NPR's Morning Edition had a report about the Paris Air Show focusing on the PR tactics Boeing and Airbus were using at the show. It was a great illustration about how competitors use PR when they are at different places in the competitive cycle. In this case, Airbus is the underdog -- they have been hammered by bad press, have had to restructure, take losses, lay off people and close down plants. So they are aggressive and going big -- instead of announcing deals as they've been signed, they waited and lumped them all together into a big bang announce on day one. They talk about how they are doing vs. Boeing, and are really trying to own mindshare at the event- - flyovers w/ their new plane, etc. This is exactly how an underdog should do PR. Boeing, at least for now, is the industry leader. In their communications, they don't mention Airbus. They announce deals as they sign them. They had a low-key press event. No flyovers, no glitz, just a quiet assumption of continued dominance. This is how an industry leader does PR. One worry for Boeing has to come at the end of the report, where an analyst notes that if you just paid attention to what you heard, you'd think that Airbus was selling way more than Boeing, which isn't the case. Perception becomes reality, if left unchecked...