Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

2012 to 2018

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, REBRAND, AND REORGANIZATION OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT

 When Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) embarked on a new brand including a strong orange logo rather than its traditional blue and green one, the leadership understood what was perceived as a drastic change would require public acceptance, and hopefully applause. Pavlik and Associates as a consultant worked directly with the airport’s public relations team to audit all communications from the official unveiling event forward over a six-month period. This included print, digital, radio, television and social media platforms nationally—and even internationally. At the time DFW was the 10th busiest airport in the world, and positive media coverage was expected to continue to build its growing reputation among business and leisure travelers as well as the general public. 

 Stories were quickly reviewed to assure the key messages about the new logo were included in the coverage. Often times follow-up by the news team (which included Pavlik) occurred to encourage finetuning of the messages in subsequent stories. 

A strategic communications plan had been created prior to the reveal, and part of that process had included a complete audit and study of DFW’s already huge—and rapidly expanding—media database. In developing the media plan, carefully considered were all aspects of air travel such as customer service, convenience, parking, food and beverage options, entertainment, etc. While story angles were tweaked to appeal to news mediums’ various audiences, emphasis was always on key messages.

During this five-year period, Pavlik also led the strategic reorganization of DFW’s communications department, streamlining both external and internal communication channels for consistent messaging. This was a substantial project. Two thousand persons are employed by the DFW Airport board itself, while more than 200,000 persons are employed by the airlines and general operations contractors.

.