Private Jets Inc. & LifeShare
Private Jets Inc. is a private air charter company based out of Wiley Post Airport in Bethany, Oklahoma. They are a growing company with approximately 20 aircraft in their fleet. The aircraft range in size from small planes with space for four passengers to luxury jets that seat up to nine travelers. The aircraft are based at various airports in Texas and Florida, in addition to Wiley Post. While Private Jets has a base of affluent customers who can afford private air travel, they also frequently partner with LifeShare Oklahoma – the nonprofit that helps coordinate the organ donor process in Oklahoma. Private Jets typically has a jet and crew on standby to fly out to pick up an organ; to take an organ from Oklahoma City and deliver it around the country; or to take a team of surgeons to a neighboring state to recover an organ and bring it back to Oklahoma City.
CHALLENGE
Private Jets and Koch Communications have worked together for more than 2 years to increase brand recognition and awareness in the Oklahoma City area and additional markets, especially when it comes to the concept of private air travel as a realistic option for more consumers. During times the organization is adding new jets to their fleet, generating media coverage is much more straightforward. However, in spring 2018 when new aircraft were not being added, the Koch Comm team sought other news or interesting stories that could fuel media pitches for Private Jets.
STRATEGY
Koch Comm’s team recognized the value of capitalizing on Private Jet’s relationship with LifeShare Oklahoma to create awareness of the brand. Highlighting their work with LifeShare had potential to humanize the brand, increase exposure as a local business and educate the public about both organ donation and Private Jets. Additionally, the relationship between Private Jets and LifeShare was not only professional but also personal for the business, as the niece of one Private Jets employee is a two-time, double-lung-transplant recipient. The niece had done some work promoting LifeShare previously.
National Donate Life Month is in April every year, so Koch Comm prepared a pitch for local reporters to come to the airport in April to interview the niece about the importance of organ donation, and also shine a spotlight on the work Private Jets does to assist in the organ donor process.
Koch Comm’s team recognized the pitch had to be made with a certain amount of caution and sensitivity to avoid looking like a cheap attention-grab, so the biggest strategic move was selecting a reporter who would be receptive to the pitch and its complexities. Koch Comm worked with KFOR’s Lacey Lett, with whom a relationship existed and the story fit alongside the type of stories she normally covers. Lett responded well to the pitch, and she put together a story that aired at the beginning of National Donate Life Month.
RESULTS
The effort’s success was a result of breaking outreach down to a one-on-one pitch to a reporter Koch Comm had previously worked with – this was a slightly complex pitch and Koch Comm’s relationship with the reporter ensured the story didn’t look like the brand was simply trying to capitalize on organ donor awareness to score points in the eyes of the public.
Tracking was completed through standard media monitoring. As this was a one-time, one-on-one pitch, there was no opportunity to adjust strategy. The story Lacey Lett put together ran on the KFOR news in the 4:30 p.m. hour and checked in at nearly 3 minutes of run time. It was also published on the KFOR website, shared on their social media, and ran on the FOX affiliate in Tulsa during the 8 a.m. hour the next day. In total, this generated $4,359 in earned media value and estimated impressions of more than 440,000.
