1. 0 to 30,000ft
Building a Luxury Brand
from the Ground Up

2. Background
Main Challenges
Objective + Approach
Solutions: Content + Outreach
Platforms
The Luxury Space
Content Strategy
Art
Copy
Responsive Messaging
Outreach Strategy
Results Part I
Solutions: Reporting + Process
Reporting
Competitive Audits
Brand Audits
Event Amplification
Influence is Key
Results Part II
Outline

3. NetJets Inc., backed by Warren Buffett’s
Berkshire Hathaway, was the first private
business jet aircraft management company in
the world and now operates the largest fleet of
any global airline, worldwide.
Procuring and managing some of the newest
and most advanced aircraft in existence,
NetJets holds the highest safety standards and
employs the most skilled pilots in the industry.
From the PGA Tour and BMW, to Art|Basel and
Christie’s Auction House, NetJets boasts a long
list of partnerships that grants them exclusive
behind-the-scenes access to events, which
often include an Owner’s Lounge, just for
NetJets clients.
Background

4. Main Challenges
In late 2014, though the business was thriving, the
NetJets brand barely existed in the social space.
In addition to building a clear brand identity, we faced
a list of challenges:
• Low brand awareness in social
• No paid support
• Limited assets
• A global brand with little creative cohesion
• A client team unsure of the worth of social
media

5. Approach
• Increase brand awareness across Instagram,
Twitter, and LinkedIn
• Utilize analytics and strategic engagement tactics
to work around a lack of paid support
• Establish a format for global event amplification
• Set benchmarks and showcase to the greater
NetJets organization how social integrates with
through-the-line initiatives
• Address all challenges with connective and
systematic thinking, never on a one-off basis
APPROACH
OBJECTIVE
Establish the NetJets brand in the luxury space
built on a strong foundation of strategic insight

6. Content + Outreach

7. Solutions
In developing our content strategy, it was important to
be selective about where our content would be
displayed.
With an Owner audience of highly educated males 40+,
our branding messages would be better received on
Twitter and LinkedIn, where our audience was
statistically speaking, more likely to be present and
active.
As Instagram was growing exponentially every day, and
aviation photography was an increasing interest in the
space, we decided to also showcase our content there to
appeal to more than just immediate prospective Owners,
but to the aspirational audience and general aviation
community as well.
We decided that Facebook wasn’t right for the NetJets
audience. Our efforts (and organic-only reach) wouldn’t
go as far there.
Platforms

8. Solutions
One of the most important elements of a brand’s social
presence is a clear brand identity – a signature look,
feel, and voice that reflects the brand’s personality
cohesively across all communications, digitally and
otherwise.
The luxury identity, specifically is based on quality,
simplicity, and elegance in a way that looks effortless;
Each piece of content should be easily identified as that
particular brand’s post; never generic.
With these principles in mind, we built the NetJets brand
identity utilizing art, copy, and responsive messaging.
The Luxury Space: Less is More

9. Solutions
To position NetJets as a luxury brand with the limited
assets we had access to, we used art direction as a tool
to develop a unique combination of tight crops, negative
space, and de-saturated, cool, blue tones to iconize the
aircraft and convey a high-end look and feel.
We included our direction in a Photography Guide to
distribute to the broader global team members and
photographers unfamiliar with the brand to maintain a
cohesive visual identity.
This Guide went beyond just posts – While it did help to
set guidelines for NetJets content and to keep a
controlled visual identity, it also contributed to setting a
visual standard for the global brand; an expectation of
what NetJets content should be.
Content Strategy: Art

10. Solutions
The aviation audience is a highly educated and
passionate group of aircraft enthusiasts, photographers
and pilots, who, through our social research, we found
responded well to statistics, aircraft specs and behind-
the-scenes content.
Considering the knowledge base of this audience, and
our ‘less-is-more’ philosophy, our copy had to be not
only succinct, clever and engaging, but extremely
accurate, which was done best by extensive research and
cross-references with the brand team while staying true
to the brand voice.
Content Strategy: Copy

11. Solutions
We also utilized responsive messaging as a tool in
positioning NetJets as an elite brand. Our responses
were measured and customized, so a reply to a
comment was an occasional reward for clever writing
and brand praise.
Content Strategy: Responsive Messaging

12. Solutions
Without a significant Instagram presence, NetJets was missing a
crucial opportunity to engage with the highly active aviation
community posting quality photography often including NetJets
aircraft – and the NetJets hashtag.
To ensure we were reaching the most relevant users, we audited
the community – What types of content do they post? What
hashtags do they use? Who do they follow? When and how are
they engaging with content?
In doing this, we were able to identify what type of content they’d
respond to best, hashtags with which to reach them, industry
influencers and anticipated engagement habits.
Outreach Strategy

13. Solutions
We began to seed relevant hashtags into our copy and
strategically engage with content within the aviation space at the
highest peaks of engagement timeframes. This often resulted in
residual engagement with our older content, reposts from aviation
influencers, and a lot of new followers (+173% in just the first
three months).
These tactics didn’t just engage users on a one-off basis, helped
to create a presence in the space organically, without the use of
paid media. As users began to see consistent quality content
from the NetJets handle, we became a regarded source on
Instagram.
This built our credibility and led to collaborations and takeovers
with industry influencers later in the year.
Outreach Strategy

14. After the first three months of implementing this
content strategy, NetJets saw a 173% increase in
followers and a 217% increase in engagement on
Instagram. Twitter showed a 17% follower growth, an
85% increase in reach, and a 89% increase in
engagement*. Followers were also up 9% on
LinkedIn. All were organic increases.
Results Part I
*Engagement includes mentions, retweets, favorites and link clicks.

15. Reporting + Process

16. Solutions
Monthly reports were extremely detailed, tracking
metrics month-over-month, including but never limited
to:
• Follower growth and loss
• Top posts by reach, engagement, and all-time
• Analyses of why top posts performed well
• Least engaging content of each month
• Peak engagement times
• Highlights of audience behaviors
• Next steps per platform
Each report was built in a cyclical format, highlighting
how the previous month’s efforts affected growth and
engagement, and informed strategy modifications for
the following month.
These reports served as digestible portions of
information, tangible proof of our efforts to not only our
day-to-day contacts, but the events teams and upper
management as well. These became an highly
anticipated deliverable each month.
Reporting

17. Solutions
The first Audit we completed was an overview of the top
5 competitors of NetJets. We analyzed the following on
each platform:
• Audience Size
• Content Strategy
• Engagement Rates
• Evidence of Paid Support
• Hashtag Usage
• Post cadence
We used these learnings to determine what was working
in the space and to inform takeaways that NetJets could
use to amplify engagement.
Competitive Audit

18. Solutions
After the client’s positive reception of our competitive
audit, we included in each report a detailed brand audit
of other luxury and high-end brands outside of the
aviation category, highlighting travel, retail, fashion,
hospitality and more including Burberry, Mandarin
Oriental Hotels, Conde Nast Traveler, Tiffany & Co. and
others.
The exercise of thinking outside of the aviation industry
led to bigger ideas and better work. We were able to
showcase how other brands were evolving and utilizing
many of the same principles we were. This helped in
further educating the greater NetJets team as well.
Brand Audits

19. Solutions
We used similar tactics to complete audits in preparing
a much-needed Crisis Communications Plan.
We analyzed how a selection of other airlines and
related travel companies handled crises in the social
space, from live tweets of a press release, dark site
implementation, CEO statements and resources for
families of potential victims of crisis.
We developed a minute-to-minute workflow between the
NetJets brand team, social, and PR in case of
emergency.
Crisis Communications

20. Solutions
With many partners and sponsorships, NetJets is often
present at high-profile events like the PGA Masters, The
Monaco Yacht Show, each installation of Art|Basel and
others in addition to their own private events, like their
Annual Poker Invitational, private clinics with tennis
superstars Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, private
concerts with Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Jessie J
and others.
Upon getting involved in promoting events, we learned
that the client team wasn’t often in contact with the
global events and media teams until right before or even
sometimes after an event, receiving requests to publish
photos retroactively.
We saw an opportunity to better amplify these events
earlier on and add more value to the content.
By establishing a coverage plan format for the various
teams to follow and execute, we’d be able to provide
more real-time content while creating a dialogue
between otherwise non-communicative teams.
Event Amplification

21. Solutions
We began by proactively requesting information about
the events so we could build our coverage toolkits in
phases – Pre, During, and Post.
In the Pre-event phase, we planned when we’d share
articles and information about the events, such as the
number of flights taking off or teaser posts about
surprise guests.
The ‘during’ phase detailed our plans for the types of
content we’d like to share live in real time, complete
with mood boards, official hashtags, channel allocations
and potential copy.
The ‘Post’ phase was reserved for events we weren’t
contractually able to document live, wrap-ups of the
events and ‘thank you’ posts to partners and vendors.
Upon completion of the event, we’d detail in a
comprehensive report the reach and engagement of all
event-related content, highlighting insights to inform our
strategies for the next event toolkit and to help the
broader NetJets teams to understand our thought
processes. This eventually led to ongoing collaboration
between the internal teams.
Event Amplification: Toolkits

22. Solutions
As the NetJets channels gained traction, and we began building
credibility in the luxury space, we also began to create
relationships with industry influencers.
We saw ‘regrams’ of our content from aviation companies like
Bombardier and industry influencers like Instagram Aviation,
where NetJets content generated over 10,000 engagements on
just one post. Highlights of our work were featured by Town &
Country magazine and others.
Influence is Key

23. Results Part II
Pilots, crew members, directors and others from the
internal NetJets team began to send photos and suggest
ideas for social content and how they could help to
showcase NetJets Events in the future.
With authentic behind-the-scenes images from the crew,
we were able to provide the audience a view into the
world of private aviation and engage them in the brand
narrative.
We’d come full circle from a company who questioned
social media as a serious business channel to a fully
supportive and collaborative team looking to get
involved.
Planning for 2016 included a substantial focus on social
media including paid support and larger event
activations.
Results Part II

24. By the end of 2015, in just one year and with no paid
support, NetJets had gained 13,589 followers on
Instagram – almost 700% growth from early 2015.
Instagram engagement grew by 592%. Twitter
followers rose 59% and saw 326% more
engagement. LinkedIn, where one post was promoted
also saw a 23% increase.
Results Part II
*Engagement includes mentions, retweets, favorites and link clicks.