Text 6. PR in Railway Transport

Public relations are used by railway firms to seek more visibility to their customers. As with advertising, public relations can be segmented to reach particular consumers or markets. For example, a manufacturer of railway cars would target an industry magazine's railway car wrap-up issue rather than concentrating on getting an article in a track publication.

One of the most effective PR methods is press briefing and trade press briefing. For instance, a major railroad supplier in Kansas City takes its top executives to New York each year to meet with industry trade and major businessmedia about the product and service benefits. It allows to maintain a presence - not only with the railroad book, but with business and related trade publications. Plant openings or site visits are perfect for demonstrating how the product is made and what makes it different.

Other tactics include special events and opening launches. To give an example, a major manufacturer of rail cars conducts a special event in Moscow to announce the completion of a major project.

Building a rapport with trade association officials and members helps to receive recognition of the company and its products within the industry. Thus, at a rail forum or roundtable, the comments of the participants don't escape notice in the rail magazines that leads to credibility for them and their companies.

Rebranding is a successful PR-technique used by JSC Russian Railways which has been restructured in response to the rising demand for transport services in Russia. The company has picked a new corporate outfit to match its new outlook and new logo to reflect new aspects of development like tourism, construction, and telecoms. The new brand helps to attract both passengers and investors. The bright red colour represents the company’s aggressive approach and willingness to change. The sign also displays the Cyrillic abbreviation of Russian Railways, pointing to the Russian origin of the company. Russian Railways will pick its corporate colours as well, which will provide the uniforms for 1.3 million staff as well as a new-look for the carriages.

In conclusion, the rail industry is a diverse one with a myriad of different companies working in and around the sector. As such, PR and advertising companies need to have a variety of ways to apply the media coverage they provide.

Answer the questions:

1. What instrument do railways use to seek more visibility to customers?

2. What type of print press will a manufacturer of railway cars choose to take?

3. What example of trade press briefing is given in the text?

4. What actions can be perfect for demonstrating how the product is made and what makes it different?

5. What tactics of PR are mentioned in the text?

6. What helps to build recognition of the company and its products within the industry?

7. What successful PR-technique is used by JSC Russian Railways?

8. Why did Russian Railways pick a new corporate outfit and a new logo?

9. What does the new company brand represent?

10. What type of industry are railways?