Yeah, I was joking. That said: Amtrak board meeting: Bigshot: Anyone have any ideas on how we can become solvent once again Insom: What if we give select poets the ability to ride for free and write about it? Bigshot: Finally, someone around here is thinking. I think it's a cool idea and will cost next to nothing in the grand scheme of things but to say it is "financially brilliant" is a bit of a stretch, don't ya think? My reason for posting the sarcastic link in my OP was just to point out that Amtrak is/has been hemorrhaging money for years. Since they're so heavily subsidized, they might as well be giving free rides to artists. But to suggest that this is somehow the best way to create awareness in the market that Amtrak is a good option is kinda silly, don't you think?I would argue that the value in offering a program like this is financially brilliant
-hmmm, brilliant? Really?
Based on what I know, they took advantage of an existing situation, correct? They didn't have top level people, 5 social media gurus, an ad agency, and media buyers sitting around coming up with this plan. The only cost was the cost of the tickets and integrating into existing marketing. The reason I call it brilliant is because you can't buy this type of publicity. They couldn't have paid $5m to have social media platforms explode with this type of authentic conversation. People separate advertising and what they actually think of a company so heavily these days. We ignore and avoid traditional ads like the plague. I don't have numbers for what Amtrak spends on radio and tv ads or social media, but it's far less than what giving writers free train tickets will cost and far less effective.
I will say that it has generated considerable publicity and I expect it will do so pretty solidly through the coming year. It is also better publicity than they could get from a simple ad. This puts them in a positive light on a couple of different levels. In addition, there's the word of mouth. I've been telling tons of people about this because it seems like a great opportunity and also, just a really cool thing. I think that my enthusiasm and personal avocation of the program probably has more impact that an Amtrak poster or YouTube ad would have. Financially brilliant? Maybe, if they are also using this as an opportunity to downsize their marketing. AKA axe a couple jobs.
Let's reconvene in 2 years on this post and see what sort of financial impact it had on Amtrak. Once again, for the record I think it's cool that they're doing it but I don't think it's worthy of the "brilliant" claim. Also, as the one person in this thread thus far that has extensive Amtrak experience, I'll say that I hope they've focused time and energy on improving customer service or put these writers on "special trains" or the testimonials that come from this may prove interesting. Also, I'm having a bah humbug type of day. Sorry.
's okay TNG, we all have them. I really only think it would merit the term brilliant if they are basically laying off their whole marketing department because that would probably save them a nice bit of money. However it would also be a stupid long term move. (Unless they know something we don't.)