Rear of the Year

We recently considered the power of promotion and the great strides taken by operators in considering publicity & image first and scheduling second. Part of that process involves the use of the bus itself and what better place to attract a captive (car-born) audience than the back end of a bus.

The rear panel, that rectangle under the rear window, used to be the preserve of so many mixed messages. There was inevitably the operator’s name or logo and often a telephone number. Notice, for example, how Roadliner of Poole emphatically refuses to place its phone number on the back of its vehicles. Why? It invites criticism should the driver do something silly. Yet, Roadliner has no shortage of telephone calls, because it considers the end product—customer care & promotion—first.

The rear panel is also traditionally the preserve of advertising. A useful additional revenue source, too often it was taken up with an ad for the competitor—the car. It can be argued that passengers don’t see the back of buses and motorists do, so why should it matter. Why not therefore sell space that can be of interest to the driver? No harm there, surely.

The bus industry thankfully now realises that the rear panel—now bigger, post-Solo, as more designs have no rear window at all—is more valuable in selling its own products, not someone else’s. There’s now a plethora of people and places on the rears of our buses, all unusual in nature and aimed at motorist.

When you have a good product to sell, why not shout about it? That’s what Wilts & Dorset’s new X3 Scanias are doing. But there are many other examples, especially in the Stagecoach camp.

Top photo courtesy of Paul Donald