(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.