The Challenge
A Real Airport Nobody Could Find.
The old site was functional but modest: a few pages, a few photos, and a story that hadn’t fully been told yet. For a public airport sitting 25 minutes from downtown Chicago, with two FBOs, full customs, and a runway long enough for any business jet flying, there was a lot worth saying that simply wasn’t being said.
Schedulers and dispatchers had more reason to land at Gary than they knew, cargo operators couldn’t yet see the 18-position expansion already underway, and the airport’s biggest annual moment, the Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, was approaching as the perfect stage to change that.
THE RIGHT AUDIENCES WERE OUT THERE, AND GARY HAD EXACTLY WHAT EACH OF THEM WAS LOOKING FOR.
Business aviation airport marketing is fundamentally a positioning problem, and GCIA had a strong position waiting to be claimed. General aviators, cargo operators, and incoming commercial carriers all needed something different from the site, and the opportunity was building an experience that finally gave each of them a reason to look twice.
What We Did
Rebuilt Around Who Needs to Land.
We rebuilt the site around three audiences, giving general aviators, cargo operators, and commercial carriers their own pages, proof points, and calls to action so each one landed somewhere that actually spoke to them. Alongside it, we produced a video for the Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference in New Orleans, with drone footage of the runway against the Chicago skyline and motion graphics that brought the airport’s real advantages to life.
Gary’s story was a compelling one. Less congestion than O’Hare, faster turnaround than Midway, customs on site, and two FBOs competing for the business. For a scheduler who hadn’t considered Gary before, it’s the kind of argument that changes the routing conversation entirely.
Strategy & Positioning
Persona research, site architecture, and conversion mapping for three audiences with different jobs to be done.
Web Design & Development
A new GCIA website on WP Engine, fully owned and editable by the airport team with no agency dependency required to update it.
Conference Video
Drone footage, motion graphics, and a positioning narrative built for the Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference booth in New Orleans.
Audience Architecture
Distinct pathways for general aviators, cargo operators, and commercial carriers, so each audience lands on a page that actually speaks to what they need to know.
The Result
What the Airport Team Finally Could See.
Distinct Audience Paths
Built into the new site, each with its own proof points and call to action.
FBOs Represented
With dedicated positioning on the site, giving schedulers a reason to compare and choose.
Promotional Video
Produced and deployed at the Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference in New Orleans.
Gary/Chicago International Airport had the runway, the FBOs, the customs facility, and the proximity to one of the world’s busiest aviation markets. What it needed was a way to say all of that out loud, to the right people, in the right rooms. The conference video did that in New Orleans. The new website does it every day after. For a regional airport with this much going for it, the best part of this project is that the story only gets better from here.
If You're Trying to Tell a Regional Story, We Know This Territory.
Whether you're positioning a place, marketing what makes a community worth investing in, or helping decision-makers see what they've been flying past, that's the kind of work we do and where we tend to do it best.