Marketing 'Chex' a success in lid's cereal promotion
The success of a well-executed sales promotion
is often expressed in terms of exposure gained,
return on investment or bottom line figures. But
the success of Piedmont’s recent “Kids Fly Free”
promotion should also be measured by the nu
merous complimentary letters we received from
passengers who took advantage of the special
offer.
Soon after this joint offer with Ralston Purina
Company for complimentary tickets began appear
ing on more than 31 million specially marked
boxes of Ralston Cereals, families began taking
off on long-awaited vacations. And within weeks,
letters of apprecia
tion from all around
the country began
flowing into Pied
mont’s sales promo
tions department.
They were still re
ceiving "thanks”
two weeks after the
program ended.
”By making
dream vacations
more affordable, sev
eral thousand fami
lies are now very
happy and very like
ly to fly Piedmont
again in the future,”
said Bill Asher,
director-sales pro
motions. ‘‘If the
basis of a promotion
is to generate satisfied customers and more busi
ness, we did it.”
”Kids Fly F'ree” was a promotion that gave
kids the opportunity to fly at virtually no cost
on Piedmont Airlines by redeeming proof-of-
purchase seals from any Chex brand cereal
boxes. Children two through 17 were eligible for
the free flight certificates and the purchase of
one adult-fare ticket per child was required. With
the exception of some holiday blackout dates,
travel had to be completed between September 9,
1987 and February 15, 1988.
”By tying in the required purchase of one
adult-fare ticket per eligible child, we have ex
posed Piedmont’s brand of service to people who
might otherwise have taken their business to an
other carrier, or not traveled at all,” Asher said.
“Instead, we’ve converted many of these people
into Piedmont customers.”
A mother of two children in Sunbury, PA, put it
best. For quite some time she and her husband
had considered a family trip to Disney World,
but, she said it seemed flying would be too ex
pensive and out of the question.
“Then we ran into your offer with Chex cere
als. 1 couldn’t believe it was true, but it really did
cost the four of us
just $400 instead of
$800. . .I’m looking
forward to flying on
Piedmont again in
the future. Thank
you Piedmont.”
Several letters
complimented Pied
mont’s punctual
service, friendly
crews and helpful
station people. For
many kids, and
their parents, it was
not only their first
Piedmont flight, but
their first flight even
Seven-year-old
‘‘Rachel” of Holly
wood, FL, was as
pleased with her
plastic pin-on captain’s wings as she was with
her free ticket to Grandma’s house, and thanked
Piedmont dearly for both.
‘‘But the common link between the hundreds
of letters Piedmont received was that this offer al
lowed them to really go big on a vacation—to
travel by air, together as a family, somewhere
they might otherwise never have been able to
go,” Asher said. ‘‘From what we read in their let
ters, they were very grateful for this opportunity.”
J.
New building adds growing room
Piedmont’s reservations computer center at
Madison Park has a new neighbor, a three story,
state-of-the-art building which will provide the
center with much-needed room for growth—and
room for the expansion of computer hardware
and staff which will eventually support the com
bined USAir Group reservation and information
systems.
The new 86,013-square-foot addition, com
pleted in late January, is immediately adjacent
and attached to the present computer reserva
tions center, with access between the two struc
tures on all three floors. According to Gary
Linville, administrator of building maintenance,
aside from some pending interior work, the facil
ity is technically ready for occupancy.
The first and second floor have been designed
with raised floors to house CAREsystem hard
ware and other information and communications
systems, Linville said. And on the third floor, a
1,800 square foot section is currently being out
fitted with six managers’ offices, one director’s
office, a conference room and 150 cubicles for
programmers. This new area is scheduled for
completion by mid-April.
Total square footage at our computer complex
now exceeds 167,000 square feet. In addition, a
six-story, 1,600-car parking deck for employees
opened last August.
“This place has been a boom town,” Linville
said. “We've been going nonstop since the center
initially opened in 1985.” Assisting David Reed,
manager of building maintenance, Linville is
Piedmont’s in-house maintenance specialist,
overseeing all functions of the construction of the
facility and its infrastructure.
But the job doesn’t stop there. Linville shares
the responsibility of insuring that all building
systems are in top shape and remain operational
24-hours a day, year round.
“A momentary shut down would have an im
mensely adverse effect throughout the entire
company, from reservations to the vital commu
nications activities of the AOCC,” he said.
“That’s why it is imperative that all power and
cooling systems at both buildings have an ade
quate emergency back up in the event of a me
chanical or power failure.
“Providing redundant systems to a building
with such heavy power demands is step one in
designing, maintaining and protecting our mil
lions of dollars in computer hardware,” Linville
said.
For nearly every air conditioning unit, emer
gency generator, water chiller and UPS (uninter-
ruptable power supply) in the new building, there
is one of equal size and power at its side. And
each of these units is of phenomenal proportions.
Imagine three 1,500 kilowatt generators, produc
ing 2,200 horsepower each—more electrical
power than is generated by a diesel locomotive—
or picture two 450-ton water chillers working
nonstop to keep offices comfortable and the com
puter equipment from overheating.
Linville said that there is virtually no need to
worry about heating the building’s 61,500 square
feet of raised floor computer space. A heat re
claim system is used to recirculate some of the
warm air generated by the computer equipment
to the remaining office areas.
“There’s practically no such thing as a heating
bill here,” Linville said. “In fact, even if the out
side temperature is just 10 degrees, the com
puters generate so much heat that the air
conditioning system is operated like it is on a hot
summer day,” he said.
In regard to the start-up, Linville added: “I feel
confident things will continue to run as success
ful here as they have next door. The other build
ing has a track record that speaks for itself.”
Jl
The following excerpts from complimen
tary letters received from all around the
country tell just how popular and success
ful the Piedmont/Ralston “Kids Fly Free”
program has been:
We had never traveled with your airline before
and did so because of the “Kids Fly Free" promo
tion. Due to the service and attitude of your em
ployees. we will definitely make Piedmont our first
choice for air travel in the future.
Chicago. IL
My children were able to visit their grandmother
and Disney World due to your kindness. This
would not have been possible without you. . .
Thank you for making a dream come true. . .
Wabash, IN
Having flown two other airlines this year we ex
pected delays and waits in airports. With two
young children this was not something that we
were looking forward to. 1b our delight the flights
were on time, the planes were clean and well
maintained and the crews were helpful and
friendly. . .Thank you for a positive flying experi
ence. In the future we will fly Piedmont whenever
possible and will recommend your company highly.
Cincinnati, OH
None of us had ever flown on Piedmont before,
and we were extremely pleased with the service
and personnel of your airline. Everyone we came
into contact with was very courteous, helpful and
pleasant. We were also pleased with the quality of
the food. . .Thanks again for making this offer
available to us. We never would have been able to
afford to fly had it not been for this promotion. . .
Dublin, PA
In the past, to fly by air had been a financial im
possibility as we are family of eight. Yet last sum
mer during a family forum, we all agreed to forego
birthday and Christmas gifts this year that we
might purchase air travel to Florida to visit my
brother. It was with the help of this program that
we were able to accomplish purchasing tickets. . .
Your organization refiects a caring company. We
wish to encourage you in your efforts for excel
lence in service to the American family.
Springville, NY
Thanks so much for our vacation come true. . .
we were able to make an unprecedented trip to
Florida and we would be interested in knowing of
any similar promotions next year as this is the
only way we would be able to visit the East coast. . .
Hollister, CA
-J-
at Madison l^rl
Reed (left), manager building maintenance,
and Gary Linville, supervisor building main
tenance, are dwarfed by one of three emer
gency generators at the new Madison Park
computer complex. This dynamo burns 96
gallons of fuel per hour and generates more
horsepower than a diesel locomotive.
Piedmonitor • March 1988