CONNECT Aviation is one of the world's leading route development forums, an annual event around the globe that connects all members across the aviation industry.

The Objective

The client wanted to re-examine their digital platforms to improve and grow on the success they’ve enjoyed over the past 17 years. This objective included discovering new ways to connect with airlines and airports through engaging email, social media and inbound search campaigns. Essentially, the client required a complete digital overhaul along with the development of new cutting-edge digital concepts. CONNECT Aviation has recently expanded and now plans two events for each year, including a European event and an all-new CONNECT New World event for the Caribbean and the Americas.

Web & UX/UI

A New Digital Experience

Phase 1 of the project was to significantly overhaul the main public-facing website with a new visual language and improved usability, functionality and performance. To achieve this, we adopted a mobile-first strategy and created a website with a more modern look and feel, utilising the client's fantastic existing assets to reflect what CONNECT offers to the market. We aimed to boost attendees and establish the brand as a market leader in the aviation event industry.

Maximising Impact Using Video

One of our main goals was to showcase the value proposition of CONNECT through video-based content. From stunning destination scenes to insightful interviews with airline executives, we wanted to engage users as soon as they landed on the website. As users engage far more deeply with video content than text or imagery, bringing this to the fore was a key priority. Our team successfully integrated diverse video content across the site for maximum effect.

Improving the Customer Journey

CONNECT facilitates over 3,000 meetings a year between hundreds of aviation executives. An important goal was to ensure the user journey, from initial entry to registration, offered an intuitive, fast and pleasant experience. We focussed on every aspect of the customer journey to boost awareness, generate interest and create desire. We achieved high ranking positions on major search engines and used the website to promote prominent affiliated airlines. With compelling video content and effective call to actions, we engaged users from the very beginning, leading to substantial growth for CONNECT.

Modernising the Design Language

Starting with the website’s user interface, we created a new and modern design language that was applied to all other digital creatives and platform designs. With full-width imagery, abstract visual elements and modern spacing, the new language reflected the forward-thinking and progressing nature of the CONNECT brand whilst setting it ahead of more old-school competitors. We plan to work with the client over time to refine and improve the design language, helping to keep them at the forefront of their industry.

A New Delegate System

Phase 2 of the project was to revamp a bespoke digital platform that allows aviation professionals to arrange meetings, manage their itinerary, access route development profiles, watch videos of industry briefings, and send messages to other delegates. This objective meant a complete UI/UX overhaul to deliver a more modern and mobile-focused experience.

Email

Captivating Emails

We evaluated the client's existing email strategy to identify where CONNECT could add more value to the aviation market. Working with their content team, we created industry newsletters providing route development news and interviews with key executives of the world's biggest airlines and airports. We revamped every email that CONNECT sends to their customer base, from automated transactional emails to periodical newsletters and announcements. The brand is now more recognisable, engaging and professional than ever before. With the incorporation of a new design language, we modernised all outbound campaigns to help CONNECT acquire new customers and remain front-of-mind.

Social

Bold Social Creatives

CONNECT is an important brand that has a lot to communicate to its audience, from hot industry news to event announcements. We wanted to create unique visuals for different types of social posts while carrying over the design language set during phase 1 of the project. Our design team came up with creative styles for every kind of content with varying styles and designs to keep the audience captivated. We provided the client with a toolkit of hundreds of creatives, all of which were optimised for Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram. The ultimate goal was to make CONNECT’s social profiles more recognisable and engaging.

SEO

Building International Traffic

The aviation sector is highly competitive, and the majority of the marketing battles take place online. The client wanted to outrank competitors on search engines to strengthen their market-leading position. As CONNECT is an international brand, we aimed to attract delegates internationally by focussing on ranking for high priority keywords. We started by prioritising route development before branching out to airline and aviation networking keywords, resulting in strong growth in inbound traffic. Our SEO team thoroughly optimised all digital platforms, built external links from key partners, and supercharged website performance to achieve excellent ranking gains.

Campaign Highlights

No.1 ranking for 'route development forum'
Increase of over 370 places on Google
Increase of over 214 places on Bing
Traffic secured from over 195 different countries
Average session duration of 3:23s
Last updated 14-04-21

Concept Development

New Cutting-Edge Digital Concepts

One of the essential priorities from day one was to explore innovative new techniques that allow airlines and airports to connect. Our creative team applied their UI & UX expertise to solve significant industry problems, from upgraded meeting booking systems to a virtual event platform and a concept networking platform for the route development market. When the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the international travel industry, we conceptualised a virtual event solution built on Zoom to allow remote networking. We are always seeking new ways of using technology to improve how the aviation sector functions.

Our client's feedback has been overwhelmingly positive: our website is more engaging, dynamic and definitely stands out in our competitive environment!

Activate Digital has done a fantastic job in re-designing our website to deliver a fresh, modern look, improving usability and adding many useful functionalities. Importantly, they have taken the time to study our industry, understand our brand values in order to enhance what makes CONNECT a unique event. We’re delighted with the result and our client's feedback has been overwhelmingly positive: our website is more engaging, dynamic and definitely stands out in our competitive environment! We look forward to continuing our relationship with such a great team and to see our platform further evolve to face future challenges.

Karin Butot

CEO, CONNECT Aviation

Meetings Facilitated

3,000

Airlines & Airports Served

355

Average Visit Duration

3m 23s

Last updated 14-04-21

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