Omnibuses Blog Army

It’s understandable that the trade press has been full of First Bus’ rebranding (First has dropped the “UK” bit, BTW, in a return to life before rail franchises). The reports major on a change of strategy from corporate to local; manifestos for passengers & stakeholders; and the First promise. You sense it’s not about the new livery, even though this is the most obvious outward sign. As Giles Fearnley explained, “The livery is about what we’ve been working on, not a cause”. Interesting, then, that one of the trade press front pages should scream “New Look First Bus”. Perhaps the word “look” referred less to the colours and more to the operator’s attitude.

Because the livery is all we can see, at the moment. The rest—the brand promise, the local identities, the local decisions—remain more in the background. Much of this detail doesn’t even appear yet on the First Bus website. On the site, corporate is still king.

Omnibuses Blog readers have already passed comment on the new outward identity. There were 78 of them, though, latterly, these had wandered onto a (healthy) tangent. And there were 40 comments back in June when the change of emphasis first hit the headlines. 78 and it’s the most commented upon blog post ever, on Omnibuses. And it shows how much people regard the look of a bus. In this particular case, readers have given First the thumbs down. Ultimately, though, it’s what the passenger thinks, of course it is. But the strength of feeling of the Omnibuses Blog Army should never be under-estimated. If knowledgeable readers feel that this is a wrong turn, they must surely represent a good number of passengers & stakeholders’ views.

It’s arguable whether First could claim that its buses now have a true “local identity” simply by applying a city’s name on the side. We do understand that there’s to be some discretion about local names, though. Local identities are designed to enable staff to take pride in their local fleet. Some First local operations—I stress *some*—do currently look shabby and tired. The Barbie colour scheme doesn’t always help. It’s also true that other operators seem to take more of a pride in appearances than *some* First fleets. Here, Stagecoach usually shines, in my experience. Accident damage repaired in hours, not days or weeks, for instance. If you think that passengers don’t notice minor scuffs and dents, think again. They’re quite astute at spotting and pointing out problems and continual minor flaws in presentation stick in the mind.

If pride was a major determinant, it might therefore have been better to go for something uniquely local in nature. Given Fearnley’s Blazefield past, some felt it was surprising that he didn’t come up with something unique. Others were less surprised but more disappointed.

We can certainly look back at regulated municipals and territorial operators through rose tinted specs but they did engender self-respect, dignity and a sense of worth. Local buses for local people. It matters little that there are outward signs on your bus regarding a large grouping. It’s not like Marks & Spencer or Tesco. First doesn’t have a branch in every town, by any means.

And unlike Arriva and Stagecoach, First’s corporate brand has worked less well. So, if you really want to impress passengers and local stakeholders—and give staff something of which they can be really proud—then what’s wrong with sweeping aside all stark references to the corporate centre and concentrating instead on and rebuilding a truly unique local brand? Wouldn’t this aid planning, delivery, monitoring and remedying?