Public Relations Plan for Million Air Ltd - Essay Example

?PUBLIC RELATIONS PLAN: MILLION AIR, LTD. This plan was prepared as a response to the brief from Million Air Ltd., and outlines the one-year public relations strategy of the company’s jet services on January 5, 2013. BACKGROUND In 2012, there are about 4,000 private and charter jets, shuttling Million Air's clients to various destinations across the globe (Lawler 2012). According to Lawler, although not all of these jets are in the sky, say, 11 hours daily like commercial aircrafts, roughly a third operate with viable passenger traffic. The fact remains that the competition could be cutthroat especially when startup companies such as the newly established BlackJet are constantly being set up. However, the market condition is better than ever. The luxury consumer market has expanded and there is a great demand for private jet services not only in terms of lifestyle requirements but also for business needs (Okonkwo, 2007, pp.237). In addition, according to an industry study, the sharp uptick in charter jet demand was also brought about by an increase in holiday travel and the fleet optimization introduced by private jet companies (Avinode 2011). This latter development is supported by a report last year, which found that such optimizations (ex. one-way pricing, guaranteed access and lifestyle positioning) became industry innovations that have made charter look more attractive than ever (Wynbrandt 2012). Europe is also on the verge of recovery and executives such as Eric Connor of NetJets Europe are bullish about the future of the industry (Connor 2012). The business case for luxury travel was also reported by the New York Times when it found that many business travelers use chartered flights in order to skip the holes and delays of commercial air travel system (Sharkey 2012). Million Air with its fleet of four jets that can accommodate six passengers bound for London, Zurich, Jersey and Monaco would be able to establish a foothold in the European market. In a brief situational analysis, the following key issues were revealed: A European economic recovery is underway leading to an increase in chartered jet passenger demand in the region where Million Air operates in. Aside from the traditional clientele who looks for luxury and prestige in their travel, there is also the emergence of business travelers who require swift and efficient travel directly to their destination (Sharkey 2012 ) There are huge shifts in the industry brought about by technological changes as well as the increase in demand for innovative solutions to travelling needs. Million Air enjoys the premium quality of the brand, while the market has potential. On the other hand, it is a new company and competition could threaten its viability. PR STRATEGY The following are the PR plan objectives: 1. To position the company as a high profile leisure based private jet service; 2. To create brand awareness within at least 50% of our target audience prior to the launch on the January 2013; and, 3. To help increase the company bookings by 20% by September 2013. The proposed PR strategy will span one year and would aggressively push for pre-launch awareness-building, an integrated communications strategy that will support the launching activities and, follow up PR activities to further augment and sustain the momentum garnered. At the core of this strategy is a set of high profile activities to be staged in Million Air’s destination cities: London, Zurich and Monaco. GENIUS IDEA The campaign slogan is "accessible luxury". The plan focuses on the implication of premium experience at the same time will evoke concepts like efficiency and practicality. It is not about pitching luxury at a tampered cost since the market understands how quality can never come cheap. Instead, the campaign will go back to the fundamentals behind the business: why clients turn to private jets in the first place. The luxury narrative will be complemented by consistent messages about being available, being timely, being fast, among other concepts that communicate how Million Air can keep up with its clients and their needs. There will be two main market classification: luxury and business. The identified publics for the PR campaign are based on these criteria: lifestyle travelers and business travelers. Messages : For the business market classification, the following themes will be used: 1. Million Air can be trusted to provide highly efficient travel, efficient services and features impeccable customer relations; 2. It is available, upfront, timely and fast in its operations within the four European destinations. 3. It is providing customers with well-trained staff that can provide the best service and comfort. For customers in the luxury category, the following themes will be used: 1. Million Air is a luxury brand and is identified with exclusivity, design and prestige. 2. It is poised to be a leading private jet carrier that caters to the rich and famous travelling within the four top European cities. 3. It is a reflection of a lifestyle as it offers 5-star amenities and services, making travelling not only with style but also with comfort and with abundance of leisure. SCHEDULE The one-year PR campaign is divided into four phases: 1. The pre-launch activities that will span the months of November and December 2012. These are prelaunch activities designed to build awareness and expectation. These activities will follow creative promotional concepts aligned with luxury brands. For example, there will be “wishing sessions” wherein participants are encouraged to forget about constraints such time, schedule and cost and wish for the impossible in their air travel (for an example event, see Mattimore, 2012, pp.106). The information gathered from participants will be the basis of other activities that will involve and engage the market. Kapferer (2012, pp.260) reminds us that “luxury seeks participation and active membership from the client”. This is the reason why the pre-launch activities will be dominated by mini-experiences that recreate concepts equated with luxury such as a recreation of a dreamlike surroundings associated with Million Air. 2. The second phase, which is part of the prelaunch activities, will involve an intensive communication campaign that will focus on the launch events. This may be consisted of a series of internal communications, face-to-face customer communications, lobbying activities and other related initiatives to drum up awareness, interest and commitment. 3. The last phase will be consisted of after-launch activities. This will cover the month of February until September 2013. It will still include elements of the prelaunch activities such as aggressive communications, media relations, customer relations and promotions designed to sustain the momentum of the PR campaign. For example, a strong issues management team will be formed to monitor the media, competitor and the market’s responses and promptly act on them. BUDGET A detailed budget follows, outlining the anticipated costs to be incurred by the 12-month campaign. The budget includes tentative activities under the identified final three phases. Activities may change based on the information gathered from pre-launch activities such as feedback from the “mini-experiences” and those gathered by the issues management team. ACTIVITIES BUDGET COMMENTS Pre-launch activities 80,000.00 “Mini-experiences” events Audio-video production for staff DVD Staff Trainings Media Relations Tactical Advertising Communication Campaign: 50,000.00 Internal Communications Media Relations and Releases Creation of website and social media strategy Lobbying activities Follow-up Activities: 120,000.00 Tactical Advertising Issues Management Team The team and its activities will be allotted with 50,000 operational budget from the figure listed under this phase. Internal communications (staff briefings, e-newsletters) Million Air has an in-house magazine called Million Air. Events and road shows Media relations Social media monitoring OVERALL CAMPAIGN BUDGET ?250,000.00 EVALUATION In terms of evaluation, this plan will focus on the outputs such as feedback as well as the extent of message exposure, awareness and audience reach. There are three components involved: target achieved, media response, customer feedback and sales figures. The PR plan is consisted of phases and logical flow of targets. The achievement of each would mean positive outcome. This will be complemented by an evaluation of media coverage, including feedbacks in social media. Finally, the sales figures will help quantify if the plan is working since it will be evaluated every month. References Avinode, 2011. Trends and Patterns in the European Charter Market: 2008-2010. [online] Available at: [Accessed 17 Jan 2013]. Connor, E., 2012. Private Jet Business 'Midway Through Recovery'. CNBC. Available at: [Accessed 176 Jan 2013]. Kapferer, J., 2012. The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Lawler, R., 2012. Uber Co-Founder Garrett Cam Launches BlackJet, The "Uber for Private Jets". TechCruch. Available at: {Accessed 16 Jan 2013]. Mattimore, B., 2012. Idea Stormers: How to Lead and Inspire Creative Breakthroughs. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Okonkwo, U., 2007. Luxury Fashion Branding: Trends, Tactics, Techniques. Palgrave Macmillan. Sharkey, J., 2012. Clearing Skies for Private Jets. The New York Times. Available at: [Accessed 17 Jan 2013]. Wynbrandt, J., 2012. Navigating the Charter Market. Business Jet Traveller. Available at: [Accessed 16 Jan 2013]. REFLECTION In drafting this public relations plan, I learned several things. First and most importantly, there is the fact that creativity and ingenious PR skills are not enough to produce an effective and winning pitch. The reason for this is simple, a huge amount of time had to be devoted to research, research and more research. A market study needs to be completed, an in-depth analysis of the client company had to be undertaken, and projections based on primary and secondary sources have to be considered in order to present not just compelling but valid PR plan. Research is also imperative in devising PR activities. In addition, it is also needed in order to effectively patch all PR components together not just in a logical or coherent flow but in a manner that will result in a positive outcome. PR activities can overlap with each other or, worse, can be redundant, wasting precious resources, effort and time in the process. Comprehensive research is the strongest basis for developing activities. Also, I have learned that PR pitching is also dominated by economic concepts. As with the case of Million Air, Ltd. a budget has been provided and the PR plan must make do with the figure. The budget is the backbone of the entire affair. If for some reason funds are misallocated or under/overestimated, it could have repercussions on the entire PR operations. The PR planner must also anticipate deviations to the plan and must align costs in such a way that disruptions do not hamper the PR activities. While things certainly got complicated, I found that I enjoyed drafting this PR plan immensely. I liked the challenge in reconciling creativity with the business aspect of the entire activity and I look forward to doing more of this so I could apply the things I have learned and draft better and more successful PR plans in the future. PRESS RELEASE Million Air to Launch in 2013 Bullish about the luxury air transportation in Europe, Million Air, Ltd. has announced its chartered jet service launch in January 3, 2013. The company will operate in four choice destinations in Europe, namely, London, Zurich, Jersey and Monaco. The company caters to the high-end clientele, investing heavily on the premium service in their air travel branding. The launch will let participants experience its brand ethos, which is “Accessible luxury”. This will be the core theme that will dominate future marketing and promotions activities. Debbie Staggs, the Director for Marketing and Special Events explained that the Million Air brand seeks to provide impeccable service, elite standards and operational efficiency unrivalled in the industry. This is part of the company’s ambitious drive to become a leader in the luxury travel industry in Europe. The launch, which is also highly anticipated by interested frequent flyers is going to feature the widely talked about experience centers, a marriage of technology and comfort as Million Air seek to depict its own brand of service for the well-heeled crowd. Read More