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Sigh, how railroads have lost their importance

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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan As far as you saying that advertising isn't the key, consider this. If UP et all didn't advertise to sell the importance of the railroad, wouldn't the general public be more incline to say to heck with rail and try to convert all lines into bike paths or something else that they thought was more important? [/quote] IMO the advertising they do is largely aimed at existing and potential investors and shippers with general public name recognition being secondary. The NS & UP commercials are most common on CNBC and other business news shows. Ad agencies and networks sell packages of channels and times based on demographics, so some of the ads also show up on regular news & some entertainment programs of the affiliated networks. Most of the cost is in producing the commercial, so once you have it and pay to run it in the target market, running it in other secondary markets is fairly inexpensive. But I really doubt you'll see UP or NS ads on major event braodcasts like the Superbowl or World Series. Amtrak did a really smart move IMO in having an ad for the Acela behind the plate in Fenway at the ALCS. That targets both New York and Boston consumers plus gets some national recognition. For freight though, most consumers don't know or don't care. They give it to USPS, UPS, or FedEx(ground or air) and it's the people at those companies that determine what goes by rail. Consumers are more concerned with lost or damaged goods, tracking, convenience, etc. It's a little like buying a dishwasher. It may be made in USA, but few consumers are going to research if the steel is domestic or imported.
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