Flight Training - May 2013 - 6

CENTERLINE

By Adam Smith

I SMELL OPPORTUNITY

CAN SOCIAL MEDIA BE THE ANSWER?

s we aim to grow aviation, it can sometimes be helpful to
look to other places for inspiration and ideas. For example,
the aviation industry can learn much from how HarleyDavidson turned itself around in the 1980s and 1990s and,
more recently, has found new growth by marketing its male-dominated product to females.
A study of scuba diving provides
interesting insights, too. Like aviation,
the hobby is conducted in an unforgiving physical environment that demands
respect for training and safety.
It has a passionate community of
active participants and, most important
of all, it gives access to all the freedoms
and experiences of a “different world.”
As pilots we are proud to say that
our ancestors dreamed of flying
like the birds. Well, scuba divers
probably dreamed of swimming like
the fishes, too.
I recently spent some time studying
the Professional Association of Diving
Instructors (PADI), the world’s
largest recreational diving organization. PADI does a masterful job of

Another thing to admire is how
the PADI system puts huge emphasis
on the experience of the customer.
The focus is not so much on obtaining
your certificate—it’s on what you will
be able to do with the certificate when
you have it. Wider adoption of this
way of thinking would serve aviation
well, too.
PADI’s impressive social media
efforts are another dimension of
how to engage and grow a community
of enthusiasts. I joined PADI’s
Facebook page, and it soon became
clear why the thing has almost 600,000
fans. Every day I’m being presented
with stunning photos, inspiring
videos, blogs, and comments that
share a common passion for all things

BY COMBINING THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA
WITH OUR LARGE AND PASSIONATE
COMMUNITY OF AVIATORS, MAYBE WE CAN
GET THE JOB DONE.
providing a clear pathway into scuba
diving, from absolute beginner to
expert levels. Along the way, there
are more than 25 opportunities to
obtain training in “specialties”: wreck
diving, underwater photography,
night diving, ice diving, and coral
reef conservation. Our equivalent in
aviation would be things such as float
and skiplane flying, aerobatics, and
mountain flying.
I really like the clarity that PADI
provides through the whole life cycle
of a diver; it feels like a template that
general aviation would benefit from
adopting.

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

underwater. It all feels very inviting,
and it is focused on highlighting the
positive human experience of scuba
diving.
Indeed, after a few weeks of
exposure to this, I found it had made
a genuine impression on me. I had
no personal interest in scuba diving
and joined the PADI Facebook page
purely for research purposes. But for
the first time in my life, I realized
the thought had become lodged in
my mind: “I need to go scuba diving
sometime.”
This use of social media to promote
the sport is very savvy. Without spend-

ing $4 million on a 30-second Super
Bowl ad, PADI is reaching an enormous
audience. Bear in mind that Facebook
alone has more than 1 billion monthly
users, YouTube 800 million, Twitter
400 million.
I smell a big opportunity here for
general aviation. As we bring the new
AOPA Center to Advance the Pilot
Community to life, many people have
suggested we create a nationwide
marketing campaign to promote flying.
This would be great to see, but the
truth is no company or group exists
with the ability to invest millions of
dollars in such a thing—and the belief
it will provide an acceptable return on
that investment.
However, by combining the power
of social media with our large and
passionate community of aviators,
maybe we can get the job done anyway.
We have free use of the most efficient
grassroots marketing tools mankind has
ever invented, and we have an amazing
story to tell.
For example, a video recently
appeared on YouTube called Lainey’s
First Airplane Ride (http://youtu.be/
w8JU-1ZrRAg). In my opinion
it is hands down one of the best advertisements for aviation that’s
ever been created. But it wasn’t made
by an expensive ad agency—it was
made by a dad who put a GoPro
camera in his Aeronca Champ to
capture his daughter’s first airplane
ride.
At the time of writing this beautiful,
authentic little film has been viewed
80,000 times. That’s a great start, but
it deserves to be seen by millions. Can
you help?
Email Senior Vice President Adam Smith at adam.
smith@aopa.org.
Learn more about the Center to Advance the
Pilot Community (www.aopa.org/CAPComm).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8JU-1ZrRAg&feature=player_embedded#! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8JU-1ZrRAg&feature=player_embedded#! http://www.aopa.org/CAPComm http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

Flight Training - May 2013

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