Skift Take
Amtrak has big marketing ambitions, but is still decades behind rail in other countries. It will need capital to make real tech advances before Americans will start to love rail service again.
Amtrak wants to be the brand that brings romance back to travel in the U.S.
And it's with earnestness that John Lee, Amtrak's chief of marketing and advertising programs, tells Skift how the brand plans to retell the story of train travel to the American public.
"This is a legacy brand," explains Lee. "In the midwest, they don't say I'm going to take the train. They say I'm going to take the Amtrak. It's like Clorox or Kleenex."
Lee joined Amtrak six months ago after serving as vice president of brand marketing at Hilton's Embassy Suites for 15 years. In his short time there, Amtrak has introduced writer's residencies, sponsored an influencer-filled train from LA to SXSW, and launched its first ad campaign in two years.
From Lee's perspective, Amtrak is set to grow considerably over the next 10 to 15 years. And with little capital available for highways or airports, Lee sees rail as the only transit option available to match the country's growth.
The challenges are formidable. Although it set ridership and revenue records in 2013, it spends a considerable amount of its time battling politicians in Washington, D.C., and wo
