CASE STUDY

Introducing the Public to the Citation Longitude Jet

BACKGROUND

When Textron Aviation’s newest business jet, the Cessna Citation Longitude, neared the end of flight testing, the marketing team needed to begin educating the industry on the aircraft — a revolutionary platform for the company. It was Textron Aviation’s largest jet to date, and offered amenities present in competitive platforms while also incorporating new luxury and best-in-class features.

CHALLENGE

While Citation business jets are renowned in the private aviation industry, the Longitude placed Textron Aviation in a new category full of well-established and recognized competitors: the super-midsize segment. The buzz was that there was a new, larger Citation jet coming, but how was it different — and better — than its predecessors and competitors?

STRATEGY

Instead of blast/promo emails, the Longitude marketing team began implementing a top-of-mind drip campaign well before the jet’s entry into market. I was the copywriter and content editor for campaign collateral distributed to the main target audience.

The first deliverable was a quarterly newsletter spotlighting the Longitude as it went through testing: the Longitude Insider. I developed an editorial calendar and content plan focused on behind-the-scenes details and milestone highlights. The objective was to opt in more newsletter subscribers, since they would be recipients of future Longitude digital content, such as the “Delivers It All” drip campaign.

The “Delivers It All” drip campaign sought to educate and inform prospective customers about the Longitude through value propositions important to business travelers: Larger seats and extra legroom for more comfortable trips. A quiet cabin so you could get work on the way to your destination. A state-of-the-art cockpit that made the aircraft easier to fly. The marketing team wanted to amplify the message that the Longitude offered the features available in other planes, but came with even more extras (an aircraft that truly “delivers it all,” hence the name of the campaign).

The call-to-action encouraged the audience to request a personalized cost estimate to discover how much the Longitude would cost to fly and operate.

MY ROLE

Equipped with these value propositions prioritized by the marketing team, I interviewed several leaders and subject matter experts to determine my strategy and story angles. How could I inform the audience about the Longitude without sounding like a sales brochure and show — not tell — them why the Longitude was a game-changer?

• I interviewed the chief test pilot and wrote the video concept for “Flying in the Citation Longitude”
  

• I interviewed the lead interior designer to write “Designing the Ultimate Cabin Experience”

• I interviewed the acoustics engineers to write “Silence Is Golden: Creating the World’s Quietest Super-Midsize Cabin”

A form fill was added to the end of every story. A landing page was also created specifically for the campaign, but the articles and videos would be served to a targeted list in a series of emails I wrote.

RESULTS

The top-of-mind drip campaign was a success and helped the sales team generate the first group of prospective customers for the aircraft, still a year and a half away from its official certification and entry into market. Due to pricing and regulations, the business aviation funnel is slower than your average funnel, and it can take years to convert a lead.

Still, the “Delivers It All” campaign leveraged the principles of content marketing strategy to educate its target audience about a brand-new product, ultimately establishing a solid pipeline to nurture for future marketing campaign efforts.