Passenger Trains > Rearranging the deck chairs?

New newsletter, "Passengers Voice," from the now-rebranded NARP (as explained
in the quoted excerpt that follows the quoted and E-mailed introduction):

> Welcome to the first edition of your monthly newsletter under its
> new name, Passengers Voice. As you’ll see over the coming months,
> the publication will still include many of the same types of stories
> you read in NARP News. Now, we hope to bring in more bylines from
> our members, and to highlight local and regional items of interest as
> we refresh our brand and look forward toward our next 50 years of advocacy for
> trains.


> The new design for the newsletter is part of the new, overall “Rail Passengers,”
> brand we introduced this Fall. Just like Amtrak is the brand name for the
> National Passenger Railroad Corporation, Rail Passengers is still the
> National Association of Railroad Passengers.


https://www.narprail.org/site/assets/files/1019/november_2017_newsletter.pdf

And your point is?

I believe it was obvious with the point being: Gene doesn't see anything changing.

Rebranding normally means just that, new name, same old crap.

As I read it, NARP, the association, has been "rebranded" as RPA which remains the "National Association of Rail Passengers," and the former "NARP News" has been "re-branded" as "Passenger Voice," "PV." Sooooo clever!

The "branding re-branding" industry, which didn't exist twenty years ago, is alive and doing very well, although I think it's overdue for a "rebranding."

Having done my share of advocacy with elected officials, I can tell you one wants a succinct name that puts the focus of the group out front. It is the same as not burying the lead in a news story by putting the real item several sentences or paragraphs down.

Leaders everyday hear from the "National Association of _______." Now they will hear from Rail Passengers Association -- first priority: rail, second priority: Passengers.

Short, explicit, to the point.

An effective organization also needs recognition on Capitol Hill, and in the states. That's where grass roots in every district make sense.

Well organized and very effective lobbies like real estate agents, doctors, bankers, insurance agents, NRA, teachers, car dealers etc learned that a century ago.

RevRandy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Having done my share of advocacy with elected
> officials, I can tell you one wants a succinct
> name that puts the focus of the group out front.
> It is the same as not burying the lead in a news
> story by putting the real item several sentences
> or paragraphs down.
>
> Leaders everyday hear from the "National
> Association of _______." Now they will hear from
> Rail Passengers Association -- first priority:
> rail, second priority: Passengers.
>
> Short, explicit, to the point.

Interesting thought! Thanks.

Given a name change, some mention of geographic jurisdiction should be included, so I would have appended to the end something like "of America".
I don't like the logo. At first glance it was bland and meaningless: 2 short diagonal lines in the lower left of a plain box. Then I read it is supposed to look like the view from a train window. I would never have guessed that.

RevRandy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Having done my share of advocacy with elected
> officials, I can tell you one wants a succinct
> name that puts the focus of the group out front.
> It is the same as not burying the lead in a news
> story by putting the real item several sentences
> or paragraphs down.
>
> Leaders everyday hear from the "National
> Association of _______." Now they will hear from
> Rail Passengers Association -- first priority:
> rail, second priority: Passengers.
>
> Short, explicit, to the point.

Very well stated. If this helps rally the troops and get people to participate more in canvassing the legislature and others in positions of power, there would be very little to complain about and everything to applaud. We just have to give it a little time to see how it unfolds instead of being grumpy old men from the get go.

The new NARP logo tells me nothing, as does the very similar new logo for Metrolink Los Angeles operation, what the hell are they ?

NARP's rebranding seems to mirror the frequent rebranding/livery changes at Amtrak itself. In fact Amtrak's current logo, like the new NARP logo, is hardly obvious.

Some organizations feel the best thing to do when in crisis mode is to rebrand. In Amtrak's case there was nothing wrong with the phase 3 (3 stripe livery) and some within Amtrak have realized this in the past few years. Witness the new bag cars and the repainted 700's in Empire service.

WP17

The airlines like to paint their planes when they merge, or decide some new corporate strategy.

Or change their names when the name becomes toxic, like Allegheny Airlines re-branding to US Air.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The airlines like to paint their planes when they
> merge, or decide some new corporate strategy.
>
> Or change their names when the name becomes toxic,
> like Allegheny Airlines re-branding to US Air.


We called it Agony Airlines when we lived in PA! Especially after the two Convair 580 crashes at Bradford PA airport about 1 month apart in 1968 and 1969

Bruce

BCutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The airlines like to paint their planes when
> they
> > merge, or decide some new corporate strategy.
> >
> > Or change their names when the name becomes
> toxic,
> > like Allegheny Airlines re-branding to US Air.
>
>
> We called it Agony Airlines when we lived in PA!
> Especially after the two Convair 580 crashes at
> Bradford PA airport about 1 month apart in 1968
> and 1969
>
> Bruce

When the airline changed its name, some cynics called it "Useless Air."

As long as this thread is going askew:
TED = United without U and I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_(airline)
...Lorenzo

Should we therefore rebrand ourselves from 'foamers' to 'ferroequine observational experts'?

Sounds better than "foamers".
CJV in Illinois

jo-tower Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sounds better than "foamers".
> CJV in Illinois

Foamer's don't get to choose.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> New newsletter, "Passengers Voice," from the
> now-rebranded NARP (as explained
> in the quoted excerpt that follows the quoted and
> E-mailed introduction):
>
> > Welcome to the first edition of your monthly
> newsletter under its
> > new name, Passengers Voice. As you’ll see over
> the coming months,
> > the publication will still include many of the
> same types of stories
> > you read in NARP News. Now, we hope to bring in
> more bylines from
> > our members, and to highlight local and regional
> items of interest as
> > we refresh our brand and look forward toward our
> next 50 years of advocacy for
> > trains.
>
>
> > The new design for the newsletter is part of the
> new, overall “Rail Passengers,”
> > brand we introduced this Fall. Just like Amtrak
> is the brand name for the
> > National Passenger Railroad Corporation, Rail
> Passengers is still the
> > National Association of Railroad Passengers.
>
>
> https://www.narprail.org/site/assets/files/1019/no
> vember_2017_newsletter.pdf


Busted website. Last gasp.