Simple, but impressive

Last week I picked up a rather anonymous leaflet onboard a Stagecoach operated Humber Fastcat journey - the front page just a wrapped up Christmas present with a star containing the words 'christmas shopping made easy'. Inside I have to say I was rather impressed.

The first part of the leaflet outlines some very simple reasons for using the bus for Christmas shopping, principally in Hull, but also in Scunthorpe and Grimsby. But from where you might think? Thats only explained on the other side of the page, which contains departure times from Barton Market Place to Hull, Scunthorpe and Grimsby on the Humber Fastcat and Humber Flyer. There is also a small route map and basic fare information.

The leaflet keeps things very basic, clearly designed for infrequent or non-bus users. It could be argued it's too basic, for example no mention of EYMS (hope no one asks for a Humber Megarider on a EYMS Fastcat journey!), but on the other hand too much information could be confusing when trying to attract new customers. It's also the first time I have seen a consolidated timetable for the Humber Fastcat and Humber Flyer between Barton and Hull, and the rather impressive three buses an hour frequency promoted - it was one per hour less than three years ago.

The one major drawback is that it's not very clear until you get to the timetable page that the leaflet is designed to promoted the main Stagecoach services from Barton. Maybe it was designed for a leaflet drop within Barton - this would be much less of a problem then. Or a reference to Barton on the front page would have resolved this.

Overall it's very good to see Stagecoach actively promoting Barton's very good bus service, and trying to attract new customers with simple, custom-designed publicity.

To quote the leaflet though - 'A bus is for life not just for Christmas'. Publicity should also be for life, not just for Christmas, so how about a non-Christmas version of the leaflet Stagecoach?