Weekly Roundup You Can Market Anything These Days Edition

By Ron | Mar 3, 2008

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I recently took a very enjoyable trip on AirTran Airways, flying from Memphis to Atlanta to New Orleans. The flights were smooth, the Boeing 717’s were spacious, and the flight attendants were friendly and helpful. The XM satellite radio they offer on the flight is a neat perk and one that will potentially cause me to choose them again.

Just after we attained cruising altitude, I was offered my choice of drinks and I chose a Diet Cola and was offered a packet of pretzels.

AirTran1

When I looked at the front of the packet, I read, “How to eat gourmet pretzels on a low-fare airline.” I thought to myself, “I know how to eat a pretzel for Pete’s sake.” But what really got me was the invitation to “see back for complete details.” I was intrigued enough to turn the packet over to read it.

AirTran2

I had to chuckle as I read the instructions.

  1. Think about our wonderful low fares at airtran.com as you open packet.
  2. Place a pretzel in mouth. With each crunch, be reminded of our low fares.
  3. As you swallow, remember again just how low the fares are.
  4. Repeat until pretzel packet is empty.
  5. Keep empty packet to remind yourself to book at airtran.com for our lowest fares and no booking fees.

In my mind this was a brilliant piece of marketing. AirTran prides itself on low fares and uses that as a differentiator. They are constantly reminding their customers of what sets them apart. I don’t personally like to use price as a differentiator but AirTran seems to be doing it successfully. Could it be due to the fact that the company seems to understand what sets them apart in their customer’s mind?

Something to think about, NOW ON TO THE LINKS!

Madison at My Dollar Plan has an uplifting story about her husband’s challenging the staus quo and coming out on top. Read all about it in Negotiating a Raise.

Ciaran, our favorite financial planning pro, lists what you CAN and CANNOT control when it comes to your investments. He includes a section on how to be frugal with your investment decisions. Huh? That’s what I said too, at first. You gotta read this post.

Jason, our Frugal Dad, reviewed Ric Edelmen’s The Lies About Money. Jason always does a thorough review of his reads. Check out the Frugal Dad’s review and get the scoop on this book before you buy it.

CliffdiverJeff from My Supercharged Life has returned from vacation in Puerta Vallarta. We’re all looking forward to hearing about it and seeing some pictures of his cliff diving skills.

JLP at All Financial Matters took a look at the middle class under two different Presidents. Regardless of your political affiliation, it’s hard to argue with the numbers. And numbers make the world go ’round…wait, that was love that made the world go ’round, that is until you run out of cash.

Speaking of cash, Patrick at Cash Money Life has some ideas on how to get your employer to come off of that bank account and pay you more. I wonder if Madison’s husband read Patrick’s post on salary negotiation tactics?

Jeremy at Gen X Finance has a list of 20 books that will change your life and how you think about retirement. These look awesome and my Amazon wish list just got a little bit longer.

Gather Little by Little has a guest post from Ana at Debt Free Revolution. Ana became debt free excepting the mortgage this past week and wrote a post called on becoming debt free. I was in that boat right after we finished with Consumer Credit Counseling but went back into debt to get finished with my bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Lynnae at beingfrugal.net questions why are we so wrapped up in a life of leisure? This is a very appropriate question and one that requires a lot of examination of our own attitudes and tendencies toward a hard day’s work.


Enjoy these reads and thank you for making The Wisdom Journal a success through your continued readership.

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15 Comments so far
  1. Patrick (63 comments.) March 3, 2008 6:27 am

    I’m not sure if I’ve ever flown on AirTran before. But I do like pretzels! Thanks for the mention! :)

  2. Jeff@My Super-Charged Life (65 comments.) March 3, 2008 7:35 am

    Ron - Cliff diving! I love it. However, no cliff diving on this trip. Sorry to disappoint. I did have an awesome trip and thoroughly enjoyed Puerto Vallarta. I posted a complete review with some pictures on my site this morning. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the mention!

  3. Frugal Dad (61 comments.) March 3, 2008 8:02 am

    Next thing you know they’ll be selling advertising space on the pretzel wrappers.

    And thanks for the mention!

  4. Ron March 3, 2008 8:10 am

    @Frugal Dad
    Wouldn’t surprise me! Wonder if they have an affiliate program…hmmm

  5. Ron March 3, 2008 8:10 am

    @ Jeff@My Super-Charged Life
    No cliff diving pics? Oh well, maybe next year at the Life Skills Network Summit!

  6. Lynnae @ Being Frugal.net (13 comments.) March 3, 2008 10:26 am

    That pretzel package is too funny!

    Thanks for the mention!

  7. Ron March 3, 2008 10:52 am

    @ Lynnae @ Being Frugal.net
    Thanks Lynnae. That package had me chuckling for a while. The guy in the seat next to me kept looking at me like I was a nut!

  8. CiaranFromChance (6 comments.) March 3, 2008 5:00 pm

    Thanks Ron for the link and spicing up the round up post.

    Love the Air Tran pretzel, simple but SO effective. Airlines thinking out of the box this week everywhere. Just posted my roundup and included a link to an article Jim@ Blueprint wrote about his experience with Southwest.

    Maybe it’s time to buy Airlines stocks… ha… just kidding!

  9. Ron March 3, 2008 7:45 pm

    @CiaranFromChance
    Good one! But I think I’ll pass on the stock. Though, if they have sufficiently hedged their fuel needs waaaay into the future, their profits should be okay if they can convince the flying public that they just HAVE to raise ticket prices to keep up with fuel costs.

  10. Shama Hyder (18 comments.) March 4, 2008 12:07 pm

    Ron, as a marketing consultant this was a must read post for me.

    Thanks for putting a smile on my face! = )

  11. [...] This isn’t a rigid schedule and is subject to change at any notice, possibly two or three times in a 5 minute period, so look out! You never know what I may find to post about! Hey, I can even post about how to eat pretzels! [...]

  12. Becky@FamilyandFinances (5 comments.) March 4, 2008 12:39 pm

    I’m going to be traveling via AirTran for the first time in May. I was a little worried since I’d never heard anything about them (good or bad), so I’m very happy to read that you had a good experience. I can’t wait to see the pretzel packages (and eat the pretzels!).

  13. Ron March 4, 2008 12:51 pm

    @Shama Hyder
    Thanks, I’m glad you liked it! I thought it was astute of them to use that opportunity to reinforce their message to their customers.

  14. Ron March 4, 2008 1:09 pm

    @ Becky@FamilyandFinances
    Thanks Becky, they really did a great job on the four flights I took with them week before last. They remind me a lot of Southwest.

  15. boeing 717 March 26, 2008 10:12 am

    [...] [...]

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