‘I haven’t seen you all day’ were the words from the CEO of a client we were assisting at a major international exhibition. Some PR consultants might be concerned by this observation, but I was pleased. PR is often something that works in the background. The exhibition had been a huge success, resulting in happy customers, deals made, many new contacts forged and widespread coverage. I had worked on everything from briefing the journalists and directing the film crews, to restocking goody bags and washing up coffee cups. And that is as it should be.
A lot of the PR work had been done in advance, with press releases being issued under embargo, brochures drafted, and journalist meetings set up. On the day, my job was to make sure that everything went smoothly, or at least appeared to go smoothly, and that the client was seen at its very best. This may mean keeping a film crew happy while they are waiting for an interviewee to become available or calling through last-minute adjustments to materials released on the client’s website. It may also mean rolling up my sleeves to empty an overflowing bin. PR is about the client’s complete reputation, and at an exhibition it is often the little things that make a big impression.
AIM Altitude, Aircraft Interiors Expo, Hamburg
AIM Altitude attends the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg each year. It is the single most important show for the company. This year, the big news was the unveiling of ULTRAFLEX – a visionary concept for a social area on ultra-long-haul flights. ULTRAFLEX is a multi-functional space that can be transformed to provide areas for anything from business meetings and private dining, to viewing sports events or practising yoga.
We knew that ULTRAFLEX was going to be a big story and the PR had to be carefully planned. We aimed to ensure maximum coverage but also to convey the key messages of flexibility and possibility within the tight certification requirements for commercial aircraft.
The coverage was phenomenal.
The crucial trade publications ran the story in depth, with many images and explanations of the unique concept and innovation. This is imperative to the product actually being adopted and implemented by airline customers. Due to the nature of the scheme, it was also of great interest among the consumer media and the story was run by such news feeds and publications as CNN and the Daily Mail. From this, the story went truly global with coverage in publications from National Geographic in Russia, to the Adelaide Advertiser.
