Yesterday I had a major rant about the multicoloured route branding First Norwich are going to be giving their buses. Today whilst walking in Norwich City Centre I witnessed the following conversation between a father and his 8(ish) year old son. I swear this is true and my sides are still hurting from the laughter.
Son: We were doing William the Conqueror at school today - do you know how he won?
Dad: Did he win in four shots?
Son: <Totally blank look>
Dad: Oh sorry I thought you were talking about conkers
Therefore I feel I owe the management at First my humble apologies. Not only do some people in Norwich clearly need colour coding on the buses but may I also suggest each route has its own uniquely identifiable tune played through ice cream van style speakers as the bus pulls up to the stop!!!
Jollificearshuns, Bor!
ReplyDeleteWell here's one then: when we buy our soap powder and breakfast cereal on the basis of what's on the packet, why not "buy" our bus or train service on it's "looks" too? After all even utility companies like electricity find it worthwhile to market themselves as "the greenest ever". PS: I know the answer too, but I'm not the intended (gullible) market.
ReplyDeleteHope this is the answer you're expecting! Ahem - clears throat.....Because normally the brightest coloured packaging covers the most highly polished turd within. That's why the packaging is so colourful, to induce a false sense of security and anticipation.
DeleteI prefer the product to advertise itself through quality without the need for bawdy gimmicks. Long live Victor Meldrew!
Life's never simple though, is it? The local First quandry seem to me to be that old chestnut: no profitability without investment, no investment without profitability. (A bigger problem for First because they're broke, whereas the other big boys can kickstart the investment, First started from a position where they were dilapidated everywhere after buying quantity rather than quality). That means more (paying) bums on seats. And you've got to get them on to the buses to start with. So surely it might only help if they give the buses a second look. Mind you, they might be off pretty quickly again if they're not impressed by what they find. That's why I tried to set out my priorities on the other thread.
DeleteHow are Ipswich doing on the 64/5? They've had the timetables, buses (sort of) and cosmetics. And as you say the Ipswich garage is good. Noticeably more bums on seats? It did always seem to me to be pretty well patronised at least around Sax though (because of the lack of competition or are you all peculiarly loyal?).
Sorry to hear Chris is unwell (other post). Get better soon. First (and the passengers) need you. Meanwhile give us all some fun: what would you do in Chris' shoes? (No rude answers though, please).
"A bigger problem for First because they're broke, whereas the other big boys can kickstart the investment, First started from a position where they were dilapidated everywhere after buying quantity rather than quality. That means more (paying) bums on seats. And you've got to get them on to the buses to start with. ... Mind you, they might be off pretty quickly again if they're not impressed by what they find."
DeleteCould not agree more. If this was a Stagecoach area, they'd pump money in and see what happened from there. First don't have any money though, which explains the vehicle shortages, poor allocations, moving existing vehicles around like pieces on a chessboard etc.
As for the last line in the quote - indeed. My dad has his bus pass now, but will still openly go out of his way to avoid using First because he wasn't impressed by what he found when he used them before. Not a huge thing for him, even though First run straight past his front door, as Anglian's nearest stop to his is about 3 minutes walk away.
On the repaint front Steve,it's a shame we can't get those 2 E400's from Essex and swap them with 2 of our Gemini's,so the entire X1 fleet is of the same model,reasonable swap i would have thought.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, Jim I had the same thought myself, but was hoping that would save 33423 from the paint shop. It is certainly an idea, but since personally I prefer the Geminis to E400's I think I'll be happier to stick rather than twist.
DeleteJim, that's too much like common sense. You're right, it is reasonable, but I think we all know it's not going to happen.
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