CHALLENGE

The aviation industry is struggling to reduce its carbon emissions. As the “flight shame” movement grows, the hard-to-abate sector continues to grapple with this issue. On top of this, they’re also experiencing an existential threat as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts air travel. With the industry in trouble, Shell Aviation sought to help airlines tackle these immediate problems and pivot to new approaches so we all fly more, emit less and ensure that aviation remains a reliable and critical mode of transport.

INSIGHT

Through in-depth research and analysis, we found that while an expert in the additional topics we strived to address, Shell Aviation did not yet have established credibility in areas outside of fuel. However, by partnering with highly credible third parties, Shell could establish their own relevance to the airline C-suite on those topics. We also discovered an absence of an in-depth dialogue for how to solve top issues in aviation, including carbon emissions. This revealed an opportunity to provide best-in-class education and guidance while shifting perception of Shell from being just a fuel provider to a strategic partner.

IDEA

In early spring, we launched Flightpath, a digital thought leadership platform at the center of a multi-channel marketing campaign. For the content hub, we produced video interviews with experts from environmental organizations and Shell executives in conversation with distinguished environmental journalist Joel Makower of Greenbiz.

Originally, content focused on helping airlines understand this landscape and its solutions, such as sustainable fuel. But when COVID-19 interceded, we temporarily pivoted from sustainability to surviving the impact of the pandemic. As airlines dealt with the sudden and persistent halt of air traffic, we rapidly created webinars regarding microbe contamination in stagnant fuel. Today, with the immediate impact of the pandemic known and being managed, we’re continuing to provide airlines with the tools and solutions they need to address climate change.