Amtrak Marketing is Just Weird....

[user 1215]

So I went and picked up the Summer system timetable. I also went ahead and grabbed a copy of Amtrak Vacations and Amtrak America.

It is so very interesting to see that Amtrak's marketing department would have all the road numbers of a train airbrushed out on their photos, but they would keep employee's name tags completely visible.

I know this has been brought up before, but I still find it remarkably silly.

 

[lepearso]

That's not what I would call weird marketing. It's the work of a graphic artist who doesn't see the need to show train numbers but thinks name tags give the trains a more personal touch. It could also be that for some strange security reason they don't want to show train numbers, and perhaps the name tags you see in the photos are not the real names of the people. The people, for all we know, may not be real Amtrak employees. Go figure.

Weird marketing to me was the strange advertisements we saw in the early days of Acela. However, they seemed to work as they did draw attention to the brand.

Weird marketing might also be how they renamed all the Northeastern services as Acela: Acela Express, Acela Regional, and Acela Local. It was confusing, which is why they backed off quickly.

My favorite marketing flop with Amtrak was their national advertising in the 1970's. These ads did not contain any route descriptions, maps, or anything else to tell you where Amtrak services were available. To top it off they also did not provide a telephone number or mailing address to get more information. I collect these ads because I like them, but they were not good for marketing.

 

[afigg]

So I went and picked up the Summer system timetable. I also went ahead and grabbed a copy of Amtrak Vacations and Amtrak America.

It is so very interesting to see that Amtrak's marketing department would have all the road numbers of a train airbrushed out on their photos, but they would keep employee's name tags completely visible.

I know this has been brought up before, but I still find it remarkably silly.

In which photos can you actually read the employee name tag? I checked the PDF copies of the current system timetable and the on-line Amtrak Vacations document, and the photos were too compressed and low rezz to read any names. I can't read them either in the paper copy I have of the current system timetable.

Besides the employee name tags are first names only, so they don't provide much information. The supposed reasons for airbrushing out the engine numbers so the photo does not confuse the public into thinking that is the number of the train and if the locomotive gets into a bad accident, the photo in the system timetable is not the one that shows up in the press.

Of all the things to fuss about, this is remarkably silly.

 

[the_traveler]

1338385315[/url]' post='370427']The people, for all we know, may not be real Amtrak employees. Go figure!

As an FYI: The Postal Carrier you see on the TV commercials does not (and never has) worked for the Post Office! (My sister is a Postmaster, so I know this for sure.)

 

[TCRT]

The people, for all we know, may not be real Amtrak employees. Go figure!

As an FYI: The Postal Carrier you see on the TV commercials does not (and never has) worked for the Post Office! (My sister is a Postmaster, so I know this for sure.)

I'm fairly certain I have seen one of the employees pictured in a lot of the AGR promotional material working at Boston South Station in the past.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Lots of instances in Movies/TV,Ads etc. where Union Station in LA (LAX) is supposed to be Grand Central in NYC and Vice Versa! Also the Ad Biz is famous for using Actors to play "Real People"! :lol: Southwest Airlines is one of the few that I know of that actually always uses Real Employees in their Ads and also "Real"Airplanes! We all know of the various Movies/TV Shows,ADs that use all kinds of various trains and Settings to make us think that the Action is happening somewhere "Real" when it usually is in LA or NYC!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[the_traveler]

Like a Superliner arriving (in one piece) PHL from WAS or an Acela arriving into SF!

 

[user 1215]

Wal Mart uses their real employees, too - I'm sure it's because they don't have to pay near as much for their employees to model their wares as they do professional models.

Back to the Amtrak literature. The one name tag I recall seeing, I believe, was first and last name and it was in Amtrak America magazine. It's like an Amtrak Vacations book but just about Amtrak and their trains more than destinations. A lot of the content is the same, however.

 

[TCRT]

Like a Superliner arriving (in one piece) PHL from WAS or an Acela arriving into SF!

In the current national timetable, there's a picture promoting the Crescent which clearly shows a Superliner-equipped train.

 

[oldtimer]

I don't think that this was done with the approval of the Amtrak Marketing Department.

I heard that in the early 80's a Penthouse photo shoot occurred on Amtrak property in a Superliner sleeping car.

:help: hboy: :wacko:

 

[R30A]

I suspect part of the reason for airbrushing the numbers out is that they simply don't add them. Most of the photos appear to have been substantially modified. A number of them are old photos photoshopped into current paint. The current travel planner has a photo of the Coast starlight with the genesis in phase 5 with a decent amount of high level coaches and a high level transition leading. Although you can't see the stripes on the cars too clearly, the Sightseer is clearly still in phase 2 or 3. I believe the policy of leaving numbers off started when someone screwed up and put either the Bourbonnaise (807) or Bayou Canot (819) numbers on a phase 5 genesis in a promotional photo and they got called out on it.

 

[user 1215]

I don't think that this was done with the approval of the Amtrak Marketing Department.

I heard that in the early 80's a Penthouse photo shoot occurred on Amtrak property in a Superliner sleeping car.

:help: hboy: :wacko:

Only interested in the train articles.

 

[guest]

1338385315[/url]' post='370427']The people, for all we know, may not be real Amtrak employees. Go figure!

As an FYI: The Postal Carrier you see on the TV commercials does not (and never has) worked for the Post Office! (My sister is a Postmaster, so I know this for sure.)

That prohibition of no postal workers in ads goes way, way back but why I am not sure. My dad, who was a postal inspector, once said something about security with mails. Maybe in the past there was the fear that someone could identify a postal employee from a picture and then hold them up for valuables or some such.

 

[the_traveler]

1338400114[/url]' post='370492']

1338399693[/url]' post='370489']I don't think that this was done with the approval of the Amtrak Marketing Department.

I heard that in the early 80's a Penthouse photo shoot occurred on Amtrak property in a Superliner sleeping car.

:help: hboy: :wacko:

Only interested in the train articles.

Penthouse photo shoot - no! Penthouse Suite photo shoot - I ain't telling!

 

[The Davy Crockett]

I don't think that this was done with the approval of the Amtrak Marketing Department.

I heard that in the early 80's a Penthouse photo shoot occurred on Amtrak property in a Superliner sleeping car.

:help: hboy: :wacko:

Speaking of airbrushing on photos! :giggle:

 

[lthanlon]

I'm seldom impressed by the choice of cover art on any Amtrak publication. The new Spring/Summer Amtrak System Timetable, for example, simply shows an Acela locomotive in the station. It's a good documentary shot, but it does absolutely nothing to convey any of the practical or emotional reasons why people ride Amtrak. By contrast, railroad artwork in days gone by really sold the experience.

 

[Henry Kisor]

Penthouse photo shoot, piffle. This morning the L.A. Times ran a story about a ****o movie orgy scene being shot in the L.A. Coliseum at night with all the lights on in the early 2000s. It is not known who authorized the shooting but there are plenty of suspects.

 

[Texan Eagle]

I don't think that this was done with the approval of the Amtrak Marketing Department.

I heard that in the early 80's a Penthouse photo shoot occurred on Amtrak property in a Superliner sleeping car.

:help: hboy: :wacko:

Photos please or it didn't happen

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

My favorite marketing flop with Amtrak was their national advertising in the 1970's. These ads did not contain any route descriptions, maps, or anything else to tell you where Amtrak services were available. To top it off they also did not provide a telephone number or mailing address to get more information. I collect these ads because I like them, but they were not good for marketing.

I've heard that Apple ads with just a picture and logo were/are very effective, even though the have not description or contact.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I think that they should really include the numbers on the train, they don't make the train uglier and it's a nice addition. They should keep it on unless for security reasons.

 

[AlanB]

Besides the employee name tags are first names only, so they don't provide much information. The supposed reasons for airbrushing out the engine numbers so the photo does not confuse the public into thinking that is the number of the train and if the locomotive gets into a bad accident, the photo in the system timetable is not the one that shows up in the press.

Actually it is entirely up to the employee, or at least it seems that way, as to what appears on their name tag. I've seen first names only, last names only, first initial and last name, and I think that I recall even see one first name with the first letter of the last name.