Alexa Rexroth

With a marketing initiative hallmarked by clever videos, C&amp;L Aviation (Booth 2230) is at it again this year with a secret agent-themed series for promotion at&nbsp;NBAA-BACE. With Chris Kilgour, CEO of C&amp;L, in the director’s chair and Pat Lemieux, director of marketing, ensuring success on set, this year’s cinematic campaign has kept viewers guessing as to its focus and sharing their speculations on social media.

 


The decision to develop viral video marketing spawned after Kilgour bought out billboards at Glasgow Airport ahead of a Saab Aircraft conference with pictures of him in a kilt. After attendees passed through the airport en route to the conference, they announced to him at the event that they&nbsp;“saw him in the airport.” Kilgour said the marketing effort was&nbsp;“a huge success and I really wanted to carry on that sort of a theme.”

 


Lemieux helped to capitalize on Kilgour’s billboard success when he developed the idea to make National Basketball Association (NBA)-themed videos for the company’s campaign in 2016. “Without an aviation background, NBAA to me just sounded like NBA. The more we talked about it, the funnier we thought it would be, and the videos would allow us to position ourselves before the conference like we did with Saab,” said Lemieux. “We had a great response and it was a really unique way to get noticed and let people know more about us than they would get from traditional advertising.”

 


Using office and hangar space as their Hollywood, and employees as cast members, C&amp;L ensures production promotes the company’s mission amid&nbsp;the entertainment value of the videos. “It has to be funny but at the same time we need to get information across about our company so it can take quite a while to develop an idea,” said Kilgour.

 


While some employees may be more camera shy than others, Lemieux said the videos have become a point of pride and excitement for the company and a reflection of their dedicated workforce. Kilgour furthered that sentiment when he explained, “These videos help [people] get to know us, and I think that’s important because the company is the sum of the people. Hopefully that comes across.”

 


According to C&amp;L, its marketing efforts have helped&nbsp;provide an inviting atmosphere at their booth at NBAA-BACE. “It certainly makes some of the first meetings with customers easier. Everyone can kind of let their guard down a little bit, because they feel like they know us. That’s a hard thing to do with traditional outbound marketing and something the videos really do for us.”

C&L Aviation Campaign 2018: Director's Cut

C&L Aviation provides insight into the process behind their viral videos. 

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