(15 Dec 2013, 8:20 pm)andreos1 wrote I agree, it is possibly diluting the brand, but so does every other red bus that appears on a branded route.
However, when it comes to a hundred year anniversary relating to a business, I feel that having all of these celebrations, books, events etc and then forgetting all about it a few months down the line, seems to defeat the point of doing it all in the first place.
Granted, they aren't going to celebrate their 101'st Birthday, but to conciously erase any sign of their promotions (incurring the expense that goes with it) after spending money telling everyone how old they were...
Obvious difference being that, when red buses are allocated, it means that the branded vehicle was not available (hopefully due to the bus being VOR, rather than anything else).
If 8319 was to remain in its current livery, Go North East would be knowingly allocating a red bus to a branded service each day, for no reason other than to please a few nostalgic enthusiasts. 8319's livery will not increase ridership, reliability or punctuation - why would the average customer give a toss? Granted - some may, but they'd be in the minority.
Go North East have benefited from the publicity of the acts they've carried out to celebrate their centenary year, but they needn't dwell on it.