- Published on
The Ingenious Simple Marketing Trick That Changed the Rail Industry Forever
Introduction
Here's an example scenario involving a train that travels from London to Paris. About 15 years ago, a question was posed to a group of engineers: How do we improve the journey to Paris? The engineers came up with a practical engineering solution—to spend £6 billion on building completely new tracks extending from London to the coast. This would cut about 40 minutes from a 3.5-hour journey time.
Call me Mr. Picky, but as an advertising man, I find this to be a somewhat unimaginative way of improving a train journey by merely making it shorter. Here's my naive advertising-man perspective on the matter.
What you should do instead is employ all of the world's top male and female supermodels. Pay them to walk up and down the length of the train, handing out free Chateau Petrus wine for the entire duration of the journey.
Following this approach, you'd still have about £3 billion left in change, and people would likely ask for the trains to be slowed down.
Keywords
- London to Paris train
- Journey improvement
- Engineering solution
- £6 billion tracks
- Advertising perspective
- Supermodels on train
- Free Chateau Petrus wine
- Journey time
- Train experience
FAQ
Q: What was the initial engineering solution proposed for improving the London to Paris train journey?
A: The initial engineering solution involved spending £6 billion on building entirely new tracks from London to the coast, which would reduce the journey time by about 40 minutes.
Q: What alternative solution does the article suggest?
A: The article suggests employing the world's top male and female supermodels to walk the length of the train, handing out free Chateau Petrus wine for the entire journey.
Q: How does the alternative solution improve the train journey?
A: The alternative solution aims to enhance the passengers' experience by making the journey more enjoyable, rather than just shorter.
Q: What is the significant cost difference between the engineering solution and the advertising-man's solution?
A: The advertising-man's solution would still leave about £3 billion in change, compared to the £6 billion cost of the engineering solution.
Q: Why might passengers prefer the advertising-man's solution over the engineering solution?
A: Passengers might prefer this solution because it offers a more luxurious and enjoyable experience, potentially making them wish the journey was longer, not shorter.