Activity Organization
CATEGORIES VARIED
Advertising can be handled in many ways-from the use of a full-service
agency to in-house departments, to the use of a workforce of one. A
full-service agency, as the title implies, offers all types of advertising
services, from planning to execut
ion of small print ads to large scale promotions. Historically, these agencies
are often grouped into functional departments that enable advertising
professionals to have areas of expertise. Departments can include creative
services, account services, and
marketing services. Within these departments are different subcategories that
are often built around the industries that the particular agency works for.
Such groups might be health care, technology, and food products and services.
Advertising agencies o
ften do most of the work within the organization; however it is not uncommon,
perhaps even frequent, to have an ad agency contract with a smaller company for
services such as art design.
At the corporate level, many advertising departments within a
company can rival individual advertising agencies and can offer the same
service. The only difference being that the corporate advertising department,
however, has only one client-t
he corporation itself. On the other side of the coin, many companies and
organizations do not have the resources to support an entire department and
thus must work on advertising themselves or seek out the larger advertising
agencies, as mentioned.
DIFFERENCES INTERESTING
Aerospace education organizations with influence in Washington, for the
most part, do not utilize advertising agencies. They usually use either
in-house corporate advertising, or a very small staff of mostly volunteers. The
differences are intere
sting. NASA has a total work force of 23,028; The Washington Pilots Association
Aviation Academy has a work force of three. NASA's academic programs budget FY
'96 is $118.7 million; the Aviation Academy's is a little under $2,000 (United St
ates, FY '96). Both have the same goal: aerospace education. They way both
achieve this goal and operate from day-to-day is a good example of yet another
wide difference in aerospace education, between big, governmental agencies in
Washington DC and th
e grass roots level at the local airstrip.
HIGHLY DEPARTMENTALIZED
On one end of the spectrum is NASA. NASA has a highly departmentalized
system for its overall organization, and advertising for aerospace education is
no exception. At the national level, AE materials are produced through the
education division o
f the office of human resources and education. The local promotions and
advertising for AE is mostly handled through the regional resource centers that
are scattered across the country. There are eight centers in the US, based on
geography. Ames Research
Center serves Washington state, at Moffett Field in the Bay Area of California.
Ames' territory covers a large area including Alaska, Arizona, California,
Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Each of
the centers has an aero
space education director and a small staff of support personnel. This director
and staff are not specifically an advertising department, but do direct the
promotions and pass on materials to be produced to the graphic designers at
each center (Hull).
ORGANIZATIONS UNITE
In 1992, 15 aviation professional organizations and corporations formed
the National Coalition for Aviation Education. Administered by the FAA and
managed under the auspices of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association,
the coalition is a lo
osely-grouped organization that acts as a limited clearinghouse of sorts for
aerospace education information to the public. The coalition does not advertise
per se', it mostly gets mentioned in the respective organizations' own
publications, and then uses t
hat publicity for promotional needs. The main development out of the coalition
so far has been its Guide to Aviation Education Resources. This is a
reference/bibliography to all of the member organizations and services they
offer as far as youth and publi
c education. The guide asks that each individual organization be contacted for
information. In this sense the coalition is not a clearinghouse, as the public
is directly communicating with the member organizations. For the most part, the
coalition is mere
ly a faade for public relations purposes. Most points of contact at the member
organizations are either the public relations office, or an office for
education services.
The National Air and Space Museum has its own Education Services
Department to handle advertising. This office offers education workshops to
teachers. Advertising is handled through the various ad departments within the
organization, however.
A STABLE ENSEMBLE
At the Northwest Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In and Sport
Aviation Convention, in Arlington, Washington, a staff of four to five people
work on various aspects of the association's goals, one of which is aerospace
education. Barbara Lawr
ence is director of marketing for the Fly-In and is the only paid employee of
the Fly-In organization. She oversees and directs the activities of the
department, as well as acting as an on-site administrator for the Fly-In in a
managerial function. Her ti
me is split between the two functions. Lawrence has recruited a stable ensemble
of volunteers that all complement one another in their specific marketing
strengths. She has a photographer, a graphic artist, a public relations
professional, one or two stud
ent interns and herself to hammer out advertising and marketing material. This
has not always been the case. Lawrence has worked steadily over the past few
years to bring the current, well-rounded staff into existence, as it used to be
just herself workin
g the entire department. Just last year she added the student internship
program to the Fly-In in order to augment resources.
In the office, Lawrence usually is master planner for all marketing
events and presides over the completion of all projects. Her job is mostly
managerial, although more often than not she is "in the trenches" endlessly
licking stamps on letters
and sorting bulk mail bundles. The graphic designer and public relations
professional work outside of the office and communicate with her via phone and
e-mail. Lawrence and the one or two interns work in a modest to small-sized,
but well equipped, office
at the Arlington Airport, nestled among the ultralight aircraft hangars.
NO STAFF AT ALL
The Washington Pilots Association Aviation Academy really has no
advertising staff at all. Instead, this organization depends on volunteer
talent to advertise the services it offers. This method of advertising is not
very reliable, as one year's a
dvertising and promotion projects can be very strong, while the next year
promotions can be especially weak. The Aviation Academy is set up so that every
one to two school years a new director of the organization is brought in from
the general membership
of the Paine Field chapter. The role of all academy functions falls on this
person, and although there might be others off in the wings waiting to help,
oftentimes this help goes unused or is "touch and go" at best. Another
advertising anathema of the Acade
my is the location of the office, which travels with the volunteer director.
This unsettled management behavior is the reason why the Aviation Academy, a
noble and good aerospace education program, has not expanded to its full
potential. All things said,
however, for its lack of management and advertising prowess, the Academy makes
up for in its program-flights, tours, museums, and six weeks of classes for
$35.
GO BACK to the front page.
Created: Tuesday, March 05, 1996, 6:25:57 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 05, 1996, 6:25:57 PM