Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Ouno Creative worked closely with the marcomms team at Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) to design, build and deliver a sophisticated interactive e-magazine called FIRST.

The magazine go-live date was timed to coincide with the staging of the rival Dubai Airshow, a cheeky PR move by the Farnborough Airshow team.

FIRST will promote the 2010 Farnborough Airshow on a global scale to exhibitors, trade visitors and the public. Each edition is packed with rich-media interactive features such as video interviews, footage of new products, 3D visualizations and animated graphics, sound effects and much more.

The e-mag's online interactive format makes it easy for a potential visitor to the airshow to purchase tickets or book accommodation online via links within the magazine itself. Potential exhibitors and advertisers can access essential show information, view a portfolio of stand designs, take a virtual 3D tour, download the Exhibitor Guide or advertisement rate cards.

Each edition will showcase a signature feature of the 2010 show, kicking-off with  an exploration of a new concept for 2010 - the Space Zone.

Ouno's Pitch

The idea for FIRST came from an initial pitch the Ouno Creative team made to the Farnborough International Board in July 2009.

"We had been steadily building our digital publishing expertise working on smaller projects for a number of clients in the publishing and corporate sectors. What we were looking for was an opportunity to really demonstrate the benefits of this medium." says Simon Pipe, co-director of Ouno Creative. "Farnborough Airshow gave us a huge canvas and a great subject matter to work with. We had seen the simple PDF promotion mail-outs used for the 2008 airshow and believed such a huge event deserved a better promotional push."

The Ouno team were responsible for the entire production process including research, writing and design through to the creation of audio/video content, infographics and 3D animations.

"The great thing about an e-mag is that it can tell a story in a way printed publications simply cannot." says Ouno co-director Adrian Broadway. "Pictures can come to life, graphics can animate over time and sound adds yet another dimension. And working with such exciting subject matter as huge airliners and powerful fighter jets, well it's a perfect match for this medium."

The Ouno team worked closely with Marketing Director Philippa Ewart  and her team of Michelle Clover and Danielle Jackson to develop a product that would act as a genuinely new and innovative marketing and sales tool - the first of it's kind in this market sector.

The e-mag was produced to a very tight schedule - a little over four weeks from first production meeting to final global distribution! To achieve such a fast turn around required close collaboration between Ouno and the FIA comms team. Together they planned out the scope of the publication over five editions, organized video shoots and scripts, edited copy and video footage.

By distributing FIRST magazine online FIA are able to send out as many copies as they require without the cost associated with print. 10,000 copies of First cost approximately the same to send to readers as 1 million copies - an economic saving that is hard to ignore for a truly international event like the Farnborough International Airshow.

FIL Chief Executive, Shaun Ormrod, is certainly an enthusiast: "FIRST really is a first because no other airshow has a magazine like this. We plan to produce four more editions between now and the launch of FIA 2010 and we are very keen indeed for our exhibitors and sponsors to get involved in the magazine. The publication offers plenty of opportunity for exhibitor promotion, interviews, features and editorial in the run-up to the event."

If you would like to see what a cutting-edge e-mag looks like then click on the link  and experience FIRST for yourself.