(05 Feb 2017, 10:40 pm)James101 wrote [ -> ]When GNE went big with their branding back in 2006, the branding was arguably a bit more wholehearted. The brand was continued internally, including themed coving panels and safety notices - which have since been dropped.
The best execution of a bus brand I think I've seen is Trent's 'Spondon Flyer'. Much more than just a livery, internally the seats are individually numbered and have a BOAC 'Speedbird' style logo embroided , mimicking a plane cabin. The coving adverts interwork flight/holiday themes throughout and the timetables describe 'Flight times'. Even the destination display en route states 'Come fly with me to......Spondon'.
Catching a 'flyer' becomes an immersive experience for the passenger, the brand sticks in the mind and builds loyalty. It is useful of course that the brand has an appropriate meaning - it's a express bus to Spondon after all.
There was a point were GNE seemed to be branding for the sake of branding. There's little point if it doesn't mean anything - I'm thinking 'Kingfisher', 'See it Do it' 'Showstopper'. I'd rather a strong corporate identity for peripheral routes and some strong, well executed, brands for core routes such as 'Angel', 'TTX' & 'Prince Bishops'.
Kingfisher was to do with Watergate Park area and the rejuvanation of said birds I believe.
Seeitdoit -
http://www.seeitdoitsunderland.co.uk/, it's an organisation.
I do get your point, but most brands have some purpose, somewhere.
Personally I see details such as seat numbering as superficial gimmicks. It's not premium - it's just trying to be. Of course you get wifi and that stuff, but the design I feel is completely irrelevant because it all looks the same when it comes to it. E-leather and floor lighting or cloth seats and generic plastic.
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(05 Feb 2017, 10:56 pm)Jamie M wrote [ -> ]Kingfisher was to do with Watergate Park area and the rejuvanation of said birds I believe.
Seeitdoit - http://www.seeitdoitsunderland.co.uk/, it's an organisation.
I do get your point, but most brands have some purpose, somewhere.
Personally I see details such as seat numbering as superficial gimmicks. It's not premium - it's just trying to be. Of course you get wifi and that stuff, but the design I feel is completely irrelevant because it all looks the same when it comes to it. E-leather and floor lighting or cloth seats and generic plastic.
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I don't think any branding necessary improves the passenger experience, or adds any sense of 'premium'. Branding should be there to build commercial awareness. Imagine someone was getting the bus for the first time from Newcastle to Chester-le-Street and they've been told there's an Arriva bus and an Angel bus. There's dozens of mysterious looking Arriva buses around Newcastle but the green bus with a massive image of the Angel on the side is clearly the one they need. If once on board, the new passenger is surrounded by reminders they are on the Angel they'll remember that's the bus to Newcastle. From then, they'll always use the Angel and never contemplate getting the X12. It's the same as ASDA using green and Tesco using blue for signs and uniforms in their stores - to implant the brand in the customer's mind.
(05 Feb 2017, 10:40 pm)James101 wrote [ -> ]When GNE went big with their branding back in 2006, the branding was arguably a bit more wholehearted. The brand was continued internally, including themed coving panels and safety notices - which have since been dropped.
The best execution of a bus brand I think I've seen is Trent's 'Spondon Flyer'. Much more than just a livery, internally the seats are individually numbered and have a BOAC 'Speedbird' style logo embroided , mimicking a plane cabin. The coving adverts interwork flight/holiday themes throughout and the timetables describe 'Flight times'. Even the destination display en route states 'Come fly with me to......Spondon'.
Catching a 'flyer' becomes an immersive experience for the passenger, the brand sticks in the mind and builds loyalty. It is useful of course that the brand has an appropriate meaning - it's a express bus to Spondon after all.
There was a point were GNE seemed to be branding for the sake of branding. There's little point if it doesn't mean anything - I'm thinking 'Kingfisher', 'See it Do it' 'Showstopper'. I'd rather a strong corporate identity for peripheral routes and some strong, well executed, brands for core routes such as 'Angel', 'TTX' & 'Prince Bishops'.
I agree re: pointless brands but SIDIS and Showstopper do/did have relevance (Showstopper being related to the Empire which I think was at one point on the route, and more importantly funded the branding!).
Poorer attempts for me were 'the NINE' and whatever the other brand was that was essentially silver numbers stuck on a tatty purple solar. Silver arrows, green arrow, blue arrow are all a bit meaningless (I know silver arrows were designed off red arrows, but still). Whey Aye Five O is just awful, as is Simplicity (though both do have some loose meaning related to the route - or did until the Five-0 was translated to 5). Coast & Country as has been discussed previously would work if only it went to the coast. Ten is dull but works, and I always thought Fab56 was weak - but clearly its effective as its one of the few originals to survive barely changed. And don't get me started on indigo.
Other than those though, the remaining brands are pretty strong. It's a shame if Blaydon Racers is being abandoned as a brand as it does have a lot of local meaning and works well for a bus service.
(05 Feb 2017, 11:34 pm)stagecoachbusdepot wrote [ -> ]I agree re: pointless brands but SIDIS and Showstopper do/did have relevance (Showstopper being related to the Empire which I think was at one point on the route, and more importantly funded the branding!).
Poorer attempts for me were 'the NINE' and whatever the other brand was that was essentially silver numbers stuck on a tatty purple solar. Silver arrows, green arrow, blue arrow are all a bit meaningless (I know silver arrows were designed off red arrows, but still). Whey Aye Five O is just awful, as is Simplicity (though both do have some loose meaning related to the route - or did until the Five-0 was translated to 5). Coast & Country as has been discussed previously would work if only it went to the coast. Ten is dull but works, and I always thought Fab56 was weak - but clearly its effective as its one of the few originals to survive barely changed. And don't get me started on indigo.
Other than those though, the remaining brands are pretty strong. It's a shame if Blaydon Racers is being abandoned as a brand as it does have a lot of local meaning and works well for a bus service.
I don't think having a 'real meaning' has an impact on the effectiveness of a brand. The 'Blaydon Racers' as a name holds local historical meaning. But a quickly cobbled together vynal on the side of a mid-life Citaro doesn't engage the passenger/customer. Most passengers would have still identified the route as the 49 rather than 'the racer' - hence the brand wasn't dropped.
You could name a route 'sausage' and it could be a success if it was done correctly. If the company really committed to marketing sausage. Branded the buses in an eye catching sausage livery, the sausage theme was continued inside the bus and all marketing was sausage themed. Yes, everyone would say it was ridiculous, but at the end of the day they would be taking about it, which translates into people getting on it. The purpose of a brand is to make money, not please people.
(05 Feb 2017, 11:18 pm)James101 wrote [ -> ]I don't think any branding necessary improves the passenger experience, or adds any sense of 'premium'. Branding should be there to build commercial awareness. Imagine someone was getting the bus for the first time from Newcastle to Chester-le-Street and they've been told there's an Arriva bus and an Angel bus. There's dozens of mysterious looking Arriva buses around Newcastle but the green bus with a massive image of the Angel on the side is clearly the one they need. If once on board, the new passenger is surrounded by reminders they are on the Angel they'll remember that's the bus to Newcastle. From then, they'll always use the Angel and never contemplate getting the X12. It's the same as ASDA using green and Tesco using blue for signs and uniforms in their stores - to implant the brand in the customer's mind.
The bus networks here are incredibly monipolised, generally. Branding isn't essential because there isn't the need for the edge over the competing parties as they simply don't exist. Look at Stanley depot for example. Everything is pretty simple, even those B9s are untouched inside. The only routes that challenges anything to do with Stanley are the 713 and the EDwhatever to Medomsley (just). Neither carry more than about 10 people (the ED only runs once, too), so businesswise there is no need to invest in the finer aspects of a bus. If you put GNE logos all over the Stanley Omnidekkas, is a single person going to start using service X71 over anything else? No - simply because there is nothing else. Same with the Toonlinks/RKs/Ventures.
If those buses (the brick-like solos) are to be completing contract work, then the chances of there being any competition is slim. Is there another bus administrated by a different company that operates similarly to the 333? Is there a different company that operates the same links from Airport and the surrounding area?
Given the buses size, you should be able to guess that competition is not a factor that is involved in the decision to allocate.
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(05 Feb 2017, 11:47 pm)Jamie M wrote [ -> ]The bus networks here are incredibly monipolised, generally. Branding isn't essential because there isn't the need for the edge over the competing parties as they simply don't exist. Look at Stanley depot for example. Everything is pretty simple, even those B9s are untouched inside. The only routes that challenges anything to do with Stanley are the 713 and the EDwhatever to Medomsley (just). Neither carry more than about 10 people (the ED only runs once, too), so businesswise there is no need to invest in the finer aspects of a bus. If you put GNE logos all over the Stanley Omnidekkas, is a single person going to start using service X71 over anything else? No - simply because there is nothing else. Same with the Toonlinks/RKs/Ventures.
If those buses (the brick-like solos) are to be completing contract work, then the chances of there being any competition is slim. Is there another bus administrated by a different company that operates similarly to the 333? Is there a different company that operates the same links from Airport and the surrounding area?
Given the buses size, you should be able to guess that competition is not a factor that is involved in the decision to allocate.
I wouldn't say that the ED1 provides any form of competition with GNE - 1 journey in each direction on schooldays with the purpose of transporting students to Houghall Campus. It doesn't go via Durham Bus Station/Millburngate either, it heads straight down Framwellgate Peth and across the bridge to New Elvet. Not ideal for anybody going into the city and passengers for New College usually let it past and wait for the 16 that runs minutes behind it.
Redgarding the 333 etc, Nexus state the capacity etc - the operator gets paid to operate the service regardless of how much competition is.
(05 Feb 2017, 11:52 pm)S813 FVK wrote [ -> ]I wouldn't say that the ED1 provides any form of competition with GNE - 1 journey in each direction on schooldays with the purpose of transporting students to Houghall Campus. It doesn't go via Durham Bus Station/Millburngate either, it heads straight down Framwellgate Peth and across the bridge to New Elvet. Not ideal for anybody going into the city and passengers for New College usually let it past and wait for the 16 that runs minutes behind it.
Redgarding the 333 etc, Nexus state the capacity etc - the operator gets paid to operate the service regardless of how much competition is.
I agree that the ED1 isn't really competition, but it is in the loosest of terms as it's in the vague area of GNE in parts. It's the only other thing that comes close to competition though, along with 713.
I understand what you're saying, and it further shows how irrelevant the extra 'premium' features are to the bus.
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(05 Feb 2017, 10:40 pm)James101 wrote [ -> ]When GNE went big with their branding back in 2006, the branding was arguably a bit more wholehearted. The brand was continued internally, including themed coving panels and safety notices - which have since been dropped.
The best execution of a bus brand I think I've seen is Trent's 'Spondon Flyer'. Much more than just a livery, internally the seats are individually numbered and have a BOAC 'Speedbird' style logo embroided , mimicking a plane cabin. The coving adverts interwork flight/holiday themes throughout and the timetables describe 'Flight times'. Even the destination display en route states 'Come fly with me to......Spondon'.
Catching a 'flyer' becomes an immersive experience for the passenger, the brand sticks in the mind and builds loyalty. It is useful of course that the brand has an appropriate meaning - it's a express bus to Spondon after all.
There was a point were GNE seemed to be branding for the sake of branding. There's little point if it doesn't mean anything - I'm thinking 'Kingfisher', 'See it Do it' 'Showstopper'. I'd rather a strong corporate identity for peripheral routes and some strong, well executed, brands for core routes such as 'Angel', 'TTX' & 'Prince Bishops'.
Reading the original post, my mind went back to the internal branding and the faces of fellow passengers, who endured my 'singing' whenever I got the 71. I thought sticking the lyrics to the Lambton Worm on coving was a brilliant idea.
It could have been the start of something, although I would hope not too gimmicky.
Apart from then, I think Wear Buses were the only GNE op to have continued the theme inside. They used plastic corporate themed covering on their National's for a period. If I remember correctly, the insides of some vehicles were painted grey and green too.
There may be images online for those who can't remember or are unaware.
I do think that internal branding is often overlooked (and that's from someone who isn't a fan of branding in general).
When GAG introduced their blue diagonal stripe brand, I anticipated a refresh internally. How wrong I was.
Ditto vehicles prior to then in an advertising livery of some sort.
When dose service AD122 start
(06 Feb 2017, 5:59 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]14th April.
What will replace 636 at percy main and the solo at depford
5290 has a WiFi access point, although no WiFi access just yet!
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Red kite 5414 was on 15/15a's late morning. Makes a change from B7's!
How many buses now have the new GNE logos? I've seen 3967, 3969 and 8316 with the new logos today.
(07 Feb 2017, 4:15 pm)EL1TE wrote [ -> ]How many buses now have the new GNE logos? I've seen 3967, 3969 and 8316 with the new logos today.
I know 5275 does, saw it on the X9 before
(07 Feb 2017, 4:15 pm)EL1TE wrote [ -> ]How many buses now have the new GNE logos? I've seen 3967, 3969 and 8316 with the new logos today.
5220 is one.
Horrendous markings on the rear window where the old sticker was.
(07 Feb 2017, 4:15 pm)EL1TE wrote [ -> ]How many buses now have the new GNE logos? I've seen 3967, 3969 and 8316 with the new logos today.
All of Riverside's fleet are having the new logos fitted at present.