Comments on: Culturematic, new media, and marketing

By: srp

srp — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:05:49 +0000

The problem for Amtrak is performance, not image. The image is a reflection of the reality.

The funniest expression of this occurred on a tour bus in St. Petersburg. Our wonderful Russian tour guide told us of her love for America and how she had managed to arrange a trip to the US a few years before. We all went “aww” as she described the warm professional courtesy she received from American travel agents thrilled to help a former Intourist employee discover the land of her dreams. We all chuckled as she talked about cajoling her non-English-speaking husband into the trip.

Then we all gasped in horror, spontaneously, when she mentioned that she had booked on Amtrak to go across the middle of the country. “Not Amtrak!” we groaned as one, aghast at the bad reflection this would cast on our country. Our fears were well-founded in part; her train broke down in the middle of Nebraska and she was stranded there for a day or two. On the other hand, her sweet disposition rescued the mood on the tour bus as she went on at some length about how friendly everyone was in the Nebraska town where Amtrak had unceremoniously dumped her.

Maybe forgiving Christians acclimated to communist-level service quality are the best possible customers for Amtrak.

By: peter spear

peter spear — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:06:11 +0000

grant

this is simply beautiful stuff. as a regular amtrak rider down to the city, my relationship with amtrak is about as ambivalent and conflicted as i can think of. and yet i am constantly amazed as the pieces of little magic that arrive in train travel.

if marketing is the effort to breathe life into an idea, i can think of no better tool than the culture matic.

(i also liked that your original post, if i remember correctly, had kind of a steampunk aesthetic)

By: Grant McCracken

Grant McCracken — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:27:04 +0000

Elia, excellent ads, thanks. Grant

By: Elia Morling

Elia Morling — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:29:36 +0000

Excellent post! Off the top of my head the following tweet from other point of views. All with commercial interest. Chet The Dog is a book from a dog's point of view. Apparently the blog and tweets helped to make it a NY Times bestseller. http://twitter.com/ChetTheDog The Mars Phoenix tweeted about it's Mars landing. http://twitter.com/MARSPHOENIX The Tower Bridge tweets about it's closing and opening. (Not really that exciting) http://twitter.com/towerbridge

By: Rick Lindemann

Rick Lindemann — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:58:14 +0000

Just took a train from Chicago to Effingham, Illinois (about 3.5-4hrs south) for $21. I could barely have driven it for that and I got an extra 4 hours of work done instead of staring at the road and being frustrated by construction. Amtrak could definitely use an upgrade in their marketing, but the service they offer is great.

By: Mary Schmidt

Mary Schmidt — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:42:12 +0000

Excellent analysis of the “virus” mentality. And, “dreary” is the perfect word. So much of marketing makes me tired these days.

So (once again) it’s the experience not the product – which product marketers forget at their peril, particularly in the “new” social media.

I picked up Amtrak info at AAA (another old travel related organization that could use better marketing.) and was pleasantly surprised to see it really doesn’t “take that long” to travel by train versus plane (particularly given all the challenges and issues of air travel these days.) It’s an overnighter to LA for me, for example. So, I”m already planning some train trips, staying in the “deluxe” bed suites, and spending less than I would on airfare and hotels otherwise (and far less aggravation). I may even have to start tweeting!