(18 Dec 2015, 5:21 pm)R852 PRG wrote I agree with what Adrian says in a way; but ''Northern'' was far more of a household name in the region than ''OK'' was. In my opinion, the former deserves to hold, albeit a limited, name within the company nowadays, while ''OK'' was just amalgamated into Go Ahead Northern upon acquisition. Another point is that the current usage of ''Northern'' as a brand for the OmniDekkas on the 6, X70 and X71 is that it has been applied to vehicles that are 11/12 years old and will be removed from service within the next five years if their expected shelf live is acknowledged. With the case of reviving ''OK'' for some brand new vehicles, which are at the top of their range, it wouldn't be right in my opinion to apply the livery of something so far into the past onto something brand new. It would be like giving an iPhone 6S to a man still living in the 1950s.
Diamond and Venture were taken over a long while before OK were, yet we see their names used - including Venture on brand new vehicles.
Heck, that fella still living in the 1950's may struggle to remember Venture!
I have stated many a time that I am not a fan of branding. It doesn't do much for me.
I couldn't give two hoots whether OK is brought back, however if I had a choice between OK or the current brand, OK would win hands down - if only because of the relevance to the route.
Northern may be recognised more in its traditional heartlands, but not sure about some areas like Wearside and North Tyneside, who were used to Sunderland and District or Tynemouth etc plying their trade.