VC10er wrote:Marketing is full of people that could not do anything worthwhile. They are best left doing snarky and funny social media posts instead of thinking up grand campaigns. And the mega consulting firms are just as bad. Paying people hundreds of thousands a year for ideas a student could think up for a project.
Are you speaking of just UA's marketing people or marketing professionals in general? I am a marketing person although my particular area of expertise is branding and design. And if you are talking about "US" as a whole, I am indeed offended. I have worked for small agencies and very large ones for 30 years, one being Landor a global industry leader (and not cheap, the IP they often produce has enormous ROI, otherwise they would be gone), today I have my own company. We develop big ideas and excuse them for maximum return in the marketplace because great marketing and advertising works. I can tell you that when good (or great), marketing teams, client side or agency side (working in a great partnership) can make the difference between life and death in business. If Landor was paid a few million dollars by FedEx over the course of a number years in the 1990's and early 2000's, transforming and stewarding that brand to what it is today, that was the best money they ever spent. Perhaps Steve Jobs wasn't great at marketing. Perhaps UA's marketing is not good, that is yet to be seen, and is currently easily criticized.
As for this tread, one little line painted on the nose of a 777 does not fall into the "big idea" bucket for sure, so I don't get the over reaction to it. Someone here pointed to the internal rally cry that we've all read about that seems to have employees of UA with renewed enthusiasm and doing a better job, which in turn delivers a better brand to the consumer which in turn drives up revenue (assuming those internal reports are true). Some of the best marketeers are "brand engagement" experts, people who develop internal marketing initiatives that drive success from the inside of a corporation out. Some of these folks are brilliant. Sometimes it's the CEO who has the vision and is the marketing genus.
Absolutely some people are mediocre, and I have seen those folks hit a professional ceiling rather quickly. That then drives up the price for access to the best of the best. I used to do a lot of work for Diageo, I can (hand on heart) say that the key marketing execs and agencies for Johnnie Walker have done remarkable work, it is not the worlds biggest and most profitable whiskey because it's just good booze.
United is coming from a position from the back of the line, it's going to take time, trial and error and flawless execution of great ideas to move them towards the front. This one copy line on the nose of the 777 is really nothing in the grand scheme of what needs to happen. I would agree that if it was to be their primary headline, that it would be sorely lacking as it speaks too much to the negative past.[/quote]