Western Railroad Discussion > Union Pacific's new ad campaign

I sure hope it gets better that the first one I saw a few minutes ago!!!

DULL. Incoherent. At the end I had no more clue what they are advertising than I did at the beginning AND I KNOW!!!

"Wherever you find business, you'll find us." Say what? You'll also find trucks, waste baskets, stale coffee, and flies. What's this supposed to mean???? And at least in the video that I saw on MSNBC, and I admit I didn't see the very beginning, the only thing that caught my attention was a familiarly-shaped but featureless gray shield in the middle of a featureless gray city and then some meaningless blather, SFAIK it didn't mention a railroad once but then I was so dumbstruck by the gray dullness I admit I didn't hear all the words. At least it ended with the shield in color and the "Building America" slogan. On that basis alone I give it a D-, otherwise it would've been an F.

Shipping? Logistics -- a word I already hate because of the incessant new UPS commercials????

Ya know, Omahaha, sometimes you should just go with what works. Like video of actually trains doing what you want to say you do, accompanied by a catchy jingle. You know, something like "We're a great big rollin' railroad with a great big job to do, we're the Union Pacific, Building America® for you!" Yes, I changed it a little, but you can use it for free!<G>

Edit: for you youngsters here's a link to the original song from Don Strack's fabulous Utah Rails website ( http://utahrails.net/index.php ):

http://utahrails.net/up/rollin-rr.mp3

Although I like this Back-to-the-Future version better -- you'll have to google youtube using "we're a great big rollin railroad" click on the first video link and then scroll down to Union Pacific "Big Boy" Tribute. Spine-tingling!!!!

EDIT 10/15/10: I finally saw the whole commercial. I pretty much stand by my original assessment. It is impossible to tell who is selling what, other than that it is or has something to do with shipping, until the very end when the gray amorphous shield thing turns in the actual logo. Still nothing in the pictures or the narration that even hints it's a railroad. On the version I just saw after the final shield they did flash www.up.com on the screen with something the effect of contact us here. Ok I'll up my grade to D+, but it still has a long way to go!

lowwater



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/10 12:38 by lowwater.

I have not seen the ad yet. But it sounds like UP doesn't know what it is selling. SERVICE! I agree, show the trains, show the people running them, working on track and in offices that provide the service.
Odd too that the RR's are doing more TV ads. I am not sure that they will reach their targets very well. Since UP and the others have really few potential shippers that are not mega-carload prospects I wonder who are they trying to reach? Investors? Wouldn't the personal touch of sales reps work well too? Oops! I forgot people cost money! Can't do that.
I can assure folks that if you are the occasional single car shipper (those that are left on the UP) UP has little interest in serving you. Try getting into their system on-line. Short-lines are at the mercy of rates provided by the big lines. So, many moves off a short-line may not work.
I know I'm kinda whining and beating a dead horse. It is just sad that we are impaled by work and service rules, costs that are high to provide service and on and on. I wish it could be different....

Good job, lowwater! I can hear it now. But, IMHO it's time to ditch "Building America"--that has gotten O-L-D old. They've gotten out of the ditch--celebrate by going back to "We Can Handle It", I say. They can use the version of the song that was (re)written after the MP merger and hardly used afterwards.

bluesman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have not seen the ad yet. But it sounds like UP
> doesn't know what it is selling. SERVICE! I agree,
> show the trains, show the people running them,
> working on track and in offices that provide the
> service.
> Odd too that the RR's are doing more TV ads. I am
> not sure that they will reach their targets very
> well. Since UP and the others have really few
> potential shippers that are not mega-carload
> prospects I wonder who are they trying to reach?
> Investors? Wouldn't the personal touch of sales
> reps work well too? Oops! I forgot people cost
> money! Can't do that.
> I can assure folks that if you are the occasional
> single car shipper (those that are left on the UP)
> UP has little interest in serving you. Try getting
> into their system on-line. Short-lines are at the
> mercy of rates provided by the big lines. So, many
> moves off a short-line may not work.
> I know I'm kinda whining and beating a dead horse.
> It is just sad that we are impaled by work and
> service rules, costs that are high to provide
> service and on and on. I wish it could be
> different....


Oh so agreed!!! I'm still wondering WHY everytime I drive I-84 I see countless triples of UPS and FexEx trailers!!! If this railroad is trying to sell SERVICE then maybe they could start on this corridor.. I know I know, the UP doesn't want trailers, but they need to come to the relization that not everyone wants a 53ft domestic either!!! I haven't seen the add, and by the sounds of it I don't need to, I just wish this company could figure out how to provide a good service and just railroad, but, I am afraid that railroading isn't what any of the class one's do anymore!!

That empty UP shield would not be recognized by anyone but a foamer. Why on earth it wasn't filled with their name and colors is beyond me.

They're not selling service, and they're not trying to convince you to ship with them. They want potential investors to like them, and to realize that they're a company that is doing well and eco-friendly, even through tough times. Its all about money.

- Jeff

Really???

http://www.up.com/customers/prospective/index.shtml
http://www.up.com/customers/prospective/what_can_ship.shtml

You really soaked that one in...


bnsfsd70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They're not selling service, and they're not
> trying to convince you to ship with them. They
> want potential investors to like them, and to
> realize that they're a company that is doing well
> and eco-friendly, even through tough times. Its
> all about money.
>
> - Jeff

lowwater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I sure hope it gets better that the first one I
> saw a few minutes ago!!!
>
> DULL. Incoherent. At the end I had no more clue
> what they are advertising than I did at the
> beginning AND I KNOW!!!
>
> "Wherever you find business, you'll find us." Say
> what? You'll also find trucks, waste baskets,
> stale coffee, and flies. What's this supposed to
> mean???? And at least in the video that I saw on
> MSNBC, and I admit I didn't see the very
> beginning, the only thing that caught my attention
> was a familiarly-shaped but featureless gray
> shield in the middle of a featureless gray city
> and then some meaningless blather, SFAIK it didn't
> mention a railroad once but then I was so
> dumbstruck by the gray dullness I admit I didn't
> hear all the words. At least it ended with the
> shield in color and the "Building America" slogan.
> On that basis alone I give it a D-, otherwise it
> would've been an F.
>
> Shipping? Logistics -- a word I already hate
> because of the incessant new UPS commercials????
>
> Ya know, Omahaha, sometimes you should just go
> with what works. Like video of actually trains
> doing what you want to say you do, accompanied by
> a catchy jingle. You know, something like "We're a
> great big rollin' railroad with a great big job to
> do, we're the Union Pacific, Building America®
> for you!" Yes, I changed it a little, but you can
> use it for free!
>
> Edit: for you youngsters here's a link to the
> original song from Don Strack's fabulous Utah
> Rails website ( http://utahrails.net/index.php ):
>
> http://utahrails.net/up/rollin-rr.mp3
>
> Although I like this Back-to-the-Future version
> better -- you'll have to google youtube using
> "we're a great big rollin railroad" click on the
> first video link and then scroll down to Union
> Pacific "Big Boy" Tribute. Spine-tingling!!!!
>
> lowwater

My goodness, Bruce!! You certainly took a big dose of your grumpy pills this morning! :-)
Must admit I haven't seen it yet so can't give my official viewpoints, but jeez-----:-)
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/10 16:32 by CarolVoss.

Maybe UP has the same advertising agency as the GAP.

Seriously! What the heck do well educated, highly paid and most likely very successful ad execs know about how to sell to the general public? I mean just think of how much money marketing companies have wasted with their millions of dollars of market research. The UP could have just recruited some foamers to save money and put a 30 second video of a model train show.

portlander Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Seriously! What the heck do well educated, highly
> paid and most likely very successful ad execs know
> about how to sell to the general public? I mean
> just think of how much money marketing companies
> have wasted with their millions of dollars of
> market research. The UP could have just recruited
> some foamers to save money and put a 30 second
> video of a model train show.

Brilliantly put! I mean seriously, if a customer doesn't have the interest in your product to look for your latest message painted on the side of boxcar, you really have to question whether it's the sort of person you want to do business with anyway. ;)

The general public sees trains as a nuisance, marketing is done to people who hardly pay
attention and hence said marketing is by and large a waste of money.

rehunn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The general public sees trains as a nuisance,
> marketing is done to people who hardly pay
> attention and hence said marketing is by and large
> a waste of money.

A lot of big corporations do tv ads aimed to boost the morale of their own employees. How many of us are prospective purchasers of GM locos yet they did those crazy ads with the singing assembly line people. My former employer Kaiser first started their ad campaigns to please the doctors and employees way back in the '80's. Now of course they are targeted at the potential health plan purchasers, but not originally.
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

CarolVoss Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> rehunn Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The general public sees trains as a nuisance,
> > marketing is done to people who hardly pay
> > attention and hence said marketing is by and
> large
> > a waste of money.
>
> A lot of big corporations do tv ads aimed to boost
> the morale of their own employees. How many of us
> are prospective purchasers of GM locos yet they
> did those crazy ads with the singing assembly line
> people. My former employer Kaiser first started
> their ad campaigns to please the doctors and
> employees way back in the '80's. Now of course
> they are targeted at the potential health plan
> purchasers, but not originally.
> C.


OMG!!! Boost morale?? WTFE!! This is a piss poor add to try to bring in new business.. Trust me when I say by NO means is a boost for employee morale.. And I agree with the post a couple of post above, if there is anyone that wanted to ship by the UPRR they would be already. The only way that this carrier is going to get more traffic, is to PROVE they can move and provide a great service CONSISTENTLY!!! Something this railroad hasn't proved for years.. First place they could start is quit running trains that don't fit on they're single track railroad!!!

trails2rails Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> portlander Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Seriously! What the heck do well educated,
> highly
> > paid and most likely very successful ad execs
> know
> > about how to sell to the general public? I mean
> > just think of how much money marketing
> companies
> > have wasted with their millions of dollars of
> > market research. The UP could have just
> recruited
> > some foamers to save money and put a 30 second
> > video of a model train show.
>
> Brilliantly put! I mean seriously, if a customer
> doesn't have the interest in your product to look
> for your latest message painted on the side of
> boxcar, you really have to question whether it's
> the sort of person you want to do business with
> anyway. ;)

Very funny. "What the heck do well educated, highly paid and most likely very successful ad execs know about how to sell to the general public? I mean just think of how much money marketing companies have wasted with their millions of dollars of market research." Remember the Edsel? How about New Coke? The Segway? Garmin's first Superbowl ad? Shall I go on? Ads like the one I saw last night may win awards from the advertising choir, ohs and ahs from graphics designers, etc. etc., but the real measure of an ad's success is whether or not it makes money for the advertiser, in other words if it works.

I have personally interfaced with three railroads to ship over three million tons of freight. In other words, I have been a SHIPPER.

And I've been an ad reader/listener/watcher for 50 years. As well as a marketer and an advertiser. I know what works. I know that what works, no matter what you are selling, is making it absolutely clear who you are, what you are selling, how what you are selling benefits the potential customer, and how the customer can get ahold of you NOW. Maybe future UP ads in the series will make these factors clear. The first one, which so far as I remember didn't even identify UP until the very end, without so much as a phone number, didn't do any of these things.

The more I think about it the more I think bnsfsd70 is right -- this one, anyway, is aimed at investors, not rail customers.

EDIT for Carol -- or at employees. "Great big rollin' railroad" was a classic example of that genre. I know my initial reaction was "Huh????"

lowwater



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/10 17:17 by lowwater.

I was standing in the general manager's office at O'Sullivan Plastics in Wasbuska, NV during the period that the
SP was running their famous "Adopt-A-Branch" program. The purpose of the program, and it was introduced to the
public, was for the employees on the locals serving the branches to meet and introduce themselves and the SP's
increased interest in their business to their affected shippers. The poor conductor had to try and explain why it
was taking six weeks for his plastic to get there from Houston and what the railroad was going to do to improve
it. Marketing and Public Relations don't go very far when thing is top down and everyone below that skyscraper
level knows it's pure BS. The UP like most large corporations, mine included, has a major disconnect between
the top, the middle and the bottom. In the UP's case the bottom needs as much encouragement and care as do
the shippers.

> Very funny. Remember
> the Edsel? How about New Coke? The Segway?
> Garmin's first Superbowl ad? Shall I go on? Ads
> like the one I saw last night may win awards from
> the advertising choir, ohs and ahs from graphics
> designers, etc. etc., but the real measure of an
> ad's success is whether or not it makes money for
> the advertiser, in other words if it works.


All of those products sold more than they would have without advertising. The fact that they were inferior products makes it even more amazing that advertisers were able to help sales. Could there have been a better advertising campaign created by "joe public" in a Ford forum which made the Edsel the best selling car of all time? Not likely.

lowwater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> trails2rails Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > portlander Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Seriously! What the heck do well educated,
> > highly
> > > paid and most likely very successful ad execs
> > know
> > > about how to sell to the general public? I
> mean
> > > just think of how much money marketing
> > companies
> > > have wasted with their millions of dollars of
> > > market research. The UP could have just
> > recruited
> > > some foamers to save money and put a 30
> second
> > > video of a model train show.
> >
> > Brilliantly put! I mean seriously, if a
> customer
> > doesn't have the interest in your product to
> look
> > for your latest message painted on the side of
> > boxcar, you really have to question whether
> it's
> > the sort of person you want to do business with
> > anyway. ;)
>
> Very funny. "What the heck do well educated,
> highly paid and most likely very successful ad
> execs know about how to sell to the general
> public? I mean just think of how much money
> marketing companies have wasted with their
> millions of dollars of market research." Remember
> the Edsel? How about New Coke? The Segway?
> Garmin's first Superbowl ad? Shall I go on? Ads
> like the one I saw last night may win awards from
> the advertising choir, ohs and ahs from graphics
> designers, etc. etc., but the real measure of an
> ad's success is whether or not it makes money for
> the advertiser, in other words if it works.
>
> I have personally interfaced with three railroads
> to ship over three million tons of freight. In
> other words, I have been a SHIPPER.
>
> And I've been an ad reader/listener/watcher for 50
> years. As well as a marketer and an advertiser. I
> know what works. I know that what works, no matter
> what you are selling, is making it absolutely
> clear who you are, what you are selling, how what
> you are selling benefits the potential customer,
> and how the customer can get ahold of you NOW.
> Maybe future UP ads in the series will make these
> factors clear. The first one, which so far as I
> remember didn't even identify UP until the very
> end, without so much as a phone number, didn't do
> any of these things.
>
> The more I think about it the more I think
> bnsfsd70 is right -- this one, anyway, is aimed at
> investors, not rail customers.
>
> EDIT for Carol -- or at employees. "Great big
> rollin' railroad" was a classic example of that
> genre. I know my initial reaction was "Huh????"
>
> lowwater

That's essentially what I was trying to say, you old turkey!! I said employees, you said investors, and etc. And yes, the company thinks they know what will turn the employees "on" but forgets to ask them and then does some really stupid stuff---I could tell you stories--------from the inside out.
Anyway, I still haven't seen the ads and I guess I don't watch the channels where they are going to play. I just note that BNSF has the smarts to only advertise their tasteful lowkey ads on the Lehrer News Hour, the audience being all those inside the beltway where the decisions, money and etc. is played. And we note who now owns BNSF------------and whom I personally think bought the railroad to buy his successor. But that's another story.
C./
PS--when are you coming out here for a visit? or do we have to come back yto Silt for another dose of biscuits and gravy!! :-)

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

CarolVoss Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> That's essentially what I was trying to say, you
> old turkey!! I said employees, you said investors,
> and etc. And yes, the company thinks they know
> what will turn the employees "on" but forgets to
> ask them and then does some really stupid
> stuff---I could tell you stories--------from the
> inside out.
> Anyway, I still haven't seen the ads and I guess I
> don't watch the channels where they are going to
> play. I just note that BNSF has the smarts to
> only advertise their tasteful lowkey ads on the
> Lehrer News Hour, the audience being all those
> inside the beltway where the decisions, money and
> etc. is played. And we note who now owns
> BNSF------------and whom I personally think bought
> the railroad to buy his successor. But that's
> another story.
> C./
> PS--when are you coming out here for a visit? or
> do we have to come back yto Silt for another dose
> of biscuits and gravy!! :-)

Hehehehe......I know, I'm auditioning to be Andy Rooney's successor. And I agree, I don't know, and yes, but you better hurry -- the gal who ran the Silt Cafe, and who now runs Steffie's Place with essentially the same menu, is trying to sell...... We still go there at least twice a week, once for lunch, once for breakfast, for our carb-and-cholesterol fix, although we now take at least half of everything home for two to four more meals, and I still can't lose weight. What's really too bad is UP hardly ever holds trains here anymore, and besides it's a lot longer walk from East Silt to Steffie's than it was from a short-stopped train and the Silt Cafe, which has been closed for years and is about ready to fall down. Time marches on.............

lowwater

eje673 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Really???
>
> http://www.up.com/customers/prospective/index.shtm
> l
> http://www.up.com/customers/prospective/what_can_s
> hip.shtml
>
> You really soaked that one in...
>
>
> bnsfsd70 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > They're not selling service, and they're not
> > trying to convince you to ship with them. They
> > want potential investors to like them, and to
> > realize that they're a company that is doing
> well
> > and eco-friendly, even through tough times.
> Its
> > all about money.
> >
> > - Jeff

All you have to do to see they aren't actually trying to trying gain new customers is see how they treat their current ones. Sure sucks for the shortlines that are caught between a rock (UP) and a hard place (the customer who can't get their cars when they're promised.)