PR blogger Klaus Eck is angry – via Twitter. Reason: The Deutsche Bahn had its train yesterday with a one-hour delay Lecture foiled. But what apparently really drives him up the wall: There is only a paltry 15 euros in compensation for the lost appointment!

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Premium customer or what?

how come Corner is premiumCustomer Deutsche Bahn, ie he has a BahnCard-100, probably first class. Such a free travel ticket on Deutsche Bahn now costs 3800 euros a year (last year it was 3565!), and in first class even 6400 euros. A proud price for which one can expect a lot. And that's right, the ticket is valid throughout Germany, on all trains, for one price.

In addition to this service, there are a few special services that Deutsche Bahn offers customers granted: luggage shipping, bicycle transport and the use of the DB-Lounger. This makes Bahncard 100 holders almost like premium customers with preferential treatment. That's quite right, after all, he pays enough for a pleasure that most people would get away with cheaper, at least if you factor in the savings price and special tickets and BahnCard 50.

BahnCard 100 customers are looking into the tube

But with one, the Bahncard 100 customers have the look, and exactly where the Deutsche Bahn would have to do the best again: in the case of the delays. The train needs to provide customers with delays of 60 minutes and more 25% of their travel costs. At two hours it is even 50%.

Bahncard 100 owners are compensated with ridiculous 10 or 15 Euro flat rate. Plainly said: If you pay 3800 Euro a year and wait an hour dumb in the area around, gets lousy 10-15 Euro for it. Anyone who issues 200 Euro once a year and has a delay on this route, 50 Euro may be filed. Where is the relationship?

Naive fallacy

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Now the railway will presumably argue that the damage is proportionally small to someone who has unlimited access to the whole rail network, measured by the mass of the journeys. But that would be a dairy calculation: Because the course calculates so finally also that not all Bahncard 100 owners take full advantage of the value of their BahnCard. How it turns and turns: Who runs with the Bahncard 100 is in this case the fool.

And from the point of view of customer retention a really stupid mistake! Because premium customers like Klaus Eck feel apparently fooled and then do it publicly. It will look like that:

No good advertising for the DB!

With lock offers in the hunt for new customers

Instead of keeping such premium customers, however, there are many Companys, including the Deutsche Bahn, every year, a lot of effort to win new customers with lure offers. Everywhere you sting a tempting Eye and suggest: Buy now. Sign a contract now. Because it's still cheap!

It is debatable whether this is legally correct from a consumer protection perspective. Companies are much more interested in the question: is it? useful? I think: No, bait offers make little sense. And I also explain why.

Examples from bank to train

Example bank: Offer for half a year Money to invest at a high interest rate. The bank hopes, of course, that the customer will continue to leave the money with the bank after this period – at a lower interest rate. But what is stopping customers from jumping on to the next bank after this period has expired?

An offer from Deutsche Bahn is even better: a year's subscription to the transport association and a free Bahncard 25 for a year. Only: If you didn't want to take out a subscription anyway, you won't be tempted by this offer, because what even if you get the Bahncard, that weighs you Costs for a subscription that you don't need, hardly open.

Why lock-ups are harmful

In the end, I believe that these lock offers bring only new customers, if they wanted to complete the contract anyway.

On the contrary, I consider such lock offers long term harmful. For only the customer may explicitly use the offer of baiting, which previously did not have his money at the respective bank or so far no subscription at the respective public transport company.

The customer feels betrayed

Who, on the other hand, as a loyal customer for years satisfied was with the service provider, on the other hand, feels fooled. Because he learns from such lure offers: It is better to change more often than to remain loyal to the service provider.

And in the future, this customer will explicitly look for a short contract period and lock-in offers instead of keeping his service provider as conservative up to now. But: That's not what companies want - is it? Therefore, lock offers are simply the wrong signal to loyal customers!

Attention Advertising!

Incidentally, the customer also feels duped here: Deutsche Bahn has an affiliate program. However, the advertising material is not correct: the BahnCard 50 is advertised with full credit against the saver prices. The program misleads website operators and customers. Who slept there again?

My website is listed in one of the top spots for the search term BahnCard 50. Reason is one ArticleSeries on the Deutsche Bahn, which some time ago wrote about their price system and explains to the readers the hidden advantages and disadvantages of the individual tickets.

That's why I recently signed up for the Deutsche Bahn affiliate program. When I wanted to install the advertising banner yesterday, I noticed that the advertising material for the BahnCard 50 is anything but correct: Deutsche Bahn is running a banner advertising the Bahncard 50 with the words “Combine with Saver prices of the train ”.

Wrong info

This info is plain wrong how to fast and easy to read. Because the BahnCard 25 can be combined with the savings prices - but not the BahnCard 50, which is also explicitly stated in my contribution to the BahnCard 50. That would be fantastic if it were different, because then the BahnCard would be 50 clear more rewarding – for everyone.

Update: The Deutsche Bahn has apparently been attentive to my mistake through my blog post and has improved the banner - but completely commentless. The difference between old and new banner can now be seen above!

All money-making?

On the other hand, with the current pricing system, you can use the BahnCard 25 to be more precise Planning can actually save a lot more. Except in local transport - at least outside of transport associations. In any case, it seems to me that the price system is always calculated in such a way that it barely misses customer benefit. Thank you monopoly!

No wonder, then, that the customers, with their permission, are confused!

And now this advertising error. I don't want to know how many customers bought a BahnCard 50 because of such a false banner - something like this comes out. The Problem is reinforced by the fact that this trap is not explicitly pointed out. Please fix!

Why am I train affiliate?

And before anyone finds it strange that I am in spite of everything Criticism advertising for Deutsche Bahn: Yes, I recommend the Deutsche Bahn product with my affiliate link. But above all because there aren't any Alternatives gives.

Who in the Internet is looking for the BahnCard 50, either wants to buy it or not. I offer my readers objective, critical information on the subject. With the link, readers can then buy the BahnCard – or not.

Positive and negative to Deutsche Bahn

Apart from that, however, there are also positive things to report about Deutsche Bahn: I know several Employees, who are really enthusiastic and satisfied there, especially with the Vocational Training. Yes, Deutsche Bahn even affords its own employment office for its employees so that they can be placed in other positions in the company.

I really like to train, at least ICE driving is for me the stress-free kind of traveling (well, I was not in an ICE with faulty air conditioning system).

Gifted customer acquisition!

The only thing that unfortunately leaves something to be desired is the customer service, which is what most people get from the railways. And above all, the price system is so complicated that not even the employees understand it - neither at the counter nor in the store Marketing.

Too bad. A missed customer acquisition strategy. This comes out when people are only traveling with the BahnCard 100!

Also, publishers can advertising

Newspapers are out of money. That's why they have to save on the salaries and fees of their employees - and thus on quality! That is why publishers are demanding an ancillary copyright! At least that's the common one Opinions. Surprisingly, there is money for some unnecessary things.

An unnecessary expense for Springer Verlag was probably the 42.000 euros roaming fees that Bild editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann caused during his vacation in Morocco. However, I have the hope that so much stupidity is an isolated incident. And Springer has it….

Pseudowitzig past the target group

But unfortunately there are others that are no less stupid ideas with newspapers to spend money completely senseless. Through stupid advertising campaigns, for example. I recently discovered a great example in a Berlin swimming pool. "We'll help you undress" was written next to the men's changing room. The women would probably have come across as sexist….

That should be funny, because it was small that it is the housing market of the Berliner Morgenpost. That you are funny, but it goes completely past the target group - or what percentage of the swimming pool visitors will probably just want to move?

History marketing that no one understands!

The advertisement on a Berlin taxi is just as wrong. Seriously: Anyone who sees this taxi driving past them only thinks of one thing: that passengers are not allowed to wave in it themselves ... huh? Then who? The driver?

But no, everything is wrong, the Berliner Zeitung only wanted to point out its historic past with this great headline from 1961. It may still make sense to appeal to the reader's sense of tradition – who else buys print these days? But even if this advertising is more aimed at the educated reader, as Umberto Eco put it so beautifully: This message just requires too much thought to understand. In any case, more than you have when the taxi rushes past you.

Better Social Media?

Perhaps those responsible on the marketing floors of the publishers should simply read the press releases from the Bundesverband für Digitiale Economy read that social media advertising will continue to increase in 2010 - and increasingly rely on social media instead of taxis and swimming pools?

But wait, there was something: right, even that does not work, like that Süddeutsche Newspaper has proven. She tried to buy praise from bloggers via Trigami - or somehow it was all just a misunderstanding that they didn't try. Jan Tißler described this case very nicely and also aptly commented: "A current example shows how unconvinced even national German daily newspapers are of their own products ..."

How about quality

But I did not mean that. Social media is actually nothing more than the good, old oral propaganda. And it can neither be bought nor influenced, but is created by high-quality products and good service.

But somehow nobody in the newspapers seems to understand it ... why is that? Then I say: Throw the money out of the window!


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