"It was clear after my first year as the Director of the Joint Service Open House Air Show at Andrews AFB, that my P.A. office, for various reasons, could not adequately promote future shows to the level it needed. The following year, we interviewed countless advertising agencies and thankfully we were able to bring Herb Gillen Advertising on board as a civilian contractor to supplement our existing resources. Herb Gillen Advertising gave our show a professional shine, negotiated great deals with local media, brought us outstanding PR exposure, and most important - they were very easy to work with. Our show was so successful that we had to close our gates temporarily because we were above capacity. Herb Gillen Advertising's promotional campaign did the job and got us the increase in attendance we were looking for. I would highly recommend them to any show, military or otherwise, looking to increase their attendance."
Lt. Col. Andrew Lourake (USAF - Ret.)
Former Executive Director - Joint Service Open House - Andrews AFB
Public Relations
We love to tell our clients' stories. Air shows and performers provide exciting storylines for media but it takes a unique understanding of the air show world to frame those stories and pitch them to get the most successful media coverage. Our air show expertise combined with our years of media relations experience allow us to quickly establish a presence in any market. We've been successful gaining media in the top markets across the U.S. (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, Dallas/Fort Worth, Seattle and many others) as well as developing relationships in the mid-size and small markets that are also so important.
For many of our clients, we provide full PR services as part of a comprehensive marketing retainer package. Other clients may have us serve only as their PR agency. We have been there for shows in good times and bad, including in the unfortunate aftermath of three separate performer fatalities, weather cancellations, traffic & parking nightmares, jet team cancellations and other potential damaging storylines. Our work includes providing PR consultation to the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) in response to accidents, Sequester, and other potentially damaging storylines to the air show community.
Additionally, we served as the PR agency of record for National Aviation Hall of Famer Sean D. Tucker and Team Oracle and for John Klatt and the Air National Guard. Our work on their behalf garnered media attention in such media as Fox News, the L.A. Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and provided millions of dollars in publicity value.
