16 Jan 2016, 8:05 pm
#393
(16 Jan 2016, 7:45 pm)S813 FVK I don't see anybody complaining about the Red Arrows. Yet...
In 2011; Go North East were quoted in the trade press to have seen a 52% rise in passenger journeys on the X1 service, following the introduction of the "Red Arrows" brand name to this service. If this isn't a commercial success story, I don't know what is. You'd be mad to complain about this brand name!
The name is a representation of the brand, conjuring images, concepts and experiences. The "Red Arrows" brand name, to me, connotes a limited-stop express service, given the relation to the widely-known Red Arrows jets, operated by the Royal Air Force.
I'm a former Media Studies student, which means I naturally analyse different products and their connotations and what it could represent, and I also have an interest in this industry. I don't think many 'normal' customers would analyse a brand name and design as much as I have done in the example above. Perhaps they just see a coloured bus, and use this to identify their service from a distance?
(16 Jan 2016, 7:54 pm)LeeCalder The Highwayman did actually have a meaning.
I am lead to believe it dates back to a story of robberies in the Lobley Hill area in the late 1800. The people who committed these robberies were known as Highwaymen.
Hence why on one of the old Highwayman timetables, it says "At £2.20, it's a steal"
At the end of the day, route branding is what you make of it.
I wonder how many customers on the 97 knew of this story about robberies in Lobley Hill which occurred in the late 1800s?
