Empowerment

There are three pages within Passenger Transport devoted to Giles Fearnley’s first month with First UK Bus. That’s the importance of Tim O’Toole’s appointee. Within, the writers are saying what everyone, including this blog, seems to be feeling… though Passenger Transport is doing it in a far most erudite manner.

The term “brand” appears in 314 Omnibuses posts. It’s clearly an important business issue. We looked at First branding in particular & the local v national debate in general 5½ years ago and it’s still relevant. At the core of it is First’s local versus national image. At First, there are two issues:

• The brand is only as good as its worst performer. Problems in one business area will result in the shine coming off elsewhere (so why not sell the poor performer? That’s now a possibility)


• Passengers don’t really give a fig about branding, save when it goes wrong. The trouble at First seems to be that it’s no longer a brand upon which customers let alone stakeholders can rely. Passenger Transport calls it “devalued to the point of being toxic”.

Actually, local branding including livery *is* important. If all passengers want is a safe, reliable, speedy and value-for-money journey, why so? Because a brand engenders local passenger & staff pride in a common investment; it turns heads; it influences perception; and engages stakeholders & partners. Because:

• Bus services are local in nature and not homogenised like the High Street.


• Unlike Tesco, each area is different, there’s nothing global, each “product” (network) is unique.

Stagecoach often manages to blend the local and national in one. Go Ahead and part of [Veolia] Transdev, on the other hand, have proven that business growth models don’t need strong, over-bearing centralised control (like at First).

If First looks over its shoulder at these other two models, it will know that in a truly transforming business there is plenty of scope for change. Fearnley at Blazefield had empowered local businesses to plan and execute their local service delivery. Stagecoach isn’t that far off. The Blazefield routes that blossomed most were those set apart from any other (the 36, Lancashire Way, Witch Way etc). On the other hand, it’s possible, too, for local branding sometimes to lose it’s footing a* little*—dare we mention Trent Barton? So, it’s a question of focused management, appropriate relationships (central/local level), stakeholder engagement—and strong brand management.

It’s not something you can do over night but might this philosophy be exactly what First needs? It’s a change management and culture. It’s empowerment.

Local versus national branding. What do you think? And what would First do?