Exploring Aviation Marketing, Creative Strategies & Team Dynamics

In this insightful interview, Adeela Shahid shares her journey into aviation marketing, the challenges of content creation in a niche industry, and how she combines her passion for aviation and marketing. Adeela also discusses her day-to-day role at ABCI, key projects like Aeris Insurance, and the tools and trends she finds most exciting in the ever-evolving social media landscape.

⏰ Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction and interview start
0:26 – Adeela’s journey into aviation marketing
1:54 – Navigating the aviation industry during COVID-19
3:38 – Persistence in connecting and networking
5:06 – A day in the life at ABCI
6:29 – Key projects and favorite content
8:39 – Skills and team dynamics at ABCI
11:21 – Staying current with digital marketing trends and education
13:25 – Overcoming content creation challenges in a niche industry
14:52 – Exciting social media tools and trends: ChatGPT, Canva, Opus Clip
16:21 – Future of social media and humanized content
18:52 – Adeela’s dream to visit South Korea and inspiration from its culture
21:17 – Outside interests: Travel, Korean dramas, and family traditions
23:35 – Personal reflections and working with the ABCI team
26:15 – Wrapping up and discussing content repurposing Join us as we delve into the world of aviation marketing, building relationships, and the creative process behind impactful content!

All right, well, Adeela, it’s good to have some time to sit down and talk with you without being working frantically on something.

1
0:00:33
Yes, it’s a pleasure of mine as well.

2
0:00:39
Excellent. You do a lot of work with AVCI. People probably know you from the work that you do, and you interact directly with clients, which is amazing. And we hear great things from our clients about the work that you do.

2
0:00:59
So we’re really happy to have you. So let me ask you, what sparked your interest in aviation marketing, and how did you decide to pursue this particular career? Okay, so basically I was really interested in aviation since sixth grade because my uncle is in aviation

1
0:01:12
so I was a little bit inspired from the industry and the glamorous, the glamour it offers and aircrafts and engines and everything So I was really interested and it was like in my mind that I have to you know, do something in aviation. So Firstly I had this like idea of aeronautical engineering but later it, but later my interest, you know, got more into the management side. So, I got my admission in aviation management and in the four year degrees, I learned a lot about aviation and everything and I was like really

1
0:01:54
excited to join the industry. But when I graduated, it was COVID. So, you know, the condition of the industry was very bad. There were literally no job openings and even the people who were working, they were being fired and it was a chaos, especially in the aviation field, because I think that was the industry that was really impacted by COVID. So at that point, I had no other option but to go into other things like freelancing and etc. So I got myself skilled into digital marketing and I was doing digital marketing for a lot of projects like e-commerce and any field you can say. So it just clicked.

1
0:02:40
It just clicked in my mind that why not join the two main things that I love, which is aviation that I love and the marketing in which I have experience. So it just happened to me one day and I then I like completely optimize my LinkedIn profile and my other profiles and change them into like aviation marketing. I started searching into like, is there a thing about aviation marketing? Is this already happening in the industry?

1
0:03:08
Are there are very dedicated companies in aviation marketing or not. And I found out that it is a very limited, very limited people are doing both like aviation and marketing. You know, many few people who have an aviation background are actually into marketing. So I was like really excited. It felt like I have unlocked, unlocked something. So and then I started reaching out people in the industry. And that’s how I found you.

4
0:03:38
Right?

2
0:03:39
I know, I think that is a great marketing story because I think you reached out to me. I was busy at the time and I put you off for three months or six months or something. And you kept in contact and you kept engaging with my posts and with those.

1
0:04:00
And your clients. I was also engaging with your clients. Because I had this, like you will notice me, you will notice me. Right. So I kept engaging with your clients and on your post and then you messaged me and it’s been two and a half years, I guess two years maybe. Yeah, the rest is history.

2
0:04:22
That’s amazing. And so I just wanted to commend you and also let you know that that’s how, and let the listeners know, this is how marketing works. It doesn’t always work the first time. You have to keep building that relationship and building trust. And then over time, I saw that you were consistent, you were serious. The comments that you made were insightful and relevant and helpful.

2
0:04:47
And so over time, I built that trust to the point where, you know, it’s just like, well, she’d be great on our team. And, you know, I didn’t really have a role for you yet, but we kind of created one out of nothing. So that was very creative and insightful on your part to make that happen.

2
0:05:06
So can you tell us what a typical day looks like for you in your role at ABCI?

1
0:05:11
Yes, so my day basically starts with all the Basecamp notifications. It’s the whole list of Basecamp notifications. And some notifications are just not that important, just reminders. So I swipe them, swipe them, swipe them. And when I see that there is some, you can say, message written or someone is talking in our task, I keep them in my notification and then when I fresh up and get my morning tea and then after I go and check what the conversation

1
0:05:49
is about and what are my tasks and what are my pending tasks for today, what are the deadlines and then I start working on them and all you know the rest we do research we create content and each and everything replying to the message if if needed if if in a task my my point of view is needed I Message there and see what’s going on. And that’s how I really live for me in ABC. I look

2
0:06:19
Excellent. Excellent. So can you describe maybe some key projects or some of your favorite projects that you’ve been involved with?

1
0:06:29
Well, all of the projects are, you know, important to me on the same level because all clients of all clients and all are prioritized by me and you know, creating content for Aerostar and the Vision and especially Aries. Aries Insurance, I have created some funny content for them. So that was really interesting for me.

1
0:06:54
And especially when I’m creating content for our clients, it’s really great because I got to learn so much more about the industry, what’s happening in the industry. So it’s all the part of learning and everything. So it’s all really great.

2
0:07:10
Excellent. Yeah, I think that’s fun with Aris Insurance. You know, of course, insurance is difficult to market because it is not, you know, a beautiful new airplane. It’s not, you know, very visual or anything else. So I think, you know, what you’ve been doing with them,

2
0:07:26
you know, coming up with the funny posts and the trivia posts and other things is really helpful and unique and really helps them stand out. And of course, that helps that Tim has a great sense of humor.

1
0:07:37
So yes, yes, I was just I was just about to mention that many people might think that talking about aviation insurance is boring or it’s a dry subject, something like that, many difficult keywords and definitions involved. I get really interested with telling actual stories and some jokes, etc. So it’s kind of not that worrying, it’s really interesting. So I really like to work on Aries. And maybe I’m talking about Aries so much because this is the project I’m working on

1
0:08:10
right now. Right now? Right. Absolutely. All right.

2
0:08:15
So can you talk a little bit about the unique skills that you have that you bring to the team and how they fit with maybe some skill sets of other members of the team? I think one of the really cool things is the way that we work together. So maybe you could describe a little bit about that.

1
0:08:39
Yes. Well, I think I am a people’s person. I really adjust really quickly with people and I really enjoy working with the team and I try to understand what the other person is saying to me. You know, before getting to a judgment or before misunderstanding, I always clear my point that what the other person is demanding from me and what I have to deliver.

1
0:09:05
So I think that’s one of the unique skills that really helps bind the team. So I think that’s one of my greatest, you can say, skills that I bring. Yeah, the new, you must know Annie that just joined us. So I had, you know, I had a conversation with her before, you know, I helped her with the LinkedIn. So I knew her before, and we all,

1
0:09:30
we have many things in common. I don’t know, like we both watch foreign dramas, and like it’s really interactive and we really bond together. And similarly, Ali, we also have many things in common. Firstly, we’re both from the same country. So that’s really a bonding point.

1
0:09:51
We have so much similar to talk about. So yeah, people skill is really something that is a very important skill and required when you are working in a team, especially when many people have different point of views and different ways of seeing things. So being a people’s person is really helpful. Understanding each and every person’s point of view is really important.

2
0:10:17
Yeah, I really like the way you work together, you know, with other people and you’re so respectful of one another and so helpful to one another. That really, I think, makes it so much easier for me to come in every morning and see what happened overnight. And, you know, somebody had a problem, somebody helped them fix it, somebody else had another idea, and all of that comes together in such a really helpful and ego-less sort of a way. So I really like that, that, you know, we don’t have any prima donnas on our team. You’re all, you know, very, very helpful to each other. It’s kind of a nice little,

2
0:10:58
nice group dynamic. It’s fun to see.

1
0:11:02
Yes, because to achieve the client goal is our goal. So that’s the motive of our work Apart from that, I also bring my creativity and my designing skills, so those are also helpful. Of course, of course.

2
0:11:21
Right. So, you are in school right now. I know you’re staying current with the latest trends and best practices in marketing, social media, etc. Can you tell us a little bit about what you’re learning and how you’re applying it?

1
0:11:34
Yes, this semester we actually learned about digital marketing and the other subject was also marketing. That was digital marketing and the other subject was, you know, just marketing. And so we learned various strategies and the result just came and I got three out of four CGPM. Excellent.

1
0:11:56
So that’s, yes. So I get to keep my scholarship, that’s great news. So yeah, in digital marketing we learned a lot of stuff, but majorly my interest was social media. So we really learned a lot about the social media marketing analytics, and how we can promote our brand.

1
0:12:21
And we also did a project in which we completely did digital marketing of our project, so it was really good. It was a great experience. And I was also implementing all those strategies, like research strategies and you know, how to how to create messages or you can say copywriting according to customer demands what we have to write, but we don’t have to write how to make a brand, you know, a leader in the industry, etc. So there were a lot of things that I learned and also implemented in my content creation.

3
0:13:00
Excellent.

2
0:13:02
Great. So let’s talk about challenges. I know, you know, every job has its moments, you know. Something comes up and it’s like we all have to work to fix this problem or solve this challenge. Are there any challenges that you can remember that have come up? And can you talk a little bit about how you or

2
0:13:25
the team jumped in and made that work?

1
0:13:27
Yes, of course there are challenges whenever we are doing something. So basically the major challenge is, because I am part of the content team so we have to come up with new ideas you know every day new ideas and we are we all are in the aviation industry so and it is a you can say a small niche and I sometimes I feel like there are only few ideas that are going around and around so coming up with you know new ideas new perspective new way of seeing things it’s a challenge,

1
0:14:03
but obviously we have a proper process for the research in the content team. So following that process, it becomes really easy to come up with new content. Because we know, we do a thorough research, we know what have been done before

1
0:14:24
and what is the company doing now, what are their new, what are they doing new. So, all of that research combines together, so it’s really helpful to come up with new content. And you might not know, you will find new content in the research itself. You know, some ideas just spark from the research.

1
0:14:44
So yeah, this is one way of, you know, overcoming the challenge of finding new content.

3
0:14:50
Excellent.

2
0:14:52
So are there any social media trends or tools that you’re particularly excited about right now? What are your favorites?

1
0:14:59
Well, my favorite is ChatGPT, of course. I’m sorry? ChatGPT, of course, because it really helps in analysis of data. And it’s like really, you know, help us in understanding like difficult things or summarizing, basically summarizing stuff up for us.

1
0:15:23
So it’s really good to use that tool. And then we have Canva. It is also a really great tool. And after the updates, it’s also getting better. And the one tool that I really, really found useful is Opus Clip and you know the captions and the work is so much faster with Opus Clip you you are not like spending so many hours editing the video

1
0:15:48
like it can do it in like seconds so that is the tool that I really like and let me think if there is any other tool well well I’m the part of the content team so these are the major tools that I use. So yeah, for now, ChatGPT, Canva, and Opus Clip on top.

2
0:16:10
Excellent. So, are there any trends? What do you see happening in the next few years? What do you think social media is going to be like five years from now?

1
0:16:21
Well, I think, as you can see, in the last year and this year as well, we are seeing a lot of AI generated content. We are literally one glance on a post and we can tell it is written by Charjeevati. So I think people now are realizing who is putting effort and who is not putting effort and who is doing it properly.

1
0:16:44
It is not wrong to use Charjeevati, but are completely and totally relying on it without giving a, like completely trusting the tool is not a way to do marketing. We need to create that connection between us, our product and the audience.

1
0:17:01
So now I’m thinking people who are really serious about marketing, who are like really good marketers, will shift towards creating more humanized content. We will see more humanized content, the content that will literally relate to the audience. You will see less AI content. I think so.

1
0:17:16
People will still be using AI tools, but the content would be much better, more humanized and more relatable with the audience. Yes, that’s it. I think it’s kind of created two tiers.

2
0:17:28
You know, there’s terrible, terrible generated content, and then there’s really, really good content and there’s kind of a bigger gap between the two now than there ever has been. The bad content is getting worse and the good content is getting better. Do you agree?

1
0:17:50
Yes, yes. People who are good marketers, these tools are helping them create more better content. And those who were not marketers but just using chargivity and pretending to be marketers they are getting caught now. Right, right. Yes and I think video content is also going to be you know more we will see more in the in the next few years I think video content is going to be more popular and yeah and let’s see how it goes because technology is changing so fast we cannot predict

2
0:18:34
anything. Correct, correct. Yeah, we’ll all be surprised with some things that happen.

1
0:18:38
There could be holograms, we cannot say.

4
0:18:45
I don’t know.

2
0:18:46
We all be, yeah, metaverse.

1
0:18:50
That’s it.

2
0:18:52
You’ve mentioned a dream of visiting South Korea. What draws you to that destination and what would you like to do there?

1
0:18:59
People who are interested in, you know, K-pop culture, they will understand me. I love, I love Korean men. Like, I’m not kidding. They are so gentle men, like you know, they are just dream. So, I don’t know about the actual Korean men, but the Korean men that are shown in dramas are best. So, one of my reasons to visit Korea was to, you know, I was really inspired by the culture, not just one man, that’s the joke.

1
0:19:40
The culture, the food culture and the location, I really liked the location of South Korea, the culture, the technology. I was really inspired by Itaewon Airport, if you know. The technology there is top-notch, so much artificial intelligence and super, super high technology is being used on the Icheon Airport. And I was like, when I was looking for jobs in aviation, I was like really interested

1
0:20:10
to go there and you know, maybe find my career at that airport. Especially if you see airports like Singapore Airport, airport in Hong Kong, airport in Korea, they are like very, you know, high technology airports and they have made the airports in such a way that their airports are tourist attractions. Like the airports themselves are tourist attractions. They have concerts in the airports to attract people from other countries.

1
0:20:45
So I was really inspired by all of that information because I did a lot of research in aviation of Korea. So I was really like really interested that how if I go there, how I can, you know, pursue my career in Korea. So I did, I applied for scholarships, but then COVID happened and so many other reasons that I was not able to go there, but maybe in future I’ll visit to see Itaewon Airport.

2
0:21:12
That would be great. I think I would love to see that too. We’ll have to plan a trip.

1
0:21:17
Yes, please. The first one should be to Korea.

2
0:21:22
Right. So, outside of work, what do you enjoy doing?

1
0:21:27
Well, I like to travel and watching Korean dramas.

2
0:21:32
Of course.

1
0:21:34
So yeah, I like to travel, you know, but my mother not allow me very much, but whenever I get a chance, I go. There are many, you can say, historical places in my city, so I like to visit them, I like to know about the history, etc. able to convince my mother then I am also allowed to go outside the city. So yeah I really like to travel whenever I get the time and permission. Otherwise I watch Korean dramas and maybe go to park, meet friends, etc. Nice. Great. Is there anything else that we should be talking about or anything

1
0:22:12
I don’t know.

2
0:22:16
Right now, like you can add, like right now I am fully, fully immersed in, you know, preparing for my sister’s big day.

1
0:22:26
And I don’t know if she will be listening to this podcast, but she is a bridezilla. She’s a bridezilla. Oh my goodness. I think everybody kind of has a streak of that, you know. Yeah, like if you know, if we are talking about dress and I, somebody gives some opinions, she’s like, no, no, no, you don’t know, it’s my day, I will do it, you don’t know, you

1
0:23:06
don’t know. And then we are like, okay, do whatever you want. But it’s also emotional because you know my father just passed away so without him we really would have wanted him present for her and for all of us. So yeah sometimes it’s really emotional. I don’t know how it is in you know western countries but here when you marry you have

1
0:23:35
to leave your parents’ home and go to your husband’s home. So it’s like, we have been living together so long, I have always shared a room with

2
0:23:49
her, so it’s kind of emotional as well. Yeah, in Western culture, there’s a tradition where your father walks you down the aisle, you know To your your new husband. Is that something similar to?

1
0:24:05
Yes, you know the father or the brother, you know, they walk The girl To the room. Well, it was not basically a culture before but you know my country We are a big mixture of so many cultures. So So, something from this country, something from this country, we do all of the things in our weddings.

1
0:24:26
So, there’s a thing. So, now that my father is not here, so my brother will be walking her to her husband. That’s a very big honor for him, I’m sure.

2
0:24:39
Yeah. Yeah.

3
0:24:42
Great. Well, thank you so much for spending some time.

2
0:24:45
And, you know, I feel like I’ve had a chance to get to know you better outside of work a little bit. And of course, we really enjoy working with you all. I have worked with you for a long time. So thank you. Thank you for spending some time today.

1
0:25:05
Thank you so much for having me. And I hope the blue screen was not an issue.

2
0:25:12
It will be fine.

1
0:25:13
I feel like it is also, the glow is also on my cheeks.

2
0:25:18
Yeah, well it’ll be interesting to see, you know, and if, you know, what I’m going to do once we produce this or get the recording, I’m going to put it in Basecamp. If you would like to produce the shorts from this, you know, I think it would be great if you do that because then you know how you want it to look and how to represent it in a way that you want to. So, yeah, and then we have Faisal,

2
0:25:46
who does video editing as well. I’ll ask him to do the long video and just take out anything and see if there’s a filter or anything, if there’s anything that we can add or subtract or anything else to fix some of the issues.

2
0:25:59
But 99% of the time, it just shows up very occasionally, there’s a little flash of blue.

1
0:26:04
Okay, so we can also share that on our social media as well, like we can post this podcast on our social media channels like my Instagram, my LinkedIn.

2
0:26:15
Of course, of course, yes, absolutely. So it is your video to do with as you choose. You know, we’re going to do the long podcast episode and then put it on our blog, the podcast, etc, etc, etc. And then we’ll produce some shorts, put them on the YouTube channel as well, and ABCI social media. But you can make different versions or do whatever you like with the footage.

2
0:26:41
So it belongs to you. Sound good?

1
0:26:45
Yes, perfect. really, you can say, enjoyable and interesting to talk to you like this. And I think it is really great and it is better for our team as well. And the bond that we just shared, it’s also really great. So I really enjoy the teamwork of ABCI, the whole culture. It’s so great.

1
0:27:10
You don’t get to see this a lot in the corporate industry.

3
0:27:15
Right.

2
0:27:16
Well, I think all of us have come from jobs that we didn’t like for one reason or another. So we’ve learned what we don’t want to do, and we’re trying to make this what we do want, so that it’s what we enjoy about work, not what we dislike.