I was watching the Discovery and History channels yesterday and encounterd a pleasent surprize - a GE Evolution Series locomotive commercial. Has anyone else seen it, and if so, how long has the commercial been on TV (new to me)?
I first saw it last year but the appearances the past week have been the first in a long time on TV.
It’s been on for several months. I always thought it was pretty unless. They don’t go into a lot of detail.
Mark
I guess GE didn’t come out with a totally “new” commercial yet since they replayed the one that was in circlulation 1 year ago. I think it’s a darn good commercial too. It mainly comes on the busness channels though, like CSPAN and Bloomberg. I think GE should think about about airing it on stations that are watched by the viewing public more often.
You figure most people (except us) wouldn’t care about the details, so why waste air time/money. But it is still cool to see the new locomotive on TV.
It’s nice.
I even encountered one truck commerical that probably sank like a cement overshoe.
These commericals are aimed at Captians of Industry who are vested with resources and power/money to go get these units. Not billy-bob and mary jane getting the kids ready for school.
Do you suppose that the markerting folks feel that the CEO’s arent getting the information about the new stuff from the engineering department? So these commercials are meant to pique their interest in the new, fuel effecient, and possibly cheaper to operate locomotives?
Or, are they slanted to the stockholders so they can ask the questions? There is a qrowing number of stock holders interested in HOW a company makes the money, not just how much it makes.
I do tend to see this commercial on the History and Discovery Channel. (I am not an elitest; those channels dont have as many political ads, you know!)
Some of the GE commercials are on the GE website.
I have seen a commercial and seen them advertised in magazines, and it always seems strange but whatever works. Hmmm…a new car, or a locomotive?
Why should John Q. Citizen care that a GE locomotive is at the head of the train that’s blocking “his” railroad crossing and making him late for work? GE’s marketing folks apparently think it’s important for some reason. Maybe they’re going for brand recognition. Maybe they’re targeting people’s soft spot for the environment and the Earth’s resources. Well, GE isn’t alone in marketing its wares to the public.
With the exception of ultra-luxurious Boeing Business Jets and a privately-owned 777, Boeing doesn’t sell aircraft directly to the public. Most people don’t care who built their airliner. Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier…it doesn’t matter. They just want to get to Las Vegas in one piece and pray their luggage doesn’t end up in Kathmandu. Despite this apathy, Boeing has been hawking its new, yet-to-be-built 787 on prime-time TV for a year:
http://video.boeing.com:8080/asx_external/events/greatidea87_12805_300.asx
Airbus has been dominating the airliner news ever since the first flight of their A380. Maybe Boeing is just trying to keep their name in the forefront of people’s minds.
Incidentally, not a day goes by that I don’t see the NS “Tree” commercial on local TV:
http://www.nscorp.com/nscorphtml/video/Norfolk_Southern_Tree_30.mpg
The thing is, I live near St. Paul, Minnesota. [%-)]
BTW… That Boeing 777 I mentioned? 2800 sq. ft. of floor space with a dance floor, surgical suite, intensive care unit, chapel, stater
That’s one of the coolest commercials of all time. Rich
I’m not sure what market GE is trying to reach, but I am glad to see that SOMEONE is trying to get railroads into the public eye… it sure isn’t that company that does passenger service… you know the one, what is that name?
Many large industry commercials, such as the GE series, are aimed at the stock-buying public. Individuals tend to buy stocks in companies they know about and these commercials are designed to send out some “feel-good”.
dd