More Merseyrail winners

[supervalkoinen]

How many people realised that Merseyrail had an Easter weekend offer?

£2 return anywhere on their network. Only problem, no publicity whatsoever. No posters on trains or stations. Nothing on their website. Just word of mouth and some little stickers on TVMs. Apparently they only told their staff on Wednesday.

Incidentally, there is a rumour - no evidence - that next Friday any Wills or Kate can travel free.

 

[First class]

That's funny, because

a) There are posters at EVERY Merseyrail station about the Will/Kate promo stating you need government issued photo ID to obtain a zero fare day ticket.
b) Every retailer was only selling these tickets, therefore the only people that would not benefit would be those buying online/outside the network, in which case the promo ticket wasn't available anyway. The TVMs either had signs on them or taken out of service. Why does it need publicity? (Although it was well published in the local papers when the Xmas Cracker was withdrawn).

Publicity is a bad thing with these tickets, (which resulted in the Chrimbo ones being withdrawn). Capacity is simply not available for the amount of people who flock to the network JUST because this offer is on. It was a nice surprise for those travellers who got cheap travel on Fri, Sat, Sun and Monday.

Also just found out these flyers were available from some stations:

 

[Intermodal]

Incidentally, there is a rumour - no evidence - that next Friday any Wills or Kate can travel free.

This is true - the evidence is here:

http://www.merseyrail.org/royal-wedding-promotion.html

All is needed is photo ID.

 

[Ivo]

Merseyrail aren't alone though

 

[185]

Yes! Free travel! And I'm not called Kate btw S

 

[laird]

Birkenhead Hamilton Square had a simple A4 sheet attached to the ticket machine in the shop but it wasn't the best advertised offer I've seen.
In addition to the Free travel for Will and Kate is there a repeat this weekend of the flat fare offer?

 

[supervalkoinen]

That's funny, because

a) There are posters at EVERY Merseyrail station about the Will/Kate promo stating you need government issued photo ID to obtain a zero fare day ticket.
b) Every retailer was only selling these tickets, therefore the only people that would not benefit would be those buying online/outside the network, in which case the promo ticket wasn't available anyway. The TVMs either had signs on them or taken out of service. Why does it need publicity? (Although it was well published in the local papers when the Xmas Cracker was withdrawn).

Publicity is a bad thing with these tickets, (which resulted in the Chrimbo ones being withdrawn). Capacity is simply not available for the amount of people who flock to the network JUST because this offer is on. It was a nice surprise for those travellers who got cheap travel on Fri, Sat, Sun and Monday.

Also just found out these flyers were available from some stations:

a) not true - certainly not at the station I use most regularly - nor have I seen them at the other 2/3 stations I've visited in the past fortnight - perhaps they weren't obvious.

b) so, is the reduced fare a "promo" or a "reward"? My grasp on marketing may be slim, but I would say that the words promotion and publicity usually go together. Are you saying special offers should be "nice surprises"? If we hear of a special fare, should we keep quiet or just tell a few friends so that the trains don't fill up?

I reiterate my point that Merseyrail staff I spoke to knew nothing of these offers until the middle of last week and learnt of them by word of mouth from colleagues.

My general point is that Merseyrail's communication continues to be poor, particularly when it comes to fares and / or when you use stations on the Merseyrail network, but outside the Merseytravel area.