10 of my fondest memories from 10 years at Aberdeen International Airport

The year is 2009 and I've just completed my degree in Corporate Communications at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen when I hear of an interesting opportunity to join Aberdeen Airport (at the time known as "BAA Aberdeen"). Naturally I apply for the hotly-contested position and end up joining the airport as a "Commercial Student" on an 8-week placement.

Fast forward over a decade and I've been fortunate to enjoy a rewarding, varied and massively interesting career in a leading travel sector business - covering roles in retail, aviation development, marketing, e-commerce and digital.

So how do you capture a decade of experience into a single article...? Let me tell you it is very difficult! However, as a personal exercise I've tried to capture 10 of my fondest memories from my 10 years at Aberdeen International Airport. So here we go...

1. The world of aviation development

One of the most fascinating and unique areas of working within Commercial at an airport is aviation development. In the earlier years of my career I held a dual-role of aviation development and marketing as half of a team of two at Aberdeen Airport.

Our job was to develop business cases for airlines to fly from from Aberdeen to airports all over Europe and although a steep learning curve, it really helped me to understand exactly how the "airport machine" works. Utilising data around un-served or under-served routes from Aberdeen, and presenting them alongside a positive narrative around the airport, its marketing services and the surrounding region were key to winning those all-important deals. Remember, in this context you are competing with airports all over the world to secure airline capacity!

Some of our most enjoyable wins were:

• The introduction of Lufthansa for thrice-daily flights to Frankfurt
• The introduction of Aer Lingus for daily flights to Dublin
• Expanding the Thomson (now TUI) network to include more summer sun
• easyJet adding popular ski destination Geneva to its Aberdeen network

Above: the "Routes" conferences are like speed-dating for airports and airlines.

The job function is so much more than pulling together slick proposals - it's about data, timing, relationships, trade activity, event attendance and B2B / B2C marketing support. I fondly recall travelling to Abu Dhabi as a still fresh-faced 20-something to attend "World Routes" a huge international annual conference that is basically speed dating for airlines and airports - walking in 41 degrees Celsius with a bag full of airline proposals... what a life!

Above: Checking out the (mid-build) Scottish Government stand for Aberdeen in Abu Dhabi, getting ready for the World Routes conference.

Having seen the value that these conferences bring to a local region, I was pleased to be part of the team that pitched for (and won) the opportunity to bring the "Routes Europe" conference to Aberdeen for the first time. Working with local councils, government, venues and other stakeholder, this presented a unique opportunity to showcase our region and airport to decision-makers in the international aviation community.

Above: welcome stands at the airport and exhibition centre for delegates at the Routes Europe conference, held in Aberdeen in 2015.

2. Launching new air services

When you work in the long-tail and often unpredictable game of aviation development, the thrill of landing a new destination for your airport is huge! I have been fortunate to launch many air services over the last decade, and it is on these occasions you have the opportunity to be creative and showcase the unique characteristics of the destination and airline to the local audience of prospective passengers.

Here are some of the marketing campaigns we have ran to launch new destinations:

• Rolled a giant banner down Aberdeen Snowsports Centre to celebrate Geneva

• Free Belgian waffles in Aberdeen City Centre/the airport to celebrate Antwerp

• Surprised passengers in our departure lounge by disguising professional singers as "staff" to launch new sunny destinations with Ryanair

• Sent our own viking out to visit the Aberdeen travel trade to launch Kristiansund (Norway)

• Introduced our digital audience to the real-life TUI crew who would fly passengers to seven direct destinations from Aberdeen

It was an honour to therefore win the Routes Europe Marketing Award in 2013 for our efforts in campaigns such as those above.

It is also an un-written rule that when an airport launches a new destination, they do so with a cake - and we have designed some superb variations. In fact, there's an aviation community judging panel just for voting on the best one every week!

Here are some of my personal favourites:

British Airways to London City

airBaltic to Riga

TUI to Rhodes

3. Designing and launching a new brand

I recall one of the big challenges that was presented to myself when working as part of the Aberdeen Airport marketing team was when our MD at the time (now CEO) came into our office stating "I want to change the name of the airport to Aberdeen International Airport". See below for our older name variations.

Above: upon my joining the airport in 2009, Aberdeen Airport was owned by BAA (British Airports Authority), which also owned Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Southampton airports.

Above: the airport name and slogan at the time of our decision to rename the airport.

This was in 2012, and signalled an ambitious change in direction for the airport as we looked to secure new air services across Europe in support of the local and national economy. Being only three years into my career I do not think at the time I quite understood the all-encompassing size of the task in hindsight...

We set-off on a journey to firstly create a brand that all internal and external stakeholders agreed with, and then began the implementation of a set of brand guidelines and a re-defined identity under the "Aberdeen International Airport" banner. I was in a unique position where I was given the privilege of designing the new identity including logo and content assets myself for approval by the wider business. The list was massive:

• A new logo with the strong "Aberdeen red" pulling through, and associated trademarking / registrations

• A customer charter that outlines our promises to our customers

• A comprehensive set of usage guidelines for our new identity

• Lots of new signage

• Staff attire including scarves, ties, lanyards and shirts

• A media release explaining the changes

• A striking omni-channel marketing campaign that showcases the new name

4. Creating and growing a world-class digital eco-system

A couple of years into my career it was becoming clear that someone locally in Aberdeen was going to be tasked with taking control of the airport's digital channels and systems as part of the BAA "Digital Decentralisation" away from a formerly Heathrow-centralised model. As a young and technically-literate marketer that task was given to me, and I embarked on what would be a career-shaping digital journey that has taken me to where I am today in my current capacity of E-Commerce and Digital Manager.

Starting with website content management, I was soon the go-to person at Aberdeen Airport for all things digital. All services were tendered locally in the months and years to come including websites, e-commerce, CRM, PPC/SEO, affiliates, and mobile app development.

Above: An early (non-mobile-responsive) version of our website before it was decentralised for local control. Below is our award-winning website as it is today.

This was steep learning curve but one I am glad I stuck with as we have spent the subsequent years building a world-class and frictionless digital eco-system that has since won multiple international awards and been a finalist for many more.

Above: Our e-commerce system and website are now more inter-linked than ever before, enabling a seamless experience for the user.

We now have (at the time of writing) over 100,000 followers on social media, millions of customers on our CRM database, one of the biggest e-commerce presences of an airport of our size and millions of unique visits to aberdeenairport.com annually. This gives me a great sense of pride having watched these channels grow and develop after (more often than not) launching them personally. The Commercial team at Aberdeen International Airport has taken to these channels and learned to use them to a high standard which has facilitated the impressive growth.

Above: An early 2012 version of the airport's Twitter page (6.8k followers), to today's situation (56k followers).

The channels will continue to grow in accordance with the Digital team's mantra of a world-class frictionless digital passenger journey which will be supported by an intelligent use of CRM data to personalise the online experience and make the systems easier to use.

5. Witnessing our Terminal Transformation first-hand

One of the first large scale capital projects that I encountered at Aberdeen International Airport was the ￡10m investment to extend the main runway by 124 metres back in 2011. This project held a great deal of local significance as it not only enabled the airport to attract new airlines and open up new destination possibilities, but also allowed existing airlines to operate more efficiently.

Above: Works to extend the Aberdeen International Airport runway opened up new possibilities for airlines, and a framework for future growth

A theme emerged - how can we use our space more efficiently to facilitate growth? Enter an ambitious programme of Terminal Transformation.

Above: the demolition of a cargo building adjacent to the terminal and creation of a first floor allowed for the complex and ambitious re-shuffling of in-terminal space and transformation of around 95% of passenger-facing floor space. Also a picture of myself taking a peek behind the scenes during the build, something I have been fortunate to experience.

Now in its final stage, I have been extremely fortunate to have witnessed the transformation of around 95% of the passenger-facing areas of Aberdeen International Airport as we have tirelessly delivered this ￡20m investment to benefit local travellers. Below are some before and after pictures showing the stark contrast

Above: Some examples of the terminal as it was before - World Duty Free, our passenger lounge, baggage reclaim and security search

The airport is now unrecognisable to what it was even five years ago, and is now fully-equipped to deal with many years of growth with a state-of-the-art facility equal to the management ambition.

Above: a few of the many improvements made, including new arrivals, security, shopping, eating and lounge areas.

You can find out more about the project here.

6. Managing a continuous flow of engaging content

Leading the digital strategy for an international presents some amazing opportunities to light your creative spark. Over the years we have become experts in the promotion of the key attractions on our destination route network, our airport services such as shopping, eating and passenger lounges. We also create various pieces of content that promote our involvement with the community or help to tell a story about the terminal / travel experience.

Above: one of our biggest omnichannel campaigns to promote our destination network in recent years - with the initial concept coming from a talented group of students working in collaboration with Robert Gordon University

In the last decade I have been involved in literally thousands of campaigns and content productions but there are several that stand out from the crowd, see below:

We surprised passengers with a performance from the Red Hot Chilli Pipers to celebrate the opening of our new International Arrivals

We made our security staff into stars as we gave tips on how to sail through airport security.

We created a series of informative videos to explain the benefits of airport car parking

We launched the UK's first Airport Therapy Dog programme to a hugely positive media reaction - more on that here

We appealed to local residents with interesting destinations from their doorstep

We showcased new things happening inside and outside the terminal to engage and inspire our audience

We appealed to local football fans as the club made exciting ventures into European competition

7. Spreading the good word

A big part of working for an international airport, essentially a public service to millions of people annually, is that people want to know about what’s going on there. In my role, a combination of marketing, e-commerce and digital, there have always been opportunities to showcase the work that we do in these areas, and more generally share the good news from the airport.

My personal belief is that you should where possible work for a company that you are passionate about, and act as a brand advocate for that company – this is something I have always tried to do.

A few examples are below in particular around showcasing the digital developments at Aberdeen International Airport:

Above: Various lectures, recruitment days, and shared projects that I have enjoyed as part of giving back to Robert Gordon University, the place where it all began for me over ten years ago. It is encouraging to see so many young people locally taking an interest in digital, and I have an active involvement in the current successful MSc Digital Marketing course

Above: We also demonstrate our digital developments in the local and national media

8. The opportunity to keep innovating and lead the way

The only constant in digital is that of change. At Aberdeen International Airport I realised this from very early in my career and from that point onward we have always looked to lead the way in providing an exceptional digital experience for our users.

We were among the first airports in the world to launch things such as:

• Single-sign-on across web and booking system
• Personalised flight timelines
• Apple Pay and Wallet
• Flight price insider tips
• User generated content destination galleries

Above: Apple Pay/Wallet, insider destination tips and UGC social wall developments

To understand the innovation potential in our sector we have continuous re-evaluation cycle with suppliers, finding the best agencies and retaining them. We also visit digital and industry specialists such as Google, Salesforce, travel conferences and other airports to share learning.

Naturally there are many other innovations in the pipeline – keep an eye on our digital channels to see them when they become public.

9. Being awarded for our efforts

With all of the effort that goes into some of the things listed earlier in this article, it is always thoroughly appreciated when the efforts are recognised.

Speaking solely about e-commerce and digital, we were thrilled to hear that this year we scooped two international awards within the airport sector “Moodie Awards”. Aberdeen International Airport won “Best website” for our personalised flight content, and “Best e-commerce” for our frictionless booking journey that interfaces with our website.

We have also won a national Big Chip Digital Award in 2017, again for our website. In 2013 the team I was a part of scooped a European Marketing Award from Routes, and our new white label car park "Park and Depart" won "Best New Car Park" at the British Parking Awards 2016.

Above: Our talented web development agency picking up the Big Chip Award in Manchester

Earlier in my career we have also been finalists for some big awards, including:

·       Adobe Travel Marketing Awards

·       Travolution Awards

·       Aberdeen City and Shire Tourism Awards

I have enjoyed seeing the wider airport recognised in recent times, including our Northern Lights Lounge being voted as the UK’s best lounge (and 2nd best in Europe) by Priority Pass members, and the airport being shortlisted as Europe’s best airport under 4 million passengers by ACI.

10. Working in collaboration with exceptional teams and partners

Of course, none of the things mentioned in this article would have been possible without a solid and committed group of colleagues, agencies and stakeholders.

Over the last ten years I can honestly say that the team at Aberdeen International Airport and the wider AGS Airports group (all the way from very top) have supported, challenged and worked as an outstanding team to help us reach our digital and wider airport goals.

We have been able to find an amazing portfolio of specialist agencies and external partners who have skills far beyond my own to able to develop our vision for the digital strategy on the front line.

At AGS level, I have met some colleagues who are extremely talented and able to ramp up the group digital innovations as we continue to lead the way.

And on a personal level, upon my reflection of the last decade in this article, all I can say in this instance is “thank you” to all of the many devoted individuals who have worked tirelessly to get us to where we are today. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next ten years!