Effective messaging: One poke in the eye, one not

It is virtually a truism that a great deal of what solidifies corporate images among stakeholders are their perceptions of what is true or factual or real. However, what is not always acknowledged among communicators is that what constituents believe to be true, factual or real may differ from actual empirical facts.

Therefore, to get your money’s worth when executing communications campaigns, it is very important to view corporate message from the perspective of the end-user, the stakeholder.

An examination of two general aviation companies provides a dramatic contrast in approaches, the visceral versus the thoughtful.

The companies are Cessna [see earlier post] and Hawker Beechcraft.

Their common objective is to prove the efficacy of corporate aviation, overcome public and Congressional outrage over high-flying fat cat executives, and to staunch declining aircraft sales.

Cessna’s pokes Congress in the eye in its appeal to CEO machismo when it says, "true visionaries will continue to fly." The headline virtually hammers the board table when it shouts, “Timidity didn’t get you this far.” These messages sit above a gleaming Cessna jet aggressively poised to thunder into a threateningly black sky.

By contrast, Hawker Beechcraft ads don’t feature an executive jet, but the workhorse nine-passenger turboprop Beechcraft King Air 350. The message is clear: this is a business tool, not an executive luxury.

Instead of a damn the criticism, man, fly anyway approach, Beechcraft provides an easily understood example of how business efficiency is achieved by Starbucks’ use of its aircraft as prudent, cost-effective business tools.

The ad says, “Starbucks is a uniquely American success story with thousands of locations in more than 40 countries. Like most successful corporations, Starbucks relies on business aircraft to manage and grow its business worldwide. We are here to help them fly even more efficiently than before by showing them how to right-size their flight department.”

"You can debate the size and amenities,” Hawker Beechcraft CEO James E. Schuster said. “But that doesn't negate the basic economic premise of the value of business aircraft to many, many companies."

(USA Today reports that The National Business Aviation Association says that 86% of those on board corporate planes are non-executive employees, such as sales people, technical experts or repairmen doing jobs more quickly in difficult locations that don’t lend themselves to regularly scheduled commercial flights.)

CEO Schuster added that the choice of executive aviation should be "function of the cost of their time," not their egos. "What makes a business competitive [is] getting the most out of the people it employs" and prudent use of corporate aviation is one way to achieve this legitimate business goal.

Links to Hawker Beechcraft, Cessna and the USA Today story.