More Marketing Failures

[AKA_trvlr64]

who cares about them.

You'd better care about me and my kind. We have a lot of $$$ to spend. We are the largest group of people who freely spend money. And I have no problem not giving it to US anymore since they are raping PIT.

 

[SalesGuyCCY]

US Airways did have a very good G&L sales manager prior to bankrupty but the position was eliminated as were the positions handling the hispanic and African American communities. Maybe it's time the company thought about bringing them back? As UAIR does more marketing a la WN and B6 instead of pure sales, it might make sense.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Excellent point SalesGuyCCY. Now, tell me, who is behind the US Airways ads on the uber-to-the-right online rag Drudgereport.com? Is there a vast right-wing consipiracy in the ad department? :huh:

 

[RowUnderDCA]

US Airways did have a very good G&L sales manager prior to bankrupty but the position was eliminated as were the positions handling the hispanic and African American communities. Maybe it's time the company thought about bringing them back? As UAIR does more marketing a la WN and B6 instead of pure sales, it might make sense.

Yes, Andrew L. was very good, very patient and helpful and has supported events and causes and promoted U.

I hope he is doing well in his career.

 

[Heinrich]

Now Im getting riled up. Am I going to have to go eat chocolate covered cockroaches on 08/07 with Piney Bob?

I will be sure to report on his physical appearance if I do

 

[airbiiguy]

exactly, so dont have seperate marketing campaigns for them.

 

[funguy2]

I remember reading about a new ad campaign by the PHL Convention and Vistors Bureau, targeting the gay community... I think the slogan was something like: "Get your history straight and your nightlife gay" or something like that. The article said something about a growing gay community in PHL, etc, etc. Seems to me like this is something the company should be involved in...

Just like Spirit Airlines recently added spanish-speaking res agents (to cater to Spanish-speakers, primarily in its prime market in South Florida), and Northwest's push for service on DTW-Bagdad (because DTW has the largest concentration of Iraqi-Americans in the US). I would expect that US Airways would cater to the demographics of the people they serve... Hell, what are they doing for bowlers in Buffalo?

 

[local 12 proud]

no offense to anyone, because it matter's not to me ones sexual orientation but why is it necessary to market to gay & lesbian groups as if they are something special? don't they like good food, wine, service, clean comfortable seats etc...like the rest? seems to me if they have alot of money to spend they would be happy to pay for superior amenities. i mean seriously other than being gay or lesbian dont they share the same basic human desires? ......ok blast away!

 

[funguy2]

exactly, so dont have seperate marketing campaigns for them.

How ignorant. Market segmentation is the way this country is going... And its been happening for a long time... Do you think there is a reason Proctor and Gamble produces soap operas? I think it might be to advertise their products to females, who tend to 1. watch soap operas (more so than men) and 2. do the grocery shopping (more so than men). Similarly, if you want to target 18-34 year old men, you advertize on ESPN, and in Sports Illustrated. If you want to hit the business exec you advertize in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and golf magazines.

If there is a market segment that buys more airline tickets than other market segments, then US Airways should be actively pursuing it. Its called cost-effective marketing, and every company does it. There is a reason why laundry detergent commercial air during soap operas, beer and razor ads are on ESPN, and sugar-filled cereals and toys ads run on Saturday morning cartoons. US Airways should recognize this and act accordingly.

While none of these things are universal (i.e. not all kids watch Saturday am cartoons, not all men watch SportsCenter, etc), the trends are strong enough to show correlation... So if that means US Airways should buy an ad in a gay newspaper, or sponser something, or whatever, so be it... its just business.

 

[mbmbbost]

QUOTE (airbiiguy @ Jul 26 2004, 07:56 PM)
exactly, so dont have seperate marketing campaigns for them.


How ignorant. Market segmentation is the way this country is going...

EXACTLY funguy2! This made me think of the expression of how it's better sometimes to keep one's mouth shut and let them wonder if you're ignorant, than to open it and remove all doubt. And the bi-guy did it in less than ten words this time! <_<

 

[cltvff]

no offense to anyone, because it matter's not to me ones sexual orientation but why is it necessary to market to gay & lesbian groups as if they are something special? don't they like good food, wine, service, clean comfortable seats etc...like the rest? seems to me if they have alot of money to spend they would be happy to pay for superior amenities. i mean seriously other than being gay or lesbian dont they share the same basic human desires? ......ok blast away!

It's Marketing 101.... identify your target demographic and go after it. The GLBT community, as stated earlier, has a higher than average percentage of disposable income, so target some marketing to go after those dollars. NOW, if the planes were just a little cleaner

 

[cltvff]

EXACTLY funguy2! This made me think of the expression of how it's better sometimes to keep one's mouth shut and let them wonder if you're ignorant, than to open it and remove all doubt. And the bi-guy did it in less than ten words this time! <_<

Bi Guy

 

[StewGuy86]

exactly, so dont have seperate marketing campaigns for them.

Duh. So, why have marketing campaigns geared toward ANY group? Let's just not have marketing at all. Oh yeah, I forgot, US is famous for living by that philosophy already!

If you could get past your not-so-subtle issue with gays and lesbians to begin with, you'd see the reasons for targeting them are obvious. Not least among those reasons, as stated by someone earlier in the thread, is that the G & L market tends to be a VERY loyal group. Even the Coors Brewing Company, run by a bunch of right wing nutjobs, learned to market to the gay community and it has paid off quite well for them.

But since US Airways does anything and everything it can to LOSE money and has always been pretty crappy at marketing in general, why wouldn't anyone be surprised by this lack of marketing to the G & L market?

 

[funguy2]

Just an added comment here... DAL execs at one point discussed that Song was designed with female purchasers in mind, since their research indicated that females do more travel purchasing than males, particularly for leisure travel... So there is a nice example of market segmentation in the airlines. If you ask me, Song's airplanes, with the Lime green color, etc, seem a bit more "feminine" to me, as opposed to US Airways very "masculine" look (sleek, dark color, business look).

 

[Heinrich]

I'm grey, overweight and over the hill, nothing to report.

....was just a joke based on the thread when you commented on someone's appearance and it went out of control