TOUCHDOWN: PORTER LANDS SUCCESS WITH HIGH-FLYING COMMUNICATIONS

Veritas Team Huddle Compiled By Kathy Murphy

Sure, initially this week’s announcement of a new member of the board of directors at Porter Airlines doesn’t seem like a lot of news. But when you look at it in the context of ongoing announcements and media relations outreach the company has been doing over the last six months, it becomes obvious that a broader (and effective) communications campaign is helping the company successfully position itself in what is a challenging economic climate for anyone in the airline business. With that in mind, Team Veritas is awarding Porter a solid Touchdown. They are obviously building value for their brand and utilizing communications tactics like floating balloons (tease of potential future IPO, new route expansions), exclusives with business sections of national newspapers (recent piece in the Financial Post by Paul Brent) and participating in industry announcements (recent announcement re: government security funding for Island Airport). Porter is clearly demonstrating that they get the value of driving news and leading the cycle. By being ‘out there’ on a regular basis, they are showing leadership which then begets confidence – both critical elements when considering the challenges their sector is currently facing. As one of my colleagues put it, Porter is doing it right. They aren’t being speculative in a ‘blue sky’ way, but they are cleverly foreshadowing future moves while staying on message - and charting their own course as a result. Nice work, Porter.