On Bus Advertising

New contributor Pseudonymous wonders in what circumstances an operator might consider an advert on the side of a bus...

It’s a subject that created some vigorous exchange of views between the advertising men and bus design gurus.

Representing the “don’ts” is Ray Stenning of Best Impressions, telling the industry that it should sell itself on its buses, rather than agnosticism, VW cars or films like 'Knocked Up'.

For the “do’s”, the chaps at Viacom, now CBS Outdoor, extol the financial virtues of letting them plaster adverts across the nation’s bus sides and backs.

Big groups can tot-up the sheer volume of advertising revenue across their UK operations, and it must be hard to resist. London operators, denied any individual livery in any case, and unaffected by their lack of reliance on revenue, are understandably lured by the highest rates paid for advertising space on their fleets.

To some of the smaller operators and municipals, perhaps hovering just into the black, it would be a brave MD who sent the ad men packing, with their guaranteed payments for advertising.

The Go Ahead group is a keen employer of Mr Stenning though, and many of his lateral thoughts and ideas seem to manifest themselves in the groups business units. Unlike the other big groups, the individual units have less central direction and on-bus advertising is clearly an area where local decisions hold sway.

Some years ago, Brighton & Hove ditched third party advertising, instead turning its vehicles into undoubtedly its greatest advertisement of its own business and products.

But what is the real argument from among the busmen who spurn the financial advances of the ad men? It’s impossible to quantify the value of using the exterior of the bus, which is why it’s difficult to persuade many in the industry that there is a negative value in carrying third party advertising. But in simple terms, which upmarket brands would allow someone else to cover their shop front with posters telling people how to get tested for chlamydia, or urging them to buy their biggest competitors’ products instead? (In our case, a car!).

To a great extent, it’s related to the company’s own brand development—positioning, promotion and value. Operators who have carefully thought out, well-positioned brands, geared to entice people onto their buses, are those who most lose out in carrying advertising. If you are spending cash and lots of time and energy promoting a high quality brand, you can't afford to compromise it with advertising, or indeed the sticky mess that no advertising brings. Most in the industry agrees that high quality is the road to attracting new passengers and higher revenue and profits.

On the other hand, if you run a business model which takes the cash for running buses in no particular brand, and your emphasis is on cost minimisation, then advertising revenues are a no-brainer.

So, which way is the industry heading in potentially tough times? For those who believe that they will be beholden to reduced travel to work and shopping or leisure, holding onto advertising revenue is going to score highly.

Yet for those who see the recession as an opportunity to sell already attractive bus travel to a greater number of people seeking to reduce or avoid their motoring costs, then the benefits of effective marketing are even greater in order to seize the opportunity.

So we see Stagecoach clearly spurning advertising on its Goldline product, and Southern Vectis heading rapidly into Brighton & Hove's camp, with new buses arriving in full company branding, and repaints being similarly treated, leaving a rapidly declining number of buses carrying adverts.