Articles: Blogs

Airbus offers video PR masterclass with A350 first flight

Aviation - 14th June 2013
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Airbus this morning staged a PR coup with the first flight of the A350 XWB, providing streamed video coverage that was the equal of any news broadcaster. Video remains one of the most neglected corporate PR tools, particularly given trends in modern news consumption. Both in B2B and consumer communications, the ability to provide content that your target audiences value and want to share is critical.

A350 XWB first flight - take off!

Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, the most efficient aero engine flying today, the A350 is a technological tour de force and a great story. Well done Airbus for maximising the impact of this launch. In addition to live coverage on BBC Television and by other broadcasters, the Airbus YouTube footage is certain to be a social media hit. Check out the footage for yourself here.

Airbus clearly pushed the boat out financially on this PR exercise, but video is available today for a far smaller outlay than many expect. The optimum length for most online corporate videos is also much shorter than ‘Airbus TV’, with 30 seconds generally judged the longest time today’s impatient news consumers will watch.

There is consequently a great, affordable and neglected opportunity for PR and marketing teams to incorporate video into their annual budgets and take a step into 21st Century news consumption.