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![[Interview] Gary Wicks shares how Boeing Commercial Airplanes takes the social media bull by its horns](https://simpliflying.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/screenshot.jpg.webp)
If you’re wondering why Boeing has such a strong social media presence, even though they can’t sell any planes on Twitter, we’ve got the answers for you in this interview. Boeing wants to position itself as a “forward thinking, thought leading driver of innovation in the industry”, shares Director of Digital Strategy at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Gary Wicks. He believes that social media offers the most efficient tools to accomplish this goal.
Growing up fast!
Though Boeing had traditionally been buttoned up and corporate, the company was forced to act in 2010 when an eight year old, Harry, received a form letter for his suggested design for a plane. The episode blew up on social media. At that time, Todd Blecher, Boeing’s Head of Communications, began using Twitter to respond to supporters of Harry. “We’re expert at airplanes but novices in social media. We’re learning as we go,” he wrote in one message.
787 inspired social strategy
At Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the digital strategy is led by Gary Wicks, who is based out of Seattle. We caught up with him personally, to understand how their efforts have evolved since the early days of caution. And what we learnt left us impressed. Here are some key points from the interview:
- How the 787 marketing program led Boeing into the digital marketing world [00:46]
- How “Name the plane contest” lead to “Dreamliner” [01:22]
- The evolution of digital strategy at Boeing Commercial Airplanes [01:50]
- How digital content from 787 inspired the content strategy for 747-800F [02:20]
- Managing the social channels strategy at Boeing Commercial Airplanes [02:58]
- Delivering a seamless brand experience across channels [03:46]
- Resource strategy for social media at Boeing Commercial Airplanes[04:17]
- What goals Boeing is trying to drive with digital media [05:30]
- Behind the scenes of the “Build your Dreamliner” app [07:03]
- How “Build your Dreamliner” advanced the momentum of the 787 [08:04]
- What’s next for Boeing and its digital strategy [08:41]
