Private Jets For The Uber Economy
Q&A with Shari Jones, Chief Marketing Officer, XOJET

The Economist Group – Lean Back
By Mercedes Cardona
October 19, 2015

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing marketing: fragmented media, empowered consumers, evolving technology, or all at once?

It’s finding the right client and connecting with them with the right message, at the same time. That hasn’t changed so much. What has changed is the pace of disruption and the tools we have at our disposal; also how our potential consumers are bombarded by so many messages and so many options.

The onus on CMOs today is: How are you creating a message that is compelling and beautiful and aspirational and engaging, so that client will choose to see it? Also, using all the tools at your disposal to craft an experience. I’m lucky I have the canvas of the jet to play with and the whole experience—from my advisors to my client services—in addition to the communications we’re crafting to bring that messaging to life to them.

What are some challenges specific to your brand: the world economy, generational change, consumer attitudes toward luxury?

Disruptions to our industry came a little later than disruptions in other industries, but we’re seeing the same kind of meta trend. It’s a shift from ownership. Traditionally clients would either buy a jet or buy a fraction of a jet. That’s moved to more on-demand models, similar to the model we employ, where clients only use a jet when they want to use it and they only want to pay for what they use.

The business model change has been probably the biggest one in the last three years. Accompanying that is how technology has grafted onto that, not to replace what is necessarily a high-touch experience—because by definition luxury is high-touch—but make it even better.

You’re participating in the sharing economy, but how are you approaching marketing differently than either other corporate jet companies or transport like Uber and Zipcar on the low end?

What is fresh about what we’re doing—and you can see with our latest campaign—is we’re trying to bring a more modern approach to talking to high-end clients about what is a luxury product. A more fresh, approachable way, seeing it through the point of view of the client who would use our product every day.

A lot of times luxury brands market almost two steps removed. We’re trying to bring it closer and make it that much more intimate.

On the flip side, on the lower end of the market you’re seeing a lot of new entrants that are trying to do what Uber is doing in the private jet industry. That’s fantastic for a certain segment of the market; but when you’re talking about sophisticated clients who fly a lot—just like with hotels and with other luxury products—they are going to want to have a human connection.

Speaking of technology, you launched a mobile site this year. Where does mobile fit into your marketing plan?

If you’re a travel brand, you want to be available to clients when they’re on the move, by definition. Where mobile helps us is by creating a more seamless interaction starting the conversation; but invariably, it always goes to a human on the other side of the conversation. Whether it’s requesting a flight or having a client profile that’s at the ready for our advisors or our client services team, we’re seeing it as an enabler, versus a replacement for that interaction.

Your mid-year report noted that you doubled your Facebook following. Where does social fit in with an upscale brand?

Social is interesting for high-net-worth (clients). Their social circles tend to be tighter, they’re more business partnerships, relationships, friends, family. As we think about the social platform it’s about engaging the community that surrounds that from an influencer or support function, or crews. There’s a whole community about aviation and loving aviation that we also speak to and nurture.

What’s next for XOJet? How is your new brand campaign different than the “Take Command” effort you launched in summer?

This is the next chapter in “Take Command.” With this new campaign we’ve created video ads that are really fresh, looking from the passenger’s point of view.

We worked with Walrus in New York to develop four video vignettes. In addition to digital, billboards are effective for us, particularly around airports, as well as print. But aside from that, we’re doing a lot more internally to create content that we’re distributing to our clients when they’re flying, our advisors are using it, as well as engaging editors and journalists around destinations.

A lot of what we’re doing on the back end is connecting our CRM system. I think Marketing Automation is a misnomer; I don’t think you could ever automate in high-net-worth, but find ways of creating a more intimate, one-to-one conversation with clients about topics that they’re interested in at the right time. That could either be about a kind of aircraft they’re interested in, or tips about a destination they are going to. We’re working on creating a portfolio of content that we can put out through our owned channels.

We’re working with travel writers to create content on destinations, curating lists of top restaurants and things to do in cities where our clients go, and engaging in communities and partnerships around client passion points—be it hobbies, golf, skiing or high performance sports. For us, in connecting with high-net-worth clients, it’s both what we’re saying from a communications standpoint, but also how we’re really connecting in their daily lives and being relevant.

Original article here