(01 Oct 2013, 4:33 pm)Daniel wrote Since June, the 61 has received a temporary allocation until the Streetlites arrive at Deptford. The 36 (previously "SimpliCity"), in my opinion, did not deserve the Versas. It is perhaps for that reason why the 36 and 61 received an allocation swap.
These Versas will move over to the 39 when the Streetlites arrive at Deptford for service 60, and I believe it has also been confirmed that the 61 will be removed from the "Drifter" brand.
Would you have preferred Go North East to repaint the "SimpliCity" Versas green for 5 months and then have them repainted again so brand identity remained intact for the 61? Would this not have been a little 'pointless'?


There is room for improvement, but it certainly is not 'a mess'.

Surely it would have made more sense to leave the Versas on the 36 and the Wrights on the 61, until nearer the time. Or debrand the 61 leaflet/online. It is just bonkers to have (intentionally) allocated the wrong brand for months while still promoting it as a different brand. Especially since the only official Simplicity at the minute is the 42 which - oh, leaves from the stand right next to the 61. Brand identity for both services - kaboom.

Ditto the 39 what on earth was the point of branding the service online & on the leaflets when they were in the middle of deleting the brand on the roads? Its this kind of thing which just seems deliberately designed to undermine the branding rationale.

As for whether branding is a mess, I think it's a subjective one - I'd say it certainly is given the number of deliberate and accidental misbrands, and the random coloured half/fully debranded buses running around (though at least the latter seems to be being addressed now).