Dassault Unveils Industry Defender Ads
Benet Wilson
Dassault Falcon Jet has unveiled its "Common Sense" ad campaign as its own OEM-based effort to boost business aviation.
The campaign's centerpiece is a 40-page portable brochure that outlines 14 reasons why companies agree that business jets give them a competitive advantage.
It also includes a print ad titled, "What Can Lift The Economy," along with another ad touting the efficiency of the Falcon 2000LX.
The campaign was developed over the Christmas holidays, CEO John Rosanvallon told BA. "We presented the initial version to our sales and marketing team in January, and it got a good reaction," he said.
The last quarter of 2008 was tough for business aviation after what happened with the Big Three automakers, Rosanvallon said. "But it took awhile to measure just how big the crisis was," he recalled. "I'm active on the board of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, and it has worked with the industry to react to the bashing."
But at the same time, OEMs need to participate in these efforts, and there needed to be one with Dassault's signature, Rosanvallon said. "In our first ad, we ask what can lift the economy," he said. "It was unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland."
The initial target for the campaign was current Falcon owners, Rosanvallon said. "We wanted them to feel comfortable about owning their Falcon jet. There's suddenly been a need to rejustify the reason why we need business jets," he said. "We're also looking at secondary targets, including short-term prospects, people in the industry and members of Congress in states where Dassault has a presence."
For the past four years, Falcon has done most of its advertising and marketing in-house, Rosanvallon said. "We are using professionals on a case-by-case basis, depending on the project," he said, adding that the company does not have a full-time advertising agency on retainer. "It takes a long time to reverse the effects of a negative image, so we'll run the campaign at least through 2009." Go to our Business Aviation Now blog - aviationweek.com/biz - to see the ads.
Photo credit: Dassault
