Textron Aviation is by volume the largest manufacturer of business jets and general aviation aircraft in the world. The company’s Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker brands account for more than half of all general aviation aircraft flying today.
Initially appointed in 2006 to write a speech for the company’s Chairman & CEO, our brief rapidly grew to embrace all aspects of corporate communications. Reporting to the company’s vice president of communications in Wichita, Kansas, we’ve acted on an ongoing basis as an extension to the in-house corporate communications team. Across Europe, the United States, Russia, the Middle East, Central Asia, South-East Asia and China, we’ve supported the company remotely, on-the-ground and through our affiliate agencies.
In the highly competitive business aviation market, our challenge has been to help Textron Aviation promote and protect its reputation as an innovative, trusted and preferred provider of aircraft and services to corporations and individual globally.
Our wide-ranging remit for Textron Aviation has included message development, international trade and mainstream media relations, trade show PR support, product launches, thought leadership, issues management, crisis management, internal communications, social media and CEO speech writing.
Examples of our work have included:
- Providing an ‘always on’ press office in the European time zone for more than a decade
- Supporting media launches for 16 new and updated aircraft types
- Devising creative media events to increase and broaden the company’s news coverage
- Spearheading media relations with many non-trade media, such as GQ, Tatler, Financial Times and Bloomberg
- Providing PR support at more than 30 major aviation trade shows, including EBACE (Geneva), Farnborough International Airshow, Paris Air Show, Moscow JetExpo, Dubai Airshow and ABACE (Shanghai)
- Helping the company communicate strategic and sensitive developments, including joint ventures, acquisitions and corporate restructurings
The results of our work are apparent in many ways, including hard-won features in top lifestyle media, well-executed media trips, insightfully crafted CEO speeches and informative thought leadership articles. Perhaps the best measures of our value are the length of our relationship, the great variety of tasks entrusted to us and Textron Aviation’s enduring reputation as an admired and imitated industry leader.
