Greyhound is one of the most successful bus companies within the United States. In fact, the name has become iconic. Greyhound was founded in 1914 when Eric Wickman who was a Swedish immigrant, began to provide a bus transportation service in Minnesota in which he charged 15 cents per ride per passenger. In 1915, Wickman partnered with Ralph Bogan to expand his operations to be called the Mesaba Transportation Company, (Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2016). In 1926, Greyhound got its name when Ed Stone entered the operations, (Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2016). Today, Greyhound is currently is located in Texas, (Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2016).
Greyhound’s main challenge is figuring out whether they are going to remain a national or international company, (Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2016). The reason that this has become a debate for their business is that companies such as Megabus and BoltBus have hit the market with $1 fare offerings and international operations catering to the university student and backpacker traveler market, (Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2016). Greyhound has to ascertain whether they should expand their operations overall or focus on the cross country travel that they have excelled at a great deal, (Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2016).
The key for Greyhound to grow and prosper as a business is going to be revising their pricing strategy to remain competitive and to enter this idea of “chic bussing” that is taking the market by storm, (Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2016). In the United States, Greyhound previously had a reputation of being unsafe; however, now they are being frequented by university students and travelers looking to save money because Amtrak is overpriced, (Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2016). This is Greyhound’s card to play is to market to the wealthy youth who are traveling more than they have ever before. If they do this, they may be able to be competitive in the marketing of their brand and grow their brand a great deal.
In order to demonstrate the success of this, I would market to the local universities and travel companies, (Greyhound Lines, Inc., 2016). I would also promote through newspapers and travel bloggers with special rides and times of the day where one can get the $1 fares to generate interest. This will show a great deal of ROI in the prospect of Greyhound expanding its operations a great deal to modernize and keep up with Megabus and BoltBus.
Works Cited
. “Greyhound Lines, Inc.” Reference for Business. 2016. Web. 9 April 2016.
