"Exhibit A" Why WiFi Itself is Good Marketing

Several months ago, my Twitter friends at @SDTips wondered whether Amtrak would soon install WiFi on its trains. Turned out Amtrak had quietly installed this service on its DC Acela service – the same route VP Joe Biden takes to and from his home in Delaware. We all got a few chuckles over Biden and then dismissed the notion of ”Train WiFi” around the nation any time soon. After all, refitting older equipment with modern conveniences must be too difficult.

Or is it?

Fast forward to June – after a cross-country flight on Virgin America (who just put WiFi on all of its planes), I grabbed an early morning Peter Pan express bus from Boston to New York....fully equipped with WiFi.

Which got me thinking....if Peter Pan can offer WiFi on a $35 bus ride, why can’t Amtrak do the same on a $125 per person regional train running the same route?

Peter Pan and other bus carriers - including customer service grease fire Greyhound – are smartly taking advantage of market opportunities born from the recession and the “new entrepreneur”. Today’s 2.0 companies are willing to give up the dining car and some leg room in exchange for several hours of productive business on the web. And they’re saving precious money along the way.

As for Amtrak, they sadly have missed yet another boat. But misguided thinking is inherent in any business run by the government. And Amtrak is a business. While I’m sure President Obama’s vision of bullet trains between San Diego and LA will be nice...someday...maybe...why not save billions in “studies” and equip those existing Amtrak cars with WiFi right now?

People who don’t think offering a value-added service has real marketing value are out of touch with the word-of-mouth marketing power that is sweeping the globe via sites like Twitter, Digg and Facebook. This blog just gave Peter Pan Bus Company positive word-of-mouth marketing and handed Amtrak a little beat-down. Neither entity paid me a cent in advertising but these words are about to be tweeted to 455 loyal followers.

Meanwhile, Amtrak still spends a fortune on traditional advertising – billboards on highways, poorly placed outdated commercials, and even a rolling sign I recently saw at an LA Angels home game (and don’t remember a word of the content). No wonder Amtrak is billions in debt.