Air France 777F

[Shameel Kumar]

Originally Posted by Rhys Xanthis

...shelling out loads for advertising!

Rhys, you bring up a topic there which has always had me thinking. Why do Boeing and Airbus need to do any advertising or marketing to the public?

I mean, I understand that to a certain degree it is needed so that the general public accepts the aircraft and at times prefers to fly a particular aircraft.....but on the whole, it is not the public who purchase the aircraft, it's the airlines...and the airline's certainly don't need to be exposed to marketing campaigns such as TV and magazine advertisements because they surely already know which planes are being offered (heck, Boeing and Airbus probably approach them to let them know what models are being planned).

So in simple my question is: why do Boeing and Airbus need to actively advertise to the general public? I've seen Boeing and GE Aviation ads on US television, we see Boeing ads in aviation magazines, and of course there's the highly-publicised sales battle between Boeing and Airbus.

I understand marketing campaigns based around aircraft such as the 747, A380 and 787 because the general public may make a concious effort to fly on these aircraft...but on the whole, the majority of passengers wouldn't know the difference between an A320 and a 777-300ER. So why waste money advertising to the public when it's the airline's who purchase the planes?