Should Lionel Advertise Their Ware On National TV…

Would I like them to?  Yes.  Is it financially feasible?  Probably not.  National advertising campaigns cost a lot.  More than a small company, relatively speaking, can afford.  In the past few years Lionel has managed free publicity by appearing on the Today Show, Fox and Friends, as well as product placement in some national TV shows.

 

It would be cool to see a Lionel commercial but I don't see it happening.

 

Their best bet is local markets in conjunction with their retailers.

Do people really pay attention to commercials anymore?

 

I sure don't. 

 

Yeah, some of them are attractive or clever (but I'm really not going to use Norfolk Southern, UP, CSX or BNSF for anything...) but they really have little influence over my purchasing decisions.

 

Rusty

I cannot think of anything Lionel does to promote their products or the hobby, other than attend the TCA Eastern Division York train show. They have even divested themselves of the Lionel Collectors Club of America Lionel Rail Roaders Club.

They must not feel there is any return on advertising / promotion.

 

Why should they, when they have organizations and individuals promoting their product for them?

I agree.  The money that a national ad costs could put a lot of displays, demos in malls and store where people can see the toy trains.  That, I think, sell people on it.

Compared to my growing up, there are very few commercials devoted to toys, trains or otherwise. I am doubtful although it would be a definite change of pace from cartoon characters in insurance commercials selling coverage to adults and those pills whose side effects take longer than the benefits to advertise.

For me, the hobby shows, meets and holiday displays do more for the hobby than any commercial could hope to accomplish.

If they did, I'm sure the costs would be passed on to the consumers.

Lol. Yea ... know what you mean.

 

All the same stuff .... same commercials for the same company, sales pitches for crappy cheap merchandise, etc

 

But think of it ...... the commercial opens with a high quality close-up of a Vision Line steam engine, starting to move from a stop .... the sounds and sights. How many people would say "Wow!!" ? All sorts of people would.

 

Of course, they would then find out the cost of a VL engine, and say "Wow!" again. Lol. But, they would also see the "cheaper" engines available.

 

What's a 30 second commercial during Sunday Night Football .... ~ $650k ?     

 

What would be the best type of television show for such a commercial? A show where fathers and sons watch together? That's why I .... half jokingly ... mentioned football. (It would be a nice break from the unending Viagra commercials they show when we are watching games with kids   )

I think it would be great, however, as previously noted it would be cost prohibitive.

I have seen Lionel Ads on TV before Christmas...

While trying to park on the York fairgrounds, one might think there are millions in this

hobby, but I am involved in another hobby where there are a lot more people involved who spend money for a much more expensive collectible, and, like three rail trains, in

which the question might be, "Do they still make those!!??", the general public, with

a beer can in their hand in front of boob toob football, are generally oblivious to it.

And so, it is beer sold in that prime time, and not electric trains, whose fans I strongly

suspect, make up a much smaller percentage of the population who wake up with an

electric train under their tree, than wake up with a football there.  Really like to know

what  percentage of the American public actually bought a model train in 2014.

(there is a lot of publiciity when something like an postage stamp with an upside down

airplane sells for millions, but...how many people are actively looking for one of those

stamps?  however....there may be more stamp collectors than I think there are...I have met two: officers in the Greek Air Force)

The top-of-the-line engines definitely have a "wow" factor, but putting them in an advertisement aimed at mainstream America would probably end up having a negative effect.  I can easily see someone intrigued enough by such a commercial walk into a train store, look at the price tag on such engines, and turn around and walk out, never to come back.

 

I really think that JLC himself hit on the best advertising strategy when it comes to trains - having them running around the Christmas tree, more as a family holiday tradition than as just as a toy.  How many of us had trains running around the tree as kids?  I know I did, and the fact that they were only set up for about two months out of the year made them all that much more attractive to me.  In fact, it was the desire to re-kindle that tradition that brought me back to trains and then much deeper into the hobby (especially when I realized that it was my house, and I didn't have to put the trains away ).  For some, the tradition might immediately lead them into the hobby, and for some, it may take 10-15 years (like it did with me after the "cars & girls & college" phase).

 

My idea of of a good TV strategy would be to do a 30 second commercial where a family looks at a beautifully decorated train-less tree and declares that there is something missing, then insert some "vintage" footage of trains around the tree from years past with a voice-over stating that since 1900 Lionel trains have been a holiday tradition.  Then cut to the family's tree with a train running around it (and the set box featured prominently) and the family declaring it to be complete/perfect.  The footage used for the train at the end could even be customized - use the Polar Express set for a spot airing during a showing of The Polar Express, and a Charlie Brown Christmas set during a showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas.  A similar theme could be used in print ads is non-hobby-related magazines.

 

I know it is not realistic from a relatively small company, but it is nice to dream a little, and the exposure on the Today Show and Fox and Friends reaches much of the same target audience, so we at least have some positive exposure around the holidays.

 

Andy

I think a "nostagia" ad run on a cable channel that old farts like myself watch (like the History, Smithsonian, or Military Channel), with a theme of "You had Lionel trains, do your Grandkids?", may be worth the money spent. A layout under a Christmas tree would be shown. It might sell a million sets. So what if 98% of them are put in a closet for 11 months.

We are, for the most part, a niche market in a niche market.  I don't think Lionel needs TV commercials to sell Vision Line engines.  The people who are going to shell out that kind of money already know about Lionel.

 

It's the mass market where Lionel could possibly get some bang for their TV advertising buck.  As with so many toy companies, sell to the kids, not the adults.  TV commercials for starter sets shown on children's TV shows could be very effective.

 

I do like Andy's idea of the Christmas tree without trains and then with trains.  But, that would primarily target the Baby Boomer parents.  Given the age of us Baby Boomers, it more appropriately targets us Baby Boomer grandparents.  

My idea of of a good TV strategy would be to do a 30 second commercial where a family looks at a beautifully decorated train-less tree and declares that there is something missing, then insert some "vintage" footage of trains around the tree from years past with a voice-over stating that since 1900 Lionel trains have been a holiday tradition.  Then cut to the family's tree with a train running around it (and the set box featured prominently) and the family declaring it to be complete/perfect.  The footage used for the train at the end could even be customized - use the Polar Express set for a spot airing during a showing of The Polar Express, and a Charlie Brown Christmas set during a showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas.  A similar theme could be used in print ads is non-hobby-related magazines.

 

Probably not economically feasible, but I sure like your idea, Andy.

quote:

Compared to my growing up, there are very few commercials devoted to toys, trains or otherwise. I am doubtful although it would be a definite change of pace from cartoon characters in insurance commercials selling coverage to adults and those pills whose side effects take longer than the benefits to advertise.

 

There are plenty of commercials for toys. They are run on the networks aimed at kids. You just have to start watching Spongebob Squarepants and the like

They have been on Good Morning America last few years, can't get much more national that that, an d a decent demographic  As for series of commercial I don't think they can afford it, and besides so many people just use a DVR or watch online these days commercial are seldom seen. We just skip through them

I remember all the toy ads on TV in the 50's and 60's.  The stuff could do anything!  Problem was, when you got it home, the copter's didn't fly, the rocket launcher only shot the rocket about 24" (not across the room, like on TV), and the construction trucks were never able to build roads unless you were in a sandbox.

 

But, that said, it sure helped to sell lots of stuff.  Now, if I only would have saved all that stuff.

Is that what happened to the Burma Shave signs?...I thought it was Lady Bird Johnson

and her campaign to clean up signs on the the highways, which is why you need binoculars to read that next billboard for gas far from the road in the Mojave.

TV advertising today is nowhere near as cheap as it used to be in Lionel's prime. 

 

I seem to recall reading somewhere that a 30-second advertising slot on National TV nowadays can cost on average in between $100,000 up to $350,000 per slot, and that's not even for major prime-time slots like during the Superbowl, where it could cost up to 3.5 million.  

 

No way that a small company like Lionel can afford any of that.

 

Local advertising is much cheaper, (can average about 1 grand or in cases even less, depending on who you contract to produce it) but the downside is of course it's not national exposure.

From the Legends of America website:

 

"Burma-Shave sales rose to about 6 million by 1947, at which time sales stagnated for  the next seven years, and then gradually began to fall.  Various reasons  caused sales to fall, the primary one being urban growth. Typically, Burma-Shave  signs were posted on rural highways and higher speed limits caused the  signs to be ignored. Subsequently, the Burma-Vita Company was sold  to Gillette in 1963, which in turn became part of American Safety Razor,  and Phillip Morris. The huge conglomerate decided the verses were a  silly idea and one of America’s vintage icons was lost to progress."

 

 

Rusty

Cost prohibitive.  Will never happen.

quote:

Anyone remember Burma Shave?  They did OK with their signs along the road.  Then,they decided to run ads on TV.  It bankrupted them.  Now, they are just a memory.

 

I think it was changing public taste that killed Burma Shave. For whatever reason, folks liked the new aerosol shaving creams. As for me, I prefer shaving soap and a shaving brush.

The real question is who would the ads be aimed at? Given the cost of three rail trains, it wouldn't make any sense to go after the kids market (cartoon channel, disney channel), for something that is really aimed at adults. I agree with others, if they were going to do any advertising at all on tv, something like a Christmas ad would be a brilliant idea, aimed at selling sets for the holiday season, aimed at adults but invoking kids memories.  Unless Lionel and the rest thought they could be a mass market product, mass market toy, it wouldn't make much sense. Put it this way, HO and N scale stuff dwarfs three rail O, yet they don't advertise on tv either, for much the same reason, it doesn't make much sense for something that is not a mass appeal product. Maybe, just maybe, they could get away with Thomas or the Polar Express during the holiday time, but after that, not worth it. 

 

Given the nature of trains, social media would make more sense, leveraging facebook and twitter and so forth, probably lot more cost effective. 

The Christmas idea makes me think Lionel could maybe work out an arrangement with a much larger company like Coca Cola and get a cameo shot or have a Lionel train in Coca Cola livery. They could piggyback at lower cost because the primary focus would be Coke. Christmas would be perfect because Coke always has very unique ads at that time.

I can see it now, " Hey Lionel! How'd you get that bell to swing on its own like that?" " Shhh, ancient chinese secret".

 

 

 

 Burma Shave came in aerosol.

Rusty

CW.  

 

Lionel never has been vested with the Lionel Collectors Club of America (LCCA).  The LCCA is a not for profit organization who is self supported by its members since our origin back in 1970.   We are separate legal entities.  Lionel has recently divested from  their LRRC,(Lionel Rail Roaders Club), not the LCCA.

 

Lionel has to decide where to spend their money to achieve the best results.  I think  Lionel does a lot to promote their business considering they are a niche market business.  Maybe not with extremely expensive TV spots, (difficult to justify on a ROI basis) but in addition to the York train show 2x a year, they send a team to attend the LCCA national convention every year, LOTS and other club conventions,   Trainfest in Milwaukee and all of the WGHOT shows in various cities around the country.  I also believe Lionel advertises in the two major national toy train magazines (maybe other magazines as well).  Lionel also had their product for sale at some of the major mass market retailers.  

 

They are currently promoting a Wharehouse sales event at their facility in Concord NC next weekend.  When  their new store in Concord opened, it was featured throughout the day on their local TV news stations.  

 

During  the holiday season, Lionel also has train layouts on display at various locations in NYC.  They have been at NYC's FAO Schwarz, Macy's Department store  (Toy-land exhibit) and at the Grand Central Terminal store every year.  This attracts several  tens of thousands of visitors every year.  They are also featured in National TV programs such as Fox News and The Today Show around the holiday season.  

 

With their NASCAR diecast product line, they promote the Lionel brand to the NASCAR crowd which is a very big national market.  They also launched their Lionel BattleTrain video game to expand their brand image.  Lionel also utilizes their own website and Facebook page to advertise and promote their products.  

 

Although many people may think Lionel is not be doing enough to promote their business and the hobby, Lionel has to determine what they can afford and where to best invest their money.  

 

My my two cents worth.  

 

Respectfully

 

Al Kolis

Always thought this commercial from 1980 was pretty well done.

Just needs one more generation added.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O1BmX5DMmk

A better question may be "What can we do to promote the hobby?"  I have asked many of my TCA and NMRA friends if they have a train set up around their own tree.

 

Somewhere between 10% and 15% have trains around their own trees.  That leaves 90% who do not.  

 

Even fewer people give a train set as a gift to their children or grand children.  The typical answer is that my son, daughter, grandkids, etc. wouldn't be interested.  I wonder what I can get them for Christmas.

 

You would think that those of us who are the most active in this hobby would do something to promote it.  

 

Yes - I will have a train around the tree. I will also be building my club's holiday layout.  

 

This post talks about Lionel.  How about Lionel, MTH and Bachmann joining forces to promote the hobby in the media.

 

Joe 

quote:

Lionel never has been vested with the Lionel Collectors Club of America (LCCA).  The LCCA is a not for profit organization who is self supported by its members since our origin back in 1970.   We are separate legal entities.  Lionel has recently divested from  their LRRC,(Lionel Rail Roaders Club), not the LCCA.

 

Sorry about the mistake. No disrespect for the LCCA was intended.

The "advertising" would have to be operating locomotives and train set on various television shows: news shows, variety shows, situation comedies, home improvement shows, and talk shows.

 

Regular commercials would not be enough operation time in one 30 second viewing.

 

Andrew

They could sell the NASCAR SETS if somebody demonstrated how to put together a multiple track FasTrak layout to race the trains on some short of television show or web channel.

 

Andrew

CW.

 

No problem.   The LCCA often gets confused with the LRRC.  

No offense taken.  

 

 

Thank you

 

al K. 

Lionel would be better off taking out a couple of pages of ads in OGR like in issue 273.

There are other ways to get PR and buying tv ad time$.  Cable TV airtime can suffice. Holiday time usually brings Lionel to tv such as the "Today show" or other news venues, which hits millions of homes but a 15-30 second spot is not that much exposure. I was thinking of "Tracks Ahead" a PBS TV type show that used to showcase real 1:1 trains as well as model railroads, great exposure. Not specific to Lionel but model railroading. Maybe we need an Alan OGR "adman" creative type to push the Lionel PR envelope.

quote:

 Burma Shave came in aerosol.

 

According to the book: "The Verse by the Side of the Road", in 1963 Berma-Vita company was sold to Phillip-Morris, and became a division of American Safety Razor Products.

 

The book was written in 1965. It claims to have the all of the rhymes listed.

What about an INFOMERCIAL?  There are lots of them on cable TV and being offered by companies that seem far smaller than Lionel?

Burma Shave

A little nostalgia.

Do you remember and recall these roadside messages?

Lots of giggles were afforded by these once-familiar signs. For those of you who never saw the Burma Shave signs, a quick lesson. Before Interstates, when everyone drove the old 2-lane roads cross country, Burma Shave signs would be posted all over the countryside in Farmers' fields on their fence lines.

These small red signs had white letters. Five signs, about 100 feet apart, each had one line of a 4 line Couplet ... the 5th sign said "BurmaShave".

Here are some of those memories....

A MAN WHO DRIVES

WHEN HE IS DRUNK

SHOULD HAUL HIS

COFFIN IN HIS TRUNK

**Burma Shave**



SPRING HAS SPRUNG

THE GRASS HAS RIZ

WHERE LAST YEARS

DRUNKEN DRIVER IS

**Burma Shave**



DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD

TO GAIN A MINUTE

YOU NEED YOUR HEAD

YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT

**Burma-Shave**



DROVE TOO LONG

DRIVER SNOOZING

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

IS NOT AMUSING

**Burma-Shave**



BROTHER SPEEDERS

LET'S REHEARSE

ALL TOGETHER

GOOD MORNING NURSE

**Burma-Shave**



CAUTIOUS RIDER

TO HER RECKLESS DEAR

LET'S HAVE LESS BULL

AND LOTS MORE STEER

**Burma-Shave**



THE MIDNIGHT RIDE

OF PAUL FOR BEER

LED TO A

WARMER HEMISPHERE

**Burma-Shave**



SPEED WAS HIGH

WEATHER WAS HOT

TIRES WERE THIN

X MARKS THE SPOT

**Burma-Shave**



AROUND THE CURVE

LICKETY--SPLIT

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL CAR

WASN'T IT?

**Burma-Shave**



PASSING CARS

WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE

MAY GET YOU A GLIMPSE

OF ETERNITY

**Burma-Shave**



NO MATTER THE PRICE

NO MATTER HOW NEW

THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE

IN THE CAR IS YOU

**Burma-Shave**



A GUY WHO DRIVES

A CAR WIDE OPEN

IS NOT THINKIN'

HE'S JUST HOPIN'

**Burma-Shave**



AT INTERSECTIONS

LOOK EACH WAY

A HARP SOUNDS NICE

BUT ITS HARD TO PLAY

**Burma-Shave**



BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL

EYES ON THE ROAD

THAT'S THE SKILLFUL

DRIVER'S CODE

**Burma-Shave**



THE ONE WHO DRIVES WHEN

HE'S BEEN DRINKING

DEPENDS ON YOU

TO DO HIS THINKING

**Burma-Shave**



PASSING SCHOOL ZONE

TAKE IT SLOW

LET OUR LITTLE

SHAVERS GROW

**Burma-Shave**