Controversy

Author

Ari Lewis
June 28, 2022

Hi everyone! I'm Ari Lewis, the co-founder of Payload. Welcome to my second space marketing newsletter. In this month's edition:

  • I share my views on how to navigate political issues as an aerospace employer

  • Turner Brinton shares his views on space journalism

  • I interview Jennifer Scholten, head of marketing at SpaceRyde

  • I share some space marketing jobs

  • I share some articles to help you do your job better

Sponsor Payload. Join companies such as Lockheed Martin, Xometry, and Maxar that partner with Payload to amplify their messaging to the space industry. Just reply to this email or book a time here and I'd be happy to talk advertising with you (or if you just want to talk space marketing).

Ari's View from Space

Graphic: Deloitte

The US Supreme Court made a monumental ruling last week overturning Roe v. Wade, which brought social unrest bubbling to the surface—and revealed, among other things, how workplaces have changed.

In the past, the rule of thumb was that work and politics were separate. Not anymore. The latest generation of workers are demanding change. A recent survey by Deloitte found that 37% of Gen Z employees say they’ve already rejected a job or assignment based on personal ethics. 47% of Gen Z employees leave a job within a year if they "don't feel heard".

Look no further than Disney. Last month the state of Florida passed a bill dubbed "Don't Say Gay." The bill prevents educators from teaching students about sexual orientation or gender identity. It turned into a communication disaster for Disney:

  • At first, Disney didn't issue anything publicly on the bill

  • Its employees protested and walked out

  • In response, Disney issued a statement coming out against the bill

  • In response to that, Florida politicians signed a bill into law revoking Disney's special tax status in Florida

Now Disney is battling a PR crisis. You don't want to be Disney... which brings me to this week.

What is your plan? CNN published a list of companies providing travel costs for employees who need abortions. Do you know who is missing from this list? Aerospace companies.

Start thinking about how your company can bring an authentic voice to the conversation. Ben & Jerry's does a great job at this, particularly in how it approaches political candidacies. In a recent interview with Harvard Business School, Ben & Jerry’s CEO said, "It's a mistake to think that your company can't be the next Disney. The next generation of workers wants to work for companies that not only pay them a fair wage but make a positive societal impact…Our activism work tends to focus on the root causes of social injustice which normally leads us to systemic issues. We are political but not in supporting any candidates."

It's a mistake to think that your company can't end up as the next Disney. The latest generation of workers wants to work for companies that not only pay them a fair wage but make a positive societal impact. You don't have to be revolutionary, but staying silent is no longer an option.

Profile of the Month

Name: Jen Scholten (Scholten like School) Current Job: Head of Marketing at SpaceRydeSocials: connect on LinkedInWhat is one item you'd take to space? My best friend BOB

SpaceRyde is your first space marketing job. How was the transition from marketing in other sectors to marketing in space?

Honestly, it has been very fun. There's a lot of the technical information that was and continues to be daunting, and I'm continuously the dumbest person in the room, but that has allowed me to be a sponge. A sponge for the technicalities but also for a completely new demographic, which is perfect because marketing is all about understanding YOUR demographic and speaking to them in a way that they are confident in your offering. So I've been a total sponge, and I think it's been beneficial to how I now market in the space industry.

I was also lucky enough that upon joining SpaceRyde, we immediately started attending conferences. This was a major sink-or-swim moment, but luckily I grew up on a Great Lake, so I'm an excellent swimmer. SmallSat Symposium was my polar dip into the space industry, and I left the conference feeling energized and excited about this new industry experience.

In terms of the transition from my previous industries—music, technology, hospitality, fashion and pet—it's been fun applying my skills to the space sector and seeing what hits. I don't think many would argue that with the increased access and developments happening in space, the "Space" demographic is changing, and therefore so must the marketing tactics.

In my experience, regardless of the industry, marketing is all about identifying your demographic and ensuring they have access to your product, so not much has changed. A new song being released OR a $250K Private Rocket are just products; regardless of the product, my job is to make sure my demographic knows about it and can access it.

You are the only marketer on the SpaceRyde team. How do you decide where to allocate your time given your resource constraints?

I work very closely with our CEO, Sohrab, and COO, Saharnaz, to identify their business goals and design the best marketing strategy to support them in achieving those goals. Although we're very far along in technical developments, SpaceRyde's marketing is in a "start-up phase," so I'm constantly analyzing what is best for US vs. what's expected in the industry. To be a disruptor, again—in any industry, you have to carve your own path.

I'm also fortunate to have worked as a graphic designer, web designer and fashion designer, which lends me many skills to get the result I want with my own effort.

I also love strategic partnerships. These are at the forefront of my marketing strategy because they can have a much more significant impact without much, or if you're good, any money. You can create marketing gold by leveraging business assets and accessing new demographics with few barriers.

We met each other at SmallSat in SF. Since then, I have seen SpaceRyde at a handful of events. How do events play into your marketing strategy, and how do you measure ROI?

Events are a relatively new phenomenon for me, and I'm still figuring out how to break the mould (without getting demerit points—ha!). After attending and exhibiting at a few conferences this year, it's evident that these events are integral to the space industry, so I am constantly thinking of ways to stand out while fitting in. Earlier I said a marketer's job is to speak to a demographic, but at the events, I like to take a bit more of an experiential approach and find a way to talk to everyone—or at least have everyone talking about me.

In terms of ROI, it's tricky. The sales funnel is long in the space industry, a far stretch from digital marketing or music streams, so the classic calculation for ROI doesn't work. For events, we focus on how many customers approach us after having heard our name, seen our marketing, or attended an event of ours.

You are launching your new office in Canada. How did you go about planning and marketing that launch?

Always, always, always—define the goals of the event. This event is a massive story for Canada's space industry, so my biggest goal was to attract the Canadian press - I wanted my retired father's friend to know about SpaceRyde. After all, SpaceRyde is launching Canada's First Rocket Factory; every Canadian should care. Until now, Canada has fostered incredible aerospace manufacturing industry (satellites and maybe you might have heard of a 'lil thing called the Canadarm), but without foreign launch partners, we would be stuck on land. So it was vital for me to push for a Canadian pride angle. With PR, I find many people in the industry use wire service vs. the traditional outreach method. Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with a wire, but there's no better feeling than earned media, and so I focused all efforts on building the relationships with the press outlets and having them become involved in our part of the Canadian Space Story.

After setting our KPIs, I was then able to set up a complete strategy document for the event, social media and digital marketing to support the end goal.

What is one marketing initiative that you have worked on at SpaceRyde that has been successful, and why?

Only one? I think the one that I'm most proud of was the rebrand of SpaceRyde's customer-facing (B2B) marketing. After only working in the industry for a month (3 weeks), I was tasked with designing all marketing materials and messaging to launch the company's marketing at the SmallSat Symposium, essentially. I knew nothing about space, but after working with the CEO and COO and analyzing the existing marketing in the industry, I concluded that space marketing is too vague or confusing. Everyone beats around the bush and avoids answering any actual questions that a customer might have.

It was with this in mind that we designed our customer-facing branding. We wanted to be as transparent and poignant as possible and answer as many questions as possible.

  • Your Satellite.

  • Your Orbit.

  • Your Schedule.

  • Private Rocket.

  • $250K

And it worked! And we still use it today.

A Golden Age for Space Journalism

By Turner Brinton

Image: SpaceX

Most people reading this piece already know that space is a having a moment—or more accurately, a decade. By many metrics, the level of interest and activity in space has never been higher. Government spending in space reached a new high of $92 billion in 2021. Private investment in space reached a new high of $14.5 billion in 2021. Global space revenue reached a new high of $447 billion in 2020, growing 55% over the last decade.

The public’s interest in space is also on the rise, primarily driven by the ambitions, achievements, and antics of Elon Musk. But there is also a growing awareness of the space domain and appreciation for the role that space capabilities play in our daily lives. The testing, launch, and deployment of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope generated surprisingly durable public interest over the last year. The threats posed by space debris have become more widely discussed. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put a spotlight on commercial space capabilities and strained U.S.-Russian relations vis-à-vis the International Space Station.

This environment precipitated—and is perhaps fueled by—a golden age in space journalism. As a former reporter who has been doing PR in the space industry for the last decade, it’s been fascinating to watch the space media landscape evolve. My primary observations are that the quality of space journalism has never been better, and the volume of space coverage has never been greater. This has benefitted those in the industry who need timely and accurate information to make decisions and the general public alike. To better understand these trends and what they mean for those of us who work with journalists, I asked a handful of colleagues in space media and PR for their insights.

One throughline in these conversations is the fact that space journalism has generally bucked the larger trend of downsizing in newsrooms around the world. With so much more government and commercial activity in space today, the number of interesting stories and people interested in learning about them has exploded. In response, existing industry publications have expanded their coverage, new industry publications have been established, and mainstream outlets like CNBC, Reuters, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, TechCrunch, and The Verge have added staff dedicated to covering space.

“When any industry grows, the number of stories and perspectives also grows,” said Jenna McMullin, VP of Communications at Lockheed Martin Space. “That’s what we have seen with space media. What’s so unique and powerful about the space industry is that it touches peoples’ daily lives—which we often don’t even realize—in terms of how we operate financial systems, develop medical care, protect lives, and understand the environment we all live in. So many of these things are outcroppings of space exploration and discovery.”

The mediums of space journalism have evolved as well. First came the transition from print publications to websites, and in recent years there’s been a huge uptick in reporting via social media (Twitter) and email newsletters like those from Axios, Quartz, and Space News. As space has become more mainstream and news organizations have shifted toward video, we’ve also seen more video content about space, whether that’s live interviews with space executives on CNBC or Zoom recordings with technology experts posted on blogs.

“Space media has become predominantly digital in the last decade,” Eric Berger, Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica, told me. “Nearly all of my colleagues who cover space full time do so for digital-first publications.”

“Another huge change has come from the huge influx of private capital into spaceflight. This means that space reporters, to some extent, have had to become business and finance reporters with the rise of SPACs and other public offerings. This represents a big step from, essentially, covering whatever NASA was doing 15 years ago.”

Payload might be the poster child for this new era of space media. Co-founders Ari Lewis and Mo Islam launched the daily email newsletter in October 2021 to cover the business and policy of space, and it has quickly become required reading for the industry. With a philosophy of meeting the audience where it wants to be, Payload has since expanded into webinars, podcasts, and live events. As Ari tells me, it wasn’t rocket science: “We saw an opportunity, we started writing, people liked it, people started paying us money, and bam, we have a business.”

Another change in space journalism is the requirements placed on writers. When I was reporting for Space News, I had one job: to find news stories of interest to our audience and write about them. Reporters today often have broader responsibilities around production and audience engagement. During his eight-year tenure as a reporter for NewSpace Global, Via Satellite, and Space News, Caleb Henry’s role evolved from simply writing about space to taking and editing photos, publishing articles to websites, and managing social media accounts. Prized for their objectivity, space reporters are increasingly asked to moderate panels at conferences. With all these demands, there are a number of things to keep in mind for people and organizations that engage with space reporters, said Henry, now a Senior Analyst with Quilty Analytics.

“As a journalist you’re getting like 20 potential stories in your inbox every day, whether it’s a press release from a small company or a press conference from the White House. You have to quickly figure out how you’re going to spend your time, because the long-lead item is getting the story. You can’t spend a ton of time figuring out what you’re going to write. My first statement is, come correct. Don’t show up with something you know a writer doesn’t even cover. That was something I hated. You should know what the writer writes about and who their audience is.”

“The most important thing companies need to know about engaging with the space media today is that we are accustomed to bullshit,” said Eric Berger. “By this I mean there is so much hype as companies try to attract investors, that my general posture is such that a new company is pie-in-the-sky until they have built and tested actual hardware or, even better, flown it.

“My coverage of new ventures tends to be pretty skeptical until there's some real progress made. Companies can combat this by being honest with reporters, discussing the risks to their business, and being real about their plans. If you try to snow me, you're going to lose me.”

For all that’s changed in space media, much remains the same. The same need to collect and synthesize newsworthy information. The same need to explain complex topics with clear and concise writing. The same need to be fair and accurate. These are all things we should appreciate.

“Space media, like all media, informs the world about important developments,” said Wendy Newman, Vice President of Marketing & Communications for SpaceLink. “At its best, it is an unbiased view of the industry that cuts beyond the hype of companies with big advertising budgets to uncover the most important news and trends. It is an important tool for investors, job seekers, and companies that need to stay informed about technologies, achievements, events, industry players, and milestones. It can help expose the truth and level the playing field for people and organizations less familiar with the industry.”

Let’s hope it stays that way.

Turner Brinton is a space & defense PR professional. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Space Jobs

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Final Thoughts

I hosted a marketing webinar last month. I'm going to try to do more of them. If you missed it, you can watch the recap here. I also wrote a recap on Twitter.

Please email me your feedback. It really helps me make the newsletter better. If you have anything to contribute such as a job, link, interview or article, email me and I'll work on including it for the next newsletter.