newarksmells
8th Nov 2003, 04:32
Thanks to 9news in Denver for the latest info.
DENVER – The Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post are reporting that the name Ted, which has shown up in ads and giveaways around the state in recent days, is actually an allusive reference to United’s new low-cost carrier.
T-E-D is the last three letters of United. The airline is planning to launch a low-cost carrier in February as part of its plan for emerging from bankruptcy. It will be based in Denver.
The name Ted has created a buzz in recent days. It was stamped into a farmer’s field near Greeley. There are Ted ads in Denver’s Westword and on the 9NEWS, Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post Web sites. There are messages from Ted at the ESPN Zone store. Ted bought lunch for everyone at a Chipotle in LoDo on Tuesday and a slice of cheesecake for diners at the Cheesecake Factory last week. The News says Ted is not a mysterious philanthropist, but actually a guerilla marketing campaign by United.
While United officials won’t confirm this information, the News says it has traced two Web sites; www.meet-ted.com and www.flyted.com to United computers servers.
According to the Denver Post, the Web site www.flyted.com was claimed in September by an intellectual property firm that works for United. The server that hosts the site, which hasn’t been launched yet, it registered with United Loyalty Services, a division of United’s parent company UAL Corp.
The "Ted" campaign is designed to catch the attention of people in their teens and 20s, said Steve Whittier, creative director of Factory Design Labs in Denver.
The orange and blue banner ads on the newspaper Web sites state “Ted. Not your average Joe.” They link to the www.meet-ted.com Web site that features a jazzy Flash presentation that starts off “Here’s to denim, the original work outfit, to moguls and carving knee-deep powder.”
"Obviously it's for somebody who is into sort of a free, independent-skier sort of lifestyle," Whittier said. "They are playing to reality advertising. They are definitely trying to go low-cost. They are trying to create an Internet cult following."
United is expected to formally announce the new carrier's launch in the next few weeks. For now, it is simply referred to by company officials at the “new low-cost operation” or LCO.
An astute 9NEWS.com reader, Mike Slone, points out that the Ted on-line banner ads that appear on the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post Web sites have file names that start with LCO, another possible clue that Ted is the name of the new operation.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report, Copyright 2003 by 9NEWS KUSA-TV. All Rights Reserved )
DENVER – The Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post are reporting that the name Ted, which has shown up in ads and giveaways around the state in recent days, is actually an allusive reference to United’s new low-cost carrier.
T-E-D is the last three letters of United. The airline is planning to launch a low-cost carrier in February as part of its plan for emerging from bankruptcy. It will be based in Denver.
The name Ted has created a buzz in recent days. It was stamped into a farmer’s field near Greeley. There are Ted ads in Denver’s Westword and on the 9NEWS, Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post Web sites. There are messages from Ted at the ESPN Zone store. Ted bought lunch for everyone at a Chipotle in LoDo on Tuesday and a slice of cheesecake for diners at the Cheesecake Factory last week. The News says Ted is not a mysterious philanthropist, but actually a guerilla marketing campaign by United.
While United officials won’t confirm this information, the News says it has traced two Web sites; www.meet-ted.com and www.flyted.com to United computers servers.
According to the Denver Post, the Web site www.flyted.com was claimed in September by an intellectual property firm that works for United. The server that hosts the site, which hasn’t been launched yet, it registered with United Loyalty Services, a division of United’s parent company UAL Corp.
The "Ted" campaign is designed to catch the attention of people in their teens and 20s, said Steve Whittier, creative director of Factory Design Labs in Denver.
The orange and blue banner ads on the newspaper Web sites state “Ted. Not your average Joe.” They link to the www.meet-ted.com Web site that features a jazzy Flash presentation that starts off “Here’s to denim, the original work outfit, to moguls and carving knee-deep powder.”
"Obviously it's for somebody who is into sort of a free, independent-skier sort of lifestyle," Whittier said. "They are playing to reality advertising. They are definitely trying to go low-cost. They are trying to create an Internet cult following."
United is expected to formally announce the new carrier's launch in the next few weeks. For now, it is simply referred to by company officials at the “new low-cost operation” or LCO.
An astute 9NEWS.com reader, Mike Slone, points out that the Ted on-line banner ads that appear on the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post Web sites have file names that start with LCO, another possible clue that Ted is the name of the new operation.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report, Copyright 2003 by 9NEWS KUSA-TV. All Rights Reserved )