VIA Rail in Mississauga

[TOareaFan]

May seem like a dumb question but does Via have a station in Mississauga?

This came up in conversation recently at, of all places, an OHL hockey game.

My friends and I are OHL fans and we were at the Powerade Centre (Brampton) and the Hershey Centre (Mississauga) on consecutive nights.

A friend from Toronto noticed that Via do a lot of advertising at the Mississauga games and no advertising in Brampton. It prompted him to ask "Why doesn't Brampton have Via rail service" (he asssumed they don't because there was no advertising) when I told them they did he was surprised.....it got me thinking, though, does Mississauga have a station?

Makes their advertising strategy bizarre if they don't? "Great idea from marketing, lets spend our ad dollars promoting ourselves in a market where we don't serve but ignore one that we do".

 

[CDL.TO]

May seem like a dumb question but does Via have a station in Mississauga?

This came up in conversation recently at, of all places, an OHL hockey game.

My friends and I are OHL fans and we were at the Powerade Centre (Brampton) and the Hershey Centre (Mississauga) on consecutive nights.

A friend from Toronto noticed that Via do a lot of advertising at the Mississauga games and no advertising in Brampton. It prompted him to ask "Why doesn't Brampton have Via rail service" (he asssumed they don't because there was no advertising) when I told them they did he was surprised.....it got me thinking, though, does Mississauga have a station?

Makes their advertising strategy bizarre if they don't? "Great idea from marketing, lets spend our ad dollars promoting ourselves in a market where we don't serve but ignore one that we do".

Because municipal boundaries are arbitrary and meaningless in the movement of people, and therefore have no bearing on the actual boundaries of consumer markets.

Would you say "Why does Air Canada advertise in Markham when they don't have an airport there?" or "Why would Vaughan Mills advertise in Brampton when their mall is in another city?".

People in Mississauga have easy access to Oakville, Brampton, and Union stations by road or by transit. Those stations serve the Mississauga market nicely.

VIA most likely advertises in the Hershey Centre and not the (ugh!) Powerade Centre not because of the municipalities, but because the Hershey Centre has more events, often of a higher calibre, so would likely be seen by more potential customers.

 

[TOareaFan]

Because municipal boundaries are arbitrary and meaningless in the movement of people, and therefore have no bearing on the actual boundaries of consumer markets.

Would you say "Why does Air Canada advertise in Markham when they don't have an airport there?" or "Why would Vaughan Mills advertise in Brampton when their mall is in another city?".

Well the Air Canada thing is easy (and a bit of stretch)....the region is served by one airport. Vaughan Mills considers itself to be a fairly unique mall different than the Bramalea City Centre or Shoppers World....so they advertise all over the place to draw shoppers to their unique tenant base.

People in Mississauga have easy access to Oakville, Brampton, and Union stations by road or by transit. Those stations serve the Mississauga market nicely.

I do understand why they might advertise in Mississauga.....just not sure why not in Brampton (where, at least, there is the opportunity to make a direct link between the station and the arena/team)

VIA most likely advertises in the Hershey Centre and not the (ugh!) Powerade Centre not because of the municipalities, but because the Hershey Centre has more events, often of a higher calibre, so would likely be seen by more potential customers.

The advertising I was refering to was, specifically, the ingame advertising during hockey games......Brampton's average attendance this year is higher than Mississauga's so that does not hold.


Quick question....the "ugh!" beside Powerade.....is it cool to name your arena after a chocolate bar but not an energy drink? I don't get the reference.

 

[ShonTron]

Hershey is a company with its Canadian HQ in Mississauga. They also used to have a plant in Smiths Falls.

Powerade is a brand, and that's all. There's worse though, like Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland and Jobing.com Arena in Glendale AZ.

 

[TOareaFan]

Hershey is a company with its Canadian HQ in Mississauga. They also used to have a plant in Smiths Falls.

Powerade is a brand, and that's all. There's worse though, like Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland and Jobing.com Arena in Glendale AZ.

Thanks for the explanation....the distinction is lost on me (ie. once you allow corporate names into arena naming the difference between a company name and a brand is not much of a distinction)......Coca Cola is a big employer in Brampton and they bought the naming rights and chose to use a brand of theirs rather than their corporate name (I think they did this with the ball park in Houston too).

 

[RedRocket191]

For the record, there was a time when the weekend morning runs would stop at Malton on request.

 

[CDL.TO]

The advertising I was refering to was, specifically, the ingame advertising during hockey games......Brampton's average attendance this year is higher than Mississauga's so that does not hold.

I don't understand where this advertising was. Who did VIA sign an advertising contract with? The Hershey Centre (which is what I was assuming) or the Majors (which is a bit harder to understand)?

And if you want to talk about crazy VIA advertising in markets they don't serve, there are VIA ads on the field at Calgary Stampeders games.

 

[TOareaFan]

For the record, there was a time when the weekend morning runs would stop at Malton on request.

I think I remember that and was thinking that it might be a VIA station but it is a long time since I remember being on a VIA train between Brampton and Georgetown that stopped in Malton.

I don't/didn't mean for this to become a big thing it just was something that came up on conversation during two consecutive games at the different arenas.

 

[khris]

To answer your question, no there is no VIA rail in Mississauga.

 

[PSC]

I don't understand where this advertising was. Who did VIA sign an advertising contract with? The Hershey Centre (which is what I was assuming) or the Majors (which is a bit harder to understand)?

I imagine it's either a league sponsor or a St. Mikes sponsor, as it's related to the horn they blow when the Majors score (heard that 7 times on Friday ).

... although it could be attached to the arena, I dunno.

 

[MisterF]

I despise those horns they blow whenever the home team scores. Every team in the NHL does it.

 

[TOareaFan]

I don't understand where this advertising was. Who did VIA sign an advertising contract with? The Hershey Centre (which is what I was assuming) or the Majors (which is a bit harder to understand)?

And if you want to talk about crazy VIA advertising in markets they don't serve, there are VIA ads on the field at Calgary Stampeders games.

We noticed two types of different advertising by VIA at the Hershey.....there is fixed advertising sinage above the vomitories...given the permanence of this advertising (ie. it is there during all events at the Hershey) it is likely a deal done with the arena management.

There were, however, ads on the scoreboard and pa for VIA...that type of less pemanent advertising is, typically, between the event (in this case the Majors) and the sponsor (VIA).

 

[TOareaFan]

I imagine it's either a league sponsor or a St. Mikes sponsor, as it's related to the horn they blow when the Majors score (heard that 7 times on Friday ).

... although it could be attached to the arena, I dunno.

thanks for sounding that horn 7 times....combined with the Battalion victory last night (and their follow-up win in Belleville tonight) first place in the conference is still within reach for the Battalion!

 

[ShonTron]

Oh, the Brampton Battalion. Hey, I know Brampton's nickname is the Flower Town of Canada. Oooh. I'm so scared. What are they doing to do? Pollinate me?

 

[CDL.TO]

We noticed two types of different advertising by VIA at the Hershey.....there is fixed advertising sinage above the vomitories...given the permanence of this advertising (ie. it is there during all events at the Hershey) it is likely a deal done with the arena management.

There were, however, ads on the scoreboard and pa for VIA...that type of less pemanent advertising is, typically, between the event (in this case the Majors) and the sponsor (VIA).

I wouldn't be surprised that all the advertising is a single contract with the Hershey Centre.

Anyway, it seems like bad practice to advertise in one team's arena and not the entire league for a national company like that.