When Relationships Replace Transactions

Airport Improvement Magazine Spotlights How ONT More Than Doubled Its Advertising Revenue

A feature in Airport Improvement magazine tells the story of how a relationship-first approach transformed ONT's advertising program and brought an entirely new class of brands into the terminal.

Audi's Q5 Plug-in Hybrid campaign inside ONT's terminal - one of the premium brands that came on board through FUSE’s relationship-driven approach to airport advertising.

Ontario International Airport made national trade press for a reason worth celebrating. Airport Improvement magazine featured ONT's advertising and partnership program as a case study in what happens when airports stop treating advertisers like line items and start treating them like partners.

The results speak for themselves. Working with Fuse Advancement, ONT more than doubled its in-house advertising revenue to $1.7 million in just 18 months. But the number is almost secondary to what drove it. The model ONT and Fuse built together was rooted in one idea: build the relationship first, and the revenue follows.

That philosophy opened doors that traditional airport advertising never could. Brands like Audi, Porsche, Hawaiian Airlines, and Barclays Bank came on board. So did Sammy Hagar's Santo Tequila, whose partnership grew from a single ad placement into product sales at terminal concessions and a recorded welcome message that now greets arriving passengers in baggage claim. Cheech Marin lent his voice to promote the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture in Riverside. What started as advertising became something closer to community storytelling.

“There are companies that are advertising in our terminals we never thought would ever consider being in there, from Audi and Porsche to Sammy Hagar's Santo Tequila. And those are all because of FUSE and their relationships.”
Atif Elkadi, CEO, Ontario International Airport Authority

“We are always looking at how we can build and layer on to other interesting and unique opportunities to partner to do cool things. Then, what happens is other brands and other companies quickly catch on and want to do the same.”
Scott Jacobson, Founder and CEO, Fuse Advancement

Read the full feature in Airport Improvement magazine. Read the article →

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