Mental shake-up communication needed – interview with GearUp TV CEO Liz Moscrop

Once back after EBACE 2023, I asked myself over and over again - what have we done to avoid disruption during airshows? Why has the industry become such an easy target? What needs to be changed here and now to educate people about the importance of the industry? I decided to reflect on the subject with a colleague I've had the pleasure of knowing for a while, Liz Moscrop, CEO of GearUpTV. Join our discussion:

 

T.O. Morning Liz, finally two “ladies in red” of aviation. What I would like to discuss with you is an issue which is worrying in fact. We saw each other for the last time at EBACE, with Greenpeace activists disturbing the event, accusing business aviation industry being climate criminals. What we’ve missed in our communication to arrive in a situation like that?

L.M. I think there is a. little bit of historical. And I think we have to look at our own conduct over the years. I’ve long said that we need some of the users of business aviation to be more vocal about why they use business aviation. Whether that is to get to a facility that is   remote that employs peoples; whether that is for safety, as in a case of big football team or big bands that we all like to go and see; whether is that to transport organs to safe people’s life… There are so many really important reasons why business aviation exists. For a long time a lot of owners wanted to(understandably, I can see why they had) to hide behind it a little. We as an industry haven’t been ask full to enroll them to tell the story why it is so valuable to use it. I think there is a little bit of that. We’ve got a different environment today. Everyone needs to be pulling together just to say this is what we do as an industry.

T.O. What do you think… When it happened, after first emotional reaction, I thought that we need to go deep in explaining, educating companies, large public, even end consumers, about how they should communicate about business aviation. Do you think we need to be very precise even with numbers. And tell how many jobs a business aircraft is bringing to the society? Should we tell this aircraft bring that many jobs to the regions, this is the economic impact, will people understand better if we talk that way?

L.M. 100%! Today’s communication’s environment is very much video. A lot of young peoples will get their news, will do their research on TikTok now rather than on YouTube. If you look at the creativity on that platform, the way people are telling stories, it is incredible, it blows me away! How short and sharp a video can be. And you can really put a lot of information in a short amount of time. But if we are not there and telling short form stories as well as longer form, more considered podcast style conversations like we are doing now, we are really taking ourselves to a hole where it might be very very difficult to get out from. Because the other thing it is important to remember, as AI got its pace: that is picking the information and translating this information into what most likely is out. Ans if anything what is out there is a negative story, the waste majority is a negative story about business aviation, and we are not there… Then again, we need to be really mindful and we’re not living in 1997, 2007 or even 2017 now. We’re in a very different environment!

T.O. I know you for some years and I think you have a very right message – story telling. Because each and every company, each and every investment, achievement. It has a story. Do you see people thinking they are telling the story (short or long) or they are still in the past as you said still in pre-covid marketing thinking yet?​

L.M. I totally agree! I was at the press conference at EBACE (I won’t say which one) and there were four middle age white guys on the stage giving a lot of data about what their company was doing (and they are making airplanes). And at most of the conferences that was the team out there – middle age white guys. I love middle-age white guys, I am a middle-age white woman, but you know, we need to see more diversity up there!  So, it’s is more relatable for a wider group of people. I actually said – you know this is great, but how I am going to tell this story to the protestors out there. Because what you’ve given me.. I did not say it was boring, but it was the way they presented… There are so many more interesting ways they could do! You know with grafts and short media, they could show some of the plants they are getting the fuel from, they could show young people at computers doing the work to create this decarbonization strategy – millions of different imageries they could use. And its dead. It is the same I’ve seen since I’ve been in industry which is 20 years. So…we need to change! 

T.O. We need to do something! I met my ex-company in Geneva. Again, it was the same message, same way of communication. As I know them for a long time I said - guys, it is boring, please – let’s dance on the table, let’s spread the message in a different way! Maybe it will not be the right way, but just by doing something different, you will be heart! I am pretty much a little bit worried about guys who are thinking like back in 2005, 2010; The emergency of situation in not yet in the head of all marketing guys. What would you suggest we do here and now? We talk first to marketing departments. Or we, as content creators, as media we fight for the industry by telling positive things, educating larger public, end consumers and even business aviation actors?  

L.M. Well you, I think you’re doing a brilliant job. I absolutely love what you do. You have, just everything you put out is golden and I just really applaud you for what you’ve done! You are a real voice of positivity for the industry. I think that the whole 50skyshades idea is just magic and I love it that you’re really creating some fantastic materials. I think definitely people should be coming to you!

T.O. There are a lot of people! But what I am trying to do – as I tell all media guys, marketing guys, PR agencies – we’re doing the same job! When we are together – we’re stronger! 

L.M. Definitely! Take this: I’ve got this lovely static background of a private jet. But you could take so many elements of this: you could take the ways seats are made, you show the story of supply chain; you could do the thinking how you even come to think seats that are here, why they are so comfortable, what is their sustainability story, how suppliers are selected; you could go out and look. Maybe very small companies whose life will depend on this. And then you could ideally took to someone who flies privately and  says – I chose this for my aircraft because of this… And really get much more in a holistic sense of what is actually happening, how aircraft is actually flies. Show it! I will always applicate the video, I jumped in videos in 2014 because I just seen what was happening then. What I would say to people – be very aware of AI, use it when you start to form your content. There are so many ways now we can search for what people are actually thinking, what they are looking at and feeling online. And just do a little bit of a mental shake up! It is not going to work… I still see a lot of amazing companies who have one “hero” video on the website, which is gorgeous. But it is same same…. Draw your inspiration from a lot of content creators out there. Because it has never been a better time to create storytelling, whether you do it visually or you do it in a podcast. We’ve never had a better opportunity to get the voice out that we have now. 

T.O. Do you think people, especially from big companies, are afraid of being different and of being ridiculous?

L.M. Yes! Particularly, the larger the corporation is, the more layers of decision makers you have to do, it is a very different vibe. I don’t really do well withing them, I tried, I use to work with large companies, and it is not a fit for me. But I do understand how they work.  They talk about multi billions of dollars in some instances of products they have for sale. And that being said…. It takes longer for a large company to turn around. But we don’t have time that people thought we have. We have to speed up the way we do things and be more agile. So even large companies, yes, they need I would say to come to us! We are aviation marketing professionals, that’s exactly what we do! We’ve been doing this for a long time now! We actually get the industry. I think some of the thing that you’ve said – when people think they might look ridiculous, it is finding that convergence of perhaps beyond content creators by having that temper. You need to actually understand the industry, a little bit of monitoring, of collaboration. I collaborate with young content creators; I love working with young content creators. At the same time, I have knowledge they don’t, so it is a knowledge sharing as well.  

T.O. For last two years I think I have a very different vision of the industry I love, and I’ve been there for many years now in different roles… I have the privilege to work with one of my four daughters, even if it wasn’t her choice at the very beginning. She got really inspired. It is amazing the feedback I have – she sees things different. Obviously, she doesn’t have that much of experience. But sometimes, exactly for storytelling, what she tells I compared to what I know for years, and the result is something what can be totally different and fresh. Mental shakeup is necessary for everyone.  I definitely would love to organize something; I am getting ready to come up with an idea. Then I will reach out some content creators I know for years, and you will be one of the first to know what exactly I am planning to boom to help the industry. Because after covid, it happened so fast, everyone forgot about what business aviation was doing during covid. You know, when bad things are a little bit far away, people don’t remember those things. How many lives were saved thanks to business aviation? Nobody talks that much about medical evacuation, it is not a sad topic, this is business aviation saving lives each and every day. Everywhere in the world. All disaster relief missions – business aviation is coming. So, if we are pointed out as an easy target… There is one very interesting thing you told, when I saw things, you did for EBACE, it is actually there that people are investing in all innovations, heavily investing. Business aviation is not doing that only for people in business aviation. SAF it can be used by other industries. How many innovations which started in business aviation now are used in everyday life. People have no idea about that. So, I suggest we come stronger together, doing a marketing shakeup for marketing guys of big and small aviation companies. And let’s scream we are there for them; We can make changes and we can spread the message; it is necessary now! 

L.M. I think Tatjana you touched one very important thing when you said about big companies being afraid to look foolish. I think behind a lot of video content, when people appear on the video it is very exposing. So, you know for Top Top leaders, they have plenty of media training. So doing a lot more of that off the cuff…It is a sensible thing.  I always loved to do spontaneous videos; I love to be a little bit of fun with people. I think increasingly, you know, people get afraid to look silly. When you look at the brilliance of some of the content that is coming out, I will say TikTok again… But that are young people not being afraid to look silly. I think what is very important regarding this visibility thing, particularly for women. I’ve experienced that myself! You know – what do I look like, what do I sound, how do I look on the camera and getting very self-contentious.  Now, it is not the time to do that!  If I have one piece of advice for anybody in a large company small company – It is not about you, it is about much much bigger. Think about it is helping your child, someone you know. We are custodians, each generation is custodians of the world and the planet that we’ve got. So, it is up to us now!  Just speak up! Because it is no longer about us, it is not about looking silly, it is sharing the story in today’s storytelling culture. I think it is a brilliant idea creating something where people can learn how to do content.  It is massive. 

T.O. We will work on that! It was a pleasure! Thank you very much! I am looking forward to seeing you face to face on our new next event and as soon as I am ready to discuss potential cooperation, what we can all do together here and now, I will secretly reach out to you, and we will discuss.

L.M. I am very excited for that! Thank you Tatjana, thank you!