Green Communication: CSX Gets it.

I'm amazed. A Class 1 freight railroad is actively advertising in the United States on radio, the internet and in print media. When I first saw this it drew my immediate curiosity. My initial thought was "Who will read this stuff then act on it in a way that generates revenue for the railroad?"

How many housewives buy rail traffic?  Who is the target audience? Whatever the reason, I paid attention because something unusual was happening in the executive suite of an old school transportation business. I just didn't know what it was.

Then I got an email. 

CSX was inviting ME to come to Chicago to attend a conference as well as to see their latest ecological and energy efficient equipment and operations.

The conference is the EPA Climate Leaders Conference in Chicago next week. CSX Railroad is investing heavily in communicating it's biggest value proposition. Railroads are both clean technology and the most efficient way to move product to market.

Railroads compete mainly against trucks. The bigger the load and the longer the haul, the more railroads present value to shippers. CSX has produced an on-line carbon calculator to allow shippers to compare distance and load vs. mode of transportation to determine transport efficiency.

CSX gets both its value proposition to freight shippers, but also to environmental groups.   I got invited to join a group of bloggers from a broad spectrum of interests.  These include transportation, technology, the environment and current events/news. Blogger attendees will tour the Chicago rail yard, see CSX's latest GenSet Locomotive, and attend a dinner meeting with senior CSX executives.  Other on-line attendees include Ars Technica, Trains For America and Green Living.

CSX's communications and marketing teams are carving a new branding niche.  Not only are they investing in traditional media to send their message, they are investing in both traditional and new on-line media. Lets face it, anybody with an audience can influence stock prices. Bloggers have a role in this.

CSX has really gone cutting edge in addressing this market by educating bloggers on what they are doing.  If bloggers from a wide range of interests consider railroads an efficient transport medium, then the public perception of railroads will change.  BNSF, NS and others owe CSX a debt here I think!

For an old school transportation medium, I congratulate CSX on how well it understands the branding opportunity that the net and industry bloggers offer. I've spent 25 years in the transportation business working with heavy iron in modes ranging from containerships to B747's.

I'm looking forward to some steel wheel love.

Eric

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Comments

[Eric]

I certainly did have an excellent visit with CSX this week. I also got to meet a number of other bloggers who mainly cover environmental issues. I will be writing more about this in an upcoming article, and will be linking to some of the other content that this event generated.

Eric

[Kittykat]

Great job on the article on CSX! How did the conference go??

[CT Choo]

Hi

I like your feature on innovative ways to highlight freight business.