, but significantly less than in 2007. It remains nonetheless a very important event for the industry, and as such draws a lot of attention from all corners of the world. Many get a chance to experience the show in person, but more follow the developments online. Here is my review of this year’s coverage on the web.

AEROSPACE & DEFENSE MEDIA

Although the show was well covered by worldwide mainstream media, the top three aerospace and defense magazines dedicated significant resources to the event. Aviation International News, Aviation Week and Flight Global each created a landing page dedicated to the show on their websites. Flight Global reprising and expanding on its great coverage at Paris (see “Paris Air Show Online Coverage”), provided a much more esthetically pleasing experience than the other two organizations.

However, many will argue that it is the content that is important. But judging strictly by the numbers, Flight Global also comes out ahead in this area.

Although overall less online content was generated than at Paris, some of my favorites were there. Flight Global’s daily video wrap-up by Mary Kirby (@RunwayGirl) and Jon Ostrower (@FlightBlogger) is always excellent, although they quit a day early to my great surprise and disappointment. Flight Global also brought out a full WYSIWYG version of their daily publication, catching up to Aviation Week which has had theirs at both shows. AIN did not provide theirs.

I feel that AIN was the least “Online” friendly of the three. Aviation Week did not seem to improve from Paris. In fact, I feel they went backwards, as they had only 1 video and a much disorganized Twitter presence (see below). Also, they decided to place a full screen Airbus A380 advertising as an entry page for most of the show coverage which was extremely annoying.

All in all, it was clear that Flight Global came to the show with a well conceived online coverage plan. Their online editor, Michael Targett, confirmed that they put a significant amount of work into their strategy. The web traffic numbers should show that it served them well.

I think Flight Global has set the bar for the other media organizations and the race is now on for Singapore just a few months away. For that show, I would like to see the news segregated in “channels” (e.g. BizAv, Defense, Space, and Commercial) and more online interaction with the trade visitors and exhibitors before and during the show. Singapore Air Show should also have very good cell phone data coverage, so smart phone applications might make their appearance. By the way, Flight Global has already released a primitive iPhone app.

TWITTER STREAM

After Paris, AUSA and NBAA, Dubai was the fourth major A&D show where Twitter was used. The organizers, Aviation Week and Flight Global all agreed on a (short) hashtag for the show (#DXB09) back in late October. From November 10th to the 19th, it was used in over 1100 posts by more than 180 unique contributors. It is half the contributions from Paris and five times less than at AUSA. However, I suspect this has to do with the availability of cell phone data coverage more than any other factor.

Looking at the top 10 contributors during the show, @RunwayGirl and @FlightBlogger, both from Flight Global, dominated the stream with 112 and 73 posts respectively. Flight Global accounted for 4 of the top 10 contributors.

The other twitter accounts belong to a variety of users, all very passionate about Aerospace: @Tangosix is a Serbian aviation journalist; @DefenseAviation links to an impressive blog managed by a student from the Mangalore University in India; @InflightCuisine reports on behalf of an online community of over 600 in-flight catering professionals; while @obsalah is the Head of Quality Assurance and Safety for the local company Al Jaber Aviation and has almost 1900 followers. In fact, the top 10 contributors count a total following of over 11,000 accounts. This audience does not include the numerous other people simply following the shows’ #DXB09 stream.

Aviation Week seemed disorganized in their use of Twitter. @AviationWeek and @AvWeekMorris posted very little, but most importantly, they did not use the event hashtag thus missing the majority of the audience. As always, but again from thousands of miles away, @AvWeekBenet carried the torch for the organization by providing a steady stream of updates finishing 15th in the contributor ranks. She also posted on her personal account (@BenetWilson) and was assisted by @ThingsWithWings who posted about various elements of Aviation Week’s Dubai coverage including links to Mike Vines’ great photos. @AvWeekJobs re-tweeted two of these photo links continuing to post “ThingsNotAboutJobs” on this account (Am I the only one that is bothered by this?). As an organization, Aviation Week produced 25 online stories, 29 blog posts and 4 days’ worth of editorial content for the show daily news. Yet, they only posted (collectively) 57 updates on Twitter. What is wrong with this picture?

Another disappointment was the organizers (@DubaiAirShow) participating only timidly before and during the show. They managed 6 tweets in 4 days; two of them re-posts from other contributors. I think they could have done better (see below).

The rest of the industry was equally shy. Honeywell (@HON_Carrie and @HON_KC) contributed the most (25 posts), while @Fly_cessna and @PrattAndWhitney basically checked in. @Airbus, @BoeingAirplanes, @NorthropGrumman, @BAESystems, @ThalesGroup and @RaytheonCompany were noticeably absent from the show stream.

Except for Flight Global, I think the concept of Twitter as a sort of “headline news ticker” that draws people’s attention to the rest of the content provided in blogs and websites seems to still be lost on most A&D companies.

THE ORGANIZERS

F&E Aerospace continues to do a remarkable job with the physical logistics of putting such an enormous event together. The event’s website contained a wealth of information for Exhibitors, Journalists, and Visitors. They did make an attempt at social media by adding a Twitter account, a LinkedIn group and a social media “Share” button, but these felt like afterthoughts with not much strategy around them. During the show, the website was updated with the official press releases and a few photos. I think a great opportunity was missed.

DubaiAirShow.aero should have been the absolute hub for all online activity before, during and after the show. The organizers are in the unique position to “mash up” content from all the media and the exhibitors in one place. They can share the excitement in the run-up to the event and provide its heartbeat during. Here are three ideas (Are you listening Farnborough?):

  • Stream information, pictures and video live from the show. Post time-lapse pictures of the exhibit hall construction. Provide live webcam of the press conferences. Update the number of visitors and the onsite order book as streaming data feeds on the home page. Show live video of the flight demos. Make the site fun and addictive so online visitors use it as their central hub well before the event and for its duration. I guarantee it will make more people want to attend next time.

  • Collect and publish each exhibitor’s website, twitter, and RSS information. Use this information to provide a centralized but segmented news feed (e.g. Corporate, Defense, etc…) directly on the website. Provide a twitter window for the #DXB09 feed.

  • Create interactive features before and during the show: voting on the flight and static displays by visitors; “must visit” exhibitor lists ranked by journalists; interactive forums about the local hotels and restaurants.

In a global economy, events such as the Dubai Air Show truly have a worldwide appeal. “Attending” the show online will never replace being there in person. However, better online coverage will expand the reach of the organizers and exhibitors, augment the business buzz, and definitely create the desire to be there in person next time. Next up is Singapore, then Farnborough. Let’s see if they learn from Paris and Dubai.

Business Aviation and Social Media Survey Results: 5 Findings and 5 Opportunities November 5, 2009

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, eBusiness Applications/Services, FaceBook, Internet Marketing, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , , , ,
2 comments

Based on the great success of the Social Media session at the recent NBAA annual event, I decided to further explore the topic with the business aviation audience through a very quick survey. The purpose was to quantify participation, catalog the interest, and collect (anonymous) demographics.

The survey was designed as a collaborative effort and then posted online for 5 business days. Participation was solicited mostly via Twitter, but also through posts in LinkedIn discussion boards. The complete result summary is available for download here (PDF). You can also contact me if you want the raw data in Excel. After reviewing the survey results, here are the 5 findings and 5 opportunities I discovered:

MY FINDINGS:

  1. Contrary to many reports, 73% of respondents indicate that social media platform access is NOT blocked at work. However, companies that prevent access generally do it for all social media sites except for LinkedIn. Only 41% of companies have a Social Media policy.
  2. LinkedIn is the premier e-Networking platform amongst business aviation professionals. Over 91% of respondents use it, but they indicated that looking for job postings was the least important use. They mostly use it to connect with colleagues and customers.
  3. Social Media is used in the executive suite. 60% of respondents were at a Director level or above. 57% were 40 year old or over.
  4. Twitter ranks highest amongst the platforms used by companies. Although it seems like all platforms are used fairly evenly.
    Click to Enlarge
  5. Companies have added social media as an additional news/marketing channel. 67% of respondents indicate that publishing news is the most important use of social media platform, followed by marketing/promotion (44%). A full 48% indicate that recruiting is the least important use of Social Media.
Did you spot something else in the survey results? Do you have your own take? Please send me your feedback or post comments on this post and I’ll add it to this list.

OPPORTUNITIES:

  1. Business Aviation is embracing social media at a good pace, probably faster than the rest of the A&D industry. Structuring the communications and properly combining websites, LinkedIn and Twitter will continue to be the trend. More can be done to use blogs as only 36% of respondents indicated their companies use them.
  2. The best way to combat the perception that social media is for kids to play with their friends on FaceBook is to do two things. First, as John Keller (Chief editor, Military & Aerospace Electronics) discussed in a recent blog, start calling it e-Networking. When social media is used for business, e-Networking is really its purpose. Second, get your executives to start using e-Networking effectively.
  3. I am a big believer in using e-Networking to enhance industry events and conferences. However, it seems like NBAA missed an opportunity, as most respondents indicated that the use of social media platforms made NO Difference in their experience of the event. There is much to be done in this area.
  4. E-Networking is about interaction and conversation. Only 35% of respondent said that soliciting ideas was the most important use of social media for their company. I think that e-networking is about sharing and collaborating not lecturing or selling. For example, companies should move away from looking at Twitter as another channel by which to distribute press releases. It is much more than that.
  5. Industry media and associations can take the lead in transforming the industry by facilitating the dialogue and the sharing of information through e-Networking platforms. Aerospace and Defense seems stuck in a “chicken and egg” loop: companies don’t use social media because no other company is using it. This survey shows that it is not true and that others are indeed using it. We need more opportunities to educate and encourage the industry.

I would like to thank the people that dialogued with me before and during the survey. Also, I would like to thank the tweeples that helped soliciting survey answers: @AWyss, @AvWeekBenet, @nonnyjorris, @NBAA, @CDHeisermann, @CutterAviation, @AeroPR, @ShowalterFlying, @GretemanGroup, @HeisteComm, @kevinmerritt, @FlightGlobal, @AviationWeek. What started as an experiment actually provided very interesting results. I would have liked more responses, but I wanted to run this survey as a Social Media platform experiment to validate its use as an interactive medium for our industry.

I would love to hear your feedback on this survey or on other surveys you think would be interesting. Please do not hesitate to contact me.

Social Media Report Card for Top 10 A&D Companies October 20, 2009

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, eBusiness Applications/Services, FaceBook, International Business Development, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , , , ,
4 comments

When Northrop Grumman announced their new website and solicited feedback on Twitter, I immediately checked out how they had used social media in their new design. Although there was a lot of progress from their previous version, I decided to analyze how they ranked against the websites of the other top Aerospace & Defense companies. Here are the companies and websites I analyzed:

Company URL Main Twitter
Account(s)
GE Aviation http://www.geae.com @ge_reports
@getech_infra
EADS http://www.eads.com @airbus
Boeing http://www.boeing.com @boeingairplanes
United Technologies
Pratt, Sikorsky,
Hamilton
Sundstrand		 http://www.utc.com @prattandwhitney
Lockheed
Martin		 http://www.lmco.com @lockheedmartin
Northrop Grumman http://www.northrop.com @northropgrumman
BAE Systems http://www.baesystems.com @baesystems
General
Dynamics		 http://www.gd.com  
Raytheon http://www.raytheon.com @Raytheoncompany
Thales http://www.thalesgroup.com @thalesgroup

TWITTER

Even though most of the companies have a main twitter account, there are some notable exceptions. GE is the most prolific with a number of accounts covering every aspect of their large business. They even have a really nice blog site (http://www.gereports.com – What’s happening at GE) that makes full use of social media. Boeing, EADS, UTC, and General Dynamics are the only ones that do not have a main twitter account although some of their subsidiaries do. (Note: @boeing does exist but is not owned by the company). Most puzzling is that Northrop Grumman is the ONLY ONE listing their twitter account on their home page. Why aren’t the other companies doing this? It makes no sense! Pratt&Whitney is listing their twitter account at the bottom of their contact page. Lockheed and Raytheon are referencing their accounts in some press releases and trade show pages (e.g. Paris Air Show). However, Raytheon has a special Twitter account for recruiting prominently featured in that part of their site. They also leverages FaceBook in their recruitment, the only company to publically do so from their main website.

(You can now follow the 10 companies’ Twitter streams
from this Twitter List)

SHARING FORWARD

One of the important uses of social media is to be able to share news and information about a company or its products in other environments. Although all companies except for General Dynamics offer various RSS Feeds from their site, only three offer the ability to share information on other social media networks. Lockheed, Northrop and Raytheon provide the full social media “share” icon allowing users to broadcast a link to news and other information on Twitter, FaceBook, Digg, etc… The advantage of this method is that it allows companies to track where the news is posted and to subsequently follow the conversation. This is a major loss opportunity for the others.

INTERACTION

Soliciting feedback from the masses seems to still be foreign to the top A&D companies. Although a majority provides “private portals” were registered suppliers and customers can probably interact to a great extent (Note: I was not able to test this), NONE try to engage the website visitors in meaningful interaction. GE Reports has a “Submit your ideas” portal, but it is not specific to Aerospace. Raytheon has a “Connect with us” link at the top of the site, but it requires login. Sikorsky has a “Feedback” button at the bottom of most pages, but it is a generic email contact page. This is the one area where the Northrop Grumman site really disappointed me. Boeing recently launched http://www.unitedstatestanker.com that is a modern, interactive, social site with all the bell and whistles! (More on that here) Why wouldn’t they do that for their other offerings? I understand that our industry requires controlled and confidential discussions and collaboration, but is there no value is soliciting input from unknown suppliers and customers? Not all feedback needs to be public, but wouldn’t these companies want to know what other ideas or comments are out there? All the other industries seem think so, so why not us?

REPORT CARD

Based on all my observations above, I compiled this report card for each company:

  Visibility Sharing Interaction Overall
Northrop Grumman A A F B
Great other than sharing
Raytheon C A C C+
Extra points for social recruiting section
Lockheed C A F C
Good sharing, references to Twitter
GE Aviation D D D D
Extra points for gereports.com
Boeing D D D D
Encouragement points for unitedstatestanker.com
United Technologies D F F D-
Extra points for Pratt and Sikorsky efforts
EADS F F F F
BAE SYSTEMS F F F F
General Dynamics F F F F
Thales F F F F
Overall: D C F D

Having the newest website, Northrop Grumman takes the lead unsurprisingly. Boeing would be top if it expanded its tanker approach to the rest of the site. And GE could take a page of its GE Reports site and apply it to its aviation business unit. I also note that the three European companies rate at the bottom of list when it comes to Social Media. Many suspect this approach is not yet as popular in Europe as it is in the USA.

CALL TO ACTION

Based on my observations, all these companies could and should do much more if they want to stay in sync with their younger employees, evolving customers, and high tech suppliers. I suggest all of them take the following three simple steps as a good start:

  1. Put a twitter badge on the home page and start publicizing and leveraging their account. This is an easy step and it will start the conversation. As discussed previously, get the executives involved in the process.
  2. Put a Social Media “share” icon at the bottom of every press release, white paper, and product page of the website. Help people promote the information and track the conversations that ensues.
  3. Create a “submit your idea” page and promote it in context throughout the site. Copy the mechanism and structure of http://www.defensesolutions.gov/ which has already sorted out the confidentiality and IP challenges this kind of page could generate.

I feel there is a definite first mover advantage for the A&D companies that will leverage social media in the near future. Integrating various communication methods and shifting from pulpit shouting to trusted conversation are the two most important steps these 10 companies can take to improve.

Five keys to effective social networking for A&D executives October 7, 2009

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , , ,
5 comments

In a recent email, the Strategic Media Publisher of AviationWeek, Greg Hamilton, conveyed to me the #1 complaint he hears from Aerospace & Defense executives about Social Media: “How do they cut through the information clutter and time consuming investment required by the constant interaction with clients, prospects, partners and suppliers over the Internet?” I think it is a fair question, but one that can be addressed with the following five keys to effective social networking for A&D executives:

  1. Use technology to mash it all up: unfortunately, the thin sliver of information that would be of interest to a particular executive does not exist in a single place. Between industry news, customer information, supplier bulletins, industry events and core business practices, an executive might have to go to many different places to assemble a customized and compelling view. Many make the mistake to grow a list of places they need to “login” to get this information. They miss the fact that web2.0 technology is based on “Service Oriented Architecture” that allows users to gather streams of data and widgets and “mash them up” in a single customized view. They should take advantage of RSS technology or at least of advanced applications like TweetDeck and Hootsuite to become more efficient at “parsing” the information they need. Basic web2.0 programming (such as SharePoint) could be used to create a custom dashboard for the executive to combine just the information they need, regardless of where it actually comes from.

  2. Rely on people of trust: the amount of information available online is growing at an exponential rate and it is impossible for a single individual to sift through that much data to get results. Therefore, the “social” aspect of the current development. Executives should not have to seek raw data as much as they should seek people they trust. They can be subordinates, competitors, industry experts, or journalists. Their contributions (on Twitter perhaps) will already be a nuanced view of the mass of information out there, probably from people they trust in turn. Following a network of trust-worthy individuals will always provide superior results to trying to search the basic information directly.

  3. Plan for social networking time: the biggest mistake executives make is to become slave to their laptop or BlackBerry when it comes to email. If they are already consumed by answering every email that comes to them ASAP, they are overwhelmed by the prospect of adding social media streams to their information inflow. There is a big distinction between instantaneous and timely. Timely is good enough for most executives in our industry. So instead of constantly reading their Twitter stream or react to every “watch” message, they should simply plan their Social Networking time. Carving out 30 minutes every other day to interact with online communities should be more than sufficient. Social Networking should be disciplined and methodical, and should not be done in little unorganized bursts.

  4. Ask questions or solicit input: social networking allows the executive not only to filter the information they want but they can now also interact with it. This is a fundamental difference in this new way of doing business. If an article is of interest, they should ask complementary questions. They should solicit input from suppliers and customers on even the smallest decisions they might have to make (e.g. “In next week’s keynote, should I focus on new products or new markets?”). Being engaged and interacting is the greatest benefit of social networking.

  5. Follow-up and amplify: executives should not become an informational black hole, especially when it comes to Social Networking. They should definitely follow-up or respond to people with whom they have interacted. A simple “Thank You” can go a long way in establishing trust and respect. Also, they should contribute whenever they can. Providing (non-commercial) information to the community, or simply sharing personal knowledge will augment their social networking worthiness and tremendously enrich their experience.

In my opinion, one of the best executive user of Social Media in our industry is Richard Branson (@RichardBranson). He is a good model to study. I believe there are huge advantages to using Social Networking in A&D. It requires changes and new methods, and the consequences are quite revolutionary. As usual, our industry is slow to take on these new trends but there is no doubt that the benefits exist if you look at other sectors (as this recent survey shows). In addition, the next generation of A&D leaders has grown up using these techniques and, as I highlighted in a recent post for AeroLeaders2.com, the future belongs to companies that will be the first to master this new way of collaborating.

P.S. I think AviationWeek and other industry publications and associations can play a big role in items 1 and 2 above. Changing these organizations to adapt to this new way of interacting, while designing new business models and innovative ways to make money is where they should focus before someone else (or someone new) figures it out. Their long term viability may depend on it. 

Profile: Benet Wilson of AvWeek on Social Media September 17, 2009

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, Profile, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , ,
1 comment so far

If you are not following Benet Wilson on Twitter (@AvWeekBenet), you might be missing some of the best insights in Aerospace and Defense on the net. Sure, she has almost 25 years experience in journalism and public relations/corporate communications. Sure, Benet focuses on Business Aviation for Aviation Week through her blogs, columns, and feature articles. But on her twitter stream, she freely includes gems from other experts and publications, making her a daily must read for her over two thousand followers.

But it is not until you meet her in person that you realize how passionate she really is about the impact social media is about to have on our industry. Because she pioneered the use of blogging and twittering as an integral part of her daily job as a journalist, she has witnessed the full impact of the shift from “publishing” to “interacting”. It is that shift, she says, that could profoundly change the way we do business.

Benet can entertain you with many stories about the way social media is changing the landscape. From the success of her (initially clandestine) blog, to her efforts to crowd source for article ideas and guest bloggers, and to incredible stories of worldwide collaboration. She sees all of these signs as an indication that business as usual is no longer acceptable. A new generation of leaders is arriving in the industry and things are going to change quickly.

She sees our industry evolving into wired community where leaders will consume information in a very different manner, and make decisions based on group thinking rather isolated expert opinions. The results are unpredictable but judging from the amazing gains made by other sectors such as government, the new formula will definitely translate to major innovations for Aerospace & Defense as well. And to the current leaders, fearing or dismissing this trend, she offers the following recommendations, in her own words:

US government and arms protesters better Twitter users than the Aerospace Industry? September 8, 2009

Posted by ludozone in Aerospace, Conference, International Business Development, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Twitter.
Tags: , ,
4 comments

This week two major aerospace events are taking place on opposite sites of the planet. In Hong-Kong, the Asian Aerospace conference and exhibition started with several major announcements from about 400 exhibitors. In London, the annual Defense Systems & Equipment International (DSEi) takes place over the next four days with over 1400 exhibitors. The shows expect 10,000 and 30,000 visitors respectively. And yet, if you searched twitter you’d barely notice these events existed.

The technique used by every one else in the world to promote and track events on Twitter, the use of hashtags, doesn’t seem to have made its way into our industry yet. There are no official codes promoted by organizers or media outlets. The few people talking about the show are doing so to their followers and in an uncoordinated fashion. What a wasted opportunity! To be fair, FlightGlobal, always making good use of twitter and whose parent company is organizing the Asian Aerospace show, timidly used “AA09” in some of its posts and is tracking the term on its special show page. But that is not a hashtag and they should know better, especially when they are not using it consistently in their own posts. AviationWeek also started using AA09 late Tuesday, and they are also reporting on DSEi. They are posting news and photos on their home page, but did they take up where the organizers failed and create a DSEi hashtag? No! You know who did? Disarm, the anti-arm protest group did! They set it up at #DSEi. And they have been using all day to organize and report their protest efforts against the exhibitors at the show.

Even large organizations like Rockwell Collins and Thales, both tweeting their news from DSEi, missed the opportunity. Neither seem to understand this simple technique: if you tweet without a hashtag, you are likely to only reach your followers. For example, @thalesgroup has 150 followers on twitter. But if they added a tag like #DSEI09 (which should have been created by the organizers) they could have potentially reached the thousands of show visitors tuned to that stream.

So, show organizers, aerospace media, and large aerospace companies, let’s go over this one more time:

  1. Select a hashtag early and start publicizing it before the event on website, conference material, and on Twitter itself (next up: #NBAA and #DXB09 (DubaiAirShow)).
  2. During the show include the hashtag in your tweets (preferably at the end) and do it consistently.
  3. During the show, track, archive and publish the hashtag stream, paying attention to what is being said and respond or collaborate as appropriate.
  4. After the show, review the stream’s archive to find key lessons and impressions about the event.

That doesn’t seem like rocket science to me, does it? And it was done quite successfully at the Paris Air Show in June. So why are we not taking advantage of it? Especially when traditionally less advanced groups like the US Government “bureaucrats” are now fully embracing these techniques and making great strides in the process? You want to see how it is done, check out #gov20 and #gov20e streams. By the way that event had only 400 attendees!

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.