The 18, OK1 and Pronto services were all launced at pretty much the same time, in a town pretty much abandoned by GNE approx 5 years previously.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I can't help feeling the offer was dis-jointed and possibly half-hearted.
Connections were poor, one half of the Pronto brand was withdrawn after a brief period and re-introduced as an extention of the X21, limiting the connections from the town even more.
It was as though GNE forced their operations and business model on the town, rather than adapting it to suit the needs of the town.

I've already mentioned if the Pronto was branded OK, the outcome may have been different, but if there were more local connections, rather than just the 18, feeding into the distance services, increasing brand loyalty and uptake of buzzfares etc - then again, things may have been different.
As it stands, the OK1 and Pronto struggle to pick up passengers from the small MPD working its way around the Estates and anyother passengers disembarking an Arriva service needing a connection unique to GNE.