Boeing using ‘brand journalism’ to highlight its efforts

Producing a catchy website might not seem like a major priority for an aerospace giant that competes for multibillion-dollar contracts from governments and airlines.

After all, a defense ministry evaluating various fighter jets isn’t going to Google up a supplier in the way you’d locate a Thai restaurant or a discount flight to Las Vegas.

But the Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing has embraced the practice of brand journalism, which uses storytelling techniques to highlight its work. The website is part of a broader communications strategy that makes use of a practice with its roots in newspapers and newscasts.

“It’s all about reputation,” says Todd Blecher, communications director of Boeing’s corporate office and a former Bloomberg Pentagon reporter.

To be a successful global company in this industry, Boeing—whose 2010 revenue was $64.3 billion—wanted to strengthen its relationships with decision-makers among its customers and to be recognized as a good corporate citizen that people wanted to see succeed.

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