Before You Make A Brand Positioning Claim Or A Marketing Promise, Ask A Seven Year Old

Unlike Alaska Airlines, in this ad spotted by Seattle Times columnist Ron Judd:

Marketers at Alaska Airlines, perhaps fretting over intruding airlines such as Allegiant, which flies nonstop from small northern cities to sunny southern climes, are getting a bit creative.

In an e-mail to mileage-plan members last week, Alaska/Horizon boasted: "We have daily nonstop flights from Bellingham, Redmond and Eugene to sunny destinations in California, Arizona and Nevada."

Uh, no, they don't. Horizon does fly directly from Redmond, Ore., to L.A., but most frequent Northwest travelers know the airline flies nonstop from Bellingham only to Sea-Tac, and from Eugene, Ore., to either Medford or Portland.

When the little plane touches down in those places, it's called a "stop." A "nonstop" flight would involve getting on a plane and flying directly to a southern state without stopping.

OK, it's nitpicking. But just imagine the sagging spirits of all those freezing Bellinghamsters who learn that their best nonstop "sunny destination" on Horizon is actually Seattle.

You promise "12 in a row every hour," but you actually only play 10 or 11? And, not every hour?

Talk to a seven year old. You're only fooling one person, YOU.

What To Do When Something On-Air Goes Horribly Bad

Thankfully, Canada's Broadcast Standards Council ruled today that having controversial people on air doesn't breach their Code of Ethics in the case of VisionTV's broadcasts of Dil Dil Pakistan in July 2007.

If the ruling had gone the other way, as much as I deplore the hateful comments which were attributed to fanatical TV Islamic imam Dr. Israr Ahmad it would have had a chilling effect on free broadcast speech. Vision TV's actions, albeit that they probably took too long to take them after the complaints, seem to me like a textbook example of what any of us would do when a guest on our airwaves is alleged to have said something hateful/stupid/outrageous/damaging:

"VisionTV also pointed out the steps it had taken to respond to the complaints, including the establishment of a Task Force to look into the issue, the interim suspension of the broadcast of Dil Dil Pakistan, and the broadcast of apologies for any offence caused."

Do you monitor everything the voices are saying on your public affairs and religious programming, even when it airs early, early on a Saturday or Sunday morning?