Messaging that resonates with a community during airport construction

Airports throughout the world are remodelling, expanding and upgrading to handle increasing travel demand and Salt Lake International Airport (SLC) is no exception. In 2020, SLC opened the first new hub airport built in the USA in the 21st century. There were many challenges along the way, such as a worldwide pandemic and an earthquake with an epicentre just miles away from the airport. Perhaps the most monumental task was to build a 4 million square foot airport adjacent to an operating one. But beyond navigating construction and operations, building support for a new airport — when the existing airport was so beloved in the community — created additional challenges. SLC’s communication and marketing team was tasked with crafting messages to help the community navigate this change, while also educating, informing and engaging the public. This paper discusses how, in order to provide a roadmap for communicating through the massive construction project, a Strategic Communication and Marketing Plan was developed for The New SLC Redevelopment Program that outlined goals and audiences, messaging, branding, marketing, traditional and social media and video production. The paper presents how the campaign was rooted in research and continually adjusted based on feedback and other evaluation mechanisms. The first step in developing a comprehensive communication plan was to conduct research by surveying SLC’s audiences prior to undertaking a branding programme. An important research component was to identify key audiences and stakeholders, including internal audiences — such as employees and tenants — to help spread the project’s message through grass-roots efforts. Once feedback from the survey was compiled, a brand was developed that resonated with the intended audiences. Just as important was to develop strategic messaging to inform audiences, while also educating and engaging. Next, determining the most effect ways to deliver the message was key, and was done through a combination of advertising, events, press conferences and traditional and social media.