Presently I am sitting in the departure lounge at Manchester International Airport.
Whilst it’s not the biggest airport in the world, it is an impressive and massive facility, and has changed beyond all recognition since I first visited it as a boy.
At that time it was merely known as ‘Ringway’ airport. Infact at that time I can distinctly remember the ear deafening sound of an Air France Caravel jet taking off.
The airport has grown tremendously over the past few decades and is now almost unrecognisable. Hundreds if not billions of pounds have been invested to transform it into a state of the art transport hub. The insatiable demand for air transportation, both passenger and cargo, seems never ending.
So things have developed and changed massively.
Manchester International Airport is a massive success story. Its growth must have had a significant economic impact on the whole of the North West and probably beyond.
But what defines an airport? Is it the runways, taxiways, terminals and cargo buildings or is it the nature and extent of the infrastructure that must be conceived, designed and constructed?
But what part do we mere marketeers play in all this? How do we help our firms gain access to these strategic developments? What influence can we bring to bear?
Well for those marketeers who work for firms that are already onboard with the airport authorities, their task is fairly straight forward. All they have to do is to ensure that the powers that be at the airport never forget that that their firm have provided helpful service to date, have added value and are willing and capable of continuing to provide ongoing support. Easy!
However, for those that have chosen to attempt to get on board, their task is a lot more difficult, time consuming and expensive. So what options are available to us?
· Decide that the mission is both desirable and achievable.
· Can be delivered within a reasonable time frame and budget.
· Do sufficient research into how much resource needs to be invested.
· Find out who are the key players on the client side
· What is the competition and how well are they embedded and what are their strengths and weaknesses.
· Who do we know who could be of assistance e.g? Who can effect an introduction?
· What is the best way to bring our firm and its services to the attention of decision makers and influencers?
· Decide on your approach, message and benefits
If you happen to be facing this or similar challenges, you now know who to ring!
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