Plane Conversations

A study released by Adify analyzed the average CPMs paid by various vertical categories of advertisers. The travel industry, generates 8.5 Billion image-based ad impressions per year in a highly competitive category.  Travel is a very reliable source of revenue for media networks and major publishers.  It is no surprise then that the average amount of money that an advertiser would pay for 1000 impressions (CPM) in the travel sector is $19.89 .

Yes, an advertiser would pay 20 dollars to put their name in front of 1000 travelers.  That is real money.  Suppose that the price of  filling an empty seat on an empty leg (in aerodynamic drag) is 100 dollars for a given distance. If that person is a travel blogger they would need to have a minimum readership of 5000 in order to equal the value of the seat in marketing dollars.

Unlike the pre-Internet world, today there are literally thousands of people walking around with 100,000 Twitter followers, 50,000 blog hits readership, YouTube views in the millions, layers upon layers of Linkedin connections and Facebook friends; never have so many people had such levels of influence.  This is unprecedented in marketing history. A jet operator can easily leverage this value straight on to their balance sheet.  The Social Flights Platform will be able to bring the the operator the types of relationships that translate to the bottom line and increase net sales.

The Private Jet Amplifier

Aviation is a very important industry for many important reasons.  Powered flight has captured the imaginations of generations of people because airplanes appeal on a very deep level in terms of pride, technology, freedom, and adventure.  People pay attention to news articles involving aviation. Aviation and aerospace are the most desirable industry for economic development communities. In fact, many things that are not news, become news only because they happened on or near airplanes.

This is a built in advantage that any brand manager would love to have because aviation amplifies a market message. So while empty seats on empty legs may be hard to sell outright, they may still contain a huge amount of value for the private aviation industry.

Private jet travel has the ability to amplify the image of the brand.  As Rolex and Breitling have known for years: associate the brand with high performance and the image of quality is reinforced well beyond actual value.  A hotel whose guests arrive by private jet is amplified as a preferred service provider.  Products used by people who fly private are considered to have the highest performance. An event that attracts private jet passengers is one that should not be missed. Etc.

When you combine the two effects of high CPM and Jet Amplifier; there are many combinations and associations of passengers and sponsors who would  make the effort very worthwhile for the operator to fill empty legs with influential people.

If the operator offers empty legs to a hospital, their patients and their families, they will get brand recognition among doctors and executive administrators.  If the operator offers empty legs to a local charity, they will earn brand recognition among politicians and community leaders.  If the operator offers empty seats to industry conferences, they will gain brand recognition among corporate executives and VIP speakers.

Social Flights can translate this value and deliver it to your bottom line. It’s only a matter of being in the right place at the right time – that’s a game you can win playing by your rules.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-cpm-verticals-2009-8#ixzz1mNamoUJb

Google Search for the term "Jet Charter"

Google Think Insights is an amazing resource for looking at who is searching on certain terms, and from where.  This post shows two search categories and related terms from which we can draw several general ideas about private air travel.  These data demonstrates that an increasing amount of people are searching on terms such as private jet, jet charter, VIP travel, etc.

Another curious trend is the term “Jet Charter Cost” is also increasing significantly as people seek to find the value threshold for private air travel vs commercial air travel.

Recession or transition?

These data all refer to a date range between the dates of january 2008 and December 2011 corresponding to the greatest economic downturn in the US since the Depression.  There are likely many forces acting on the market including the pullout of commercial aviation from minor market, few travel alternatives,  increased usage of internet search technology, increased business travel needs, and upper class growth rates.

The increase in terms related to cost may suggest that even the most wealthy are becoming cost conscious, more people want to fly private, more businesses need to fly private in order to access their market, and more VIP travel is required.

It is not surprising that the term “business aviation” has a similar location density to the term “Jet Charter”.  This reinforces the suggestion that corporations increasingly need to send their executives on travel outings.

Social Flights is in the business of social organization too:

It is likely that wherever executives go, so too will managers and lower level employees.  Social Flights has long suggested that there is an opportunity to increase private charter shuttle service between key locations.  Likewise, there are opportunities for companies to share private aircraft scheduled to fly between regions.

Next we looked at the term “VIP Travel” and identified the following locations where the terms were searched.  We found a similar increase in VIP Travel related terms as we did for terms related to jet charter costs, except related to supporting services such as reservation, booking, schedules, and services.

This suggests that the door-to-door experience is underserved and that an air transportation service that is able to connect the dots would hold a true value advantage over one that just drops the passenger off at a hub airport.

Search terms are important because they indicate the intentions of a market.

While little is ever conclusive, the rate at which something changes can say more than the thing being observed alone.  At Social Flights, the demands of a dynamic market are clear.

1. Companies must have business travel options.

2. A door-to-door value proposition is essential.

3. People are searching online more than ever

4. The commercial airline industry leaves a market underserved.

Economic recessions have been shown to be more about technological transition and adjustment rather than any single underlying factor.  We believe that this transition will be no different.