Two press releases from United caught my attention last year. The first was a release trumpeting the nomination of a United TV
commercial for an Emmy award. This Robert Redford narrated spot was
beautifully crafted and enjoyable to watch. But it did absolutely
nothing to differentiate United from other competitors. John Tague,
executive vice president of marketing, sales and revenue commented on
how this nomination was a great testament to reinvigorating the United
brand.

The second press release was titled: United Postpones Quarterly
Pension Payment. It seems as if United is in such dire straights that
they can’t even make a pension payment due their rank and file
employees. But they do have the cash to pay Robert Redford and Emmy
award seeking agencies for branding efforts that will never move the
needle.

The pension release was dated July 14. The Emmy nomination release
was dated July 15. Now Mr. Tague, who is responsible for marketing,
sales and revenue had to be aware of the missed pension payment when he
OK’d the Emmy release. What was he thinking? That employees who’s
pension is already at risk and suddenly not being funded will be
pacified by the fact that one of their ads was nominated for an Emmy?

The point of this little rant of mine is how far off-base many
marketing professional have strayed. What in the hell does
reinvigorating the United brand mean to a company in bankruptcy and out
of cash? I don’t know Mr. Tague, perhaps there’s a logical explanation
for what took place, but for a company in United’s position to be
spending tens of millions of dollars on a questionable branding
campaign while missing a pension payment is totally irresponsible.

So the problem is an out-of-touch marketer squandering the precious
resources of a bankrupt corporation struggling to survive in a
draconian marketplace. What is the solution?

01. Timeframe. When a company is bankrupt and 30 days out from being
liquidated you do not have the luxury of launching questionable
branding initiatives. In this environment you need to align your
resources with a realistic timeframe. In other words every marketing
dollar spent today needs to generate revenue tomorrow.

02. Creative. You do not need Robert Redford and exquisitely crafted
TV spots to generate revenue. Creative efforts need to be respectable
(not award winning!) and wickedly fast. Most importantly the creative
needs to evolve and change in real time. So production techniques
requiring weeks and months should not be used when your campaign cycles
are hours and days.

03. Competencies. Integrate your sales and marketing departments.
For short term tactical situations – like avoiding liquidation –
aggressive sales instincts and competencies need to lead the over all
effort.

04. Short Term Bias. The sales and marketing team needs to have a
tactical survival bias. This include unambiguous objectives, sharply
defined positioning and highly-energized team members.

Seth Godin has a take on American Airlines pre-bankruptcy advertising here.

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