AVbuyer.com

Flying high in Kingston

We are all familiar with online shopping, whether we're buying holidays, cars or even homes. Today, the internet is also an invaluable tool in the aviation marketplace to help facilitate the sale and purchase of jets and planes worldwide.  

The challenge

AVBuyer.com is one of the top three websites listing both private and commercial aircraft for sale. Their philosophy is to link buyers and sellers across the globe both quickly and easily.

The company contacted Kingston University regarding a database issue after the MD, John Brennan, met staff at an IT event in the Faculty of Computer, Information Services and Mathematics.

From further discussion about the business's requirements and needs, it emerged that AVBuyer.com would benefit from support and advice on their online marketing. The team needed to ensure that they were following best practice for email campaigns and wanted to improve website usability to provide the optimum experience for their customers.

The solution

Two consultancy projects were carried out initially for the AVBuyer.com marketing team. Professor Les Hatton provided advice on email campaigns and Dr Martin Colbert focused on the usability of the website, while ensuring that AVBuyer.com was meeting its business objectives. This included engaging buyers, sellers and advertisers and encouraging users to sign up to newsletters, alerts and magazine subscriptions.

His recommendations were then tested and delivered via a knowledge transfer 'Innovation Associates Programme'. This involved a Kingston graduate being recruited for six weeks to work under Dr Colbert's supervision.

Following the success of this project, Professor Jonathan Briggs has been providing World Aviation with further consultancy, specifically looking at search engine optimisation and social media. The aim was to educate and enable the team to then manage their online marketing activity independently.

The outcomes

The expert knowledge transferred to World Aviation's marketing team has helped the company to keep updated with sector developments to aid future decision making and strategic planning. It has also enabled the company to build a business case for further development of the website, which it is currently undertaking.

"We have found many benefits of working with the team at Kingston University. Of most importance for us was the insight that Professor Les Hatton brought to our email marketing management. We were also very lucky to have found a superb graduate whose contribution to our usability studies was invaluable. I would certainly recommend businesses to look at the advantages of working with Kingston University. We found them more cost effective than commercial companies, keen and very able." John Brennan, MD, AVBuyer.com.

Consultancy at Kingston University

Have you considered employing consultancy services from a university?

With expertise in a number of areas, current and relevant research knowledge, plus access to excellent facilities — our academics could bring real benefits to your company or organisation.

Contact our friendly team today to find out more. Our business development managers have years of industry experience and will work closely with you to discuss solutions to meet your needs. We are also able to assist in identifying suitable funding schemes that support collaboration between businesses and universities.