As the team at PB Bus Marketing explain to Andy Izatt, they understand how the bus industry is facing challenging times and are ready to provide a range of tailored communication services that can help
With local authorities around the country not only cutting back on contracted bus routes, but also what they spend on publicising services generally, Fair Oak, Eastleigh-based PB Bus Marketing believes it’s well placed to ‘step into the breach.’ It says it understands the challenges independent bus operators, in particular, are now facing and has the expertise to help them better publicise and promote what they do.
“What makes us different is our knowledge of the industry and understanding of what operators are dealing with,” explained Sales & Accounts Manager, James Herkes. “We pride ourselves in creating solutions that communicate in a simple way and we’re also competitively priced. We know we can help and that’s why we’ve created our new strapline, ‘Let’s talk.’
Built on experience
PB Bus Marketing was established by Phil Blair in 1995 after spending two decades in marketing, mainly working in the municipal bus sector. “The time was right to branch out on my own,” he recalled. “I already knew a number of potential clients who all came onboard. My previous employer, Southampton Citybus also retained my services.
“In the past we’ve worked with Stagecoach, First and Arriva as well as numerous smaller companies including Compass Travel of Worthing, Cardiff-based NAT (New Adventure Travel), Faresaver of Chippenham, Metroline in London and D&G in Stoke-on-Trent. Then there’s Ipswich Buses, Newport Bus, Thamesdown Transport, Blackpool Transport, Konectbus, Hedingham, Stephensons and Centrebus to name a few, plus councils such as Hampshire, Dorset, Plymouth City, Oxford City, Buckinghamshire, Argyll & Bute, Orkney, Highlands and Isle of Wight. We’ll be continuing to work with a range of clients on new projects over the coming months.”
While Phil continues as PB Bus Marketing Managing Director, he is also Chairman of bus operator, Xelabus which he runs with his Managing Director son Gareth and that takes up much of his time (CBW, March 13, 2018). PB Bus Marketing’s day-to-day client contact is James while Phil’s younger son Iain is Graphic Design Manager responsible for the firm’s creative solutions.
“We need to get across to people that we’re here to talk and want to take a collaborative approach to developing marketing and publicity,” said James. “I know from talking to some of our existing clients that they have not always received that. What has been produced for them might be high quality, but it wasn’t what they asked for.
“That’s the beauty of ‘let’s talk.’ We want to engage with people, understand their needs and come up with ideas that reflect what they want rather than just making something fit a format. In reaching out to independent operators at the moment, we’ll be strengthening our core client base and it’s where I think we have most to offer. “I’ve been with PB Bus Marketing since 2011 although my career has always been client facing. On leaving school I went into the print industry and it was through dealing with design agencies and clients that I first met the Blairs. Gareth Blair was increasingly involved with Xelabus so Phil asked me to come and work alongside Iain at PB Bus Marketing. [wlm_nonmember][…]
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“I do use my local buses and five years ago obtained my PCV licence, driving rail replacement buses for Xelabus, but my own knowledge of the industry really stems from managing the multi-million pound supermarket free bus services that we’re contracted to handle for the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA and Marks & Spencer. It involves hundreds of operators and has given me a real insight into how the industry works, whether it’s dealing with their diverse operations, the awarding of different types of contracts, resourcing vehicles or retendering.”
“I previously worked for New Forest District and Winchester City Councils,” explained Iain Blair. “I’d always been interested in drawing and art and was fascinated by the mapping that was being created by a colleague when I first joined PB Bus Marketing. He spent a year showing me how it was done and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed developing my graphic design skills over the 12 years since. No two days are the same.
“The creative challenge can be anything from trying to give a relatively mundane object like a timetable an exciting look, to helping to create a new identity for an operator. Having something to show for my efforts is what I find rewarding, but the real buzz comes when the client says that’s exactly what he or she wanted. James is the front man so it’s how he understands the requirement and briefs me. It shows we’ve listened and understood what was required.”
Retail opportunities
Outlining how the business of managing retailers’ free bus services developed, Phil said: “I think it was in 1998 that I first met Peter Batty who is now Arriva London’s Commercial Director. He was at Arriva London South at the time and we started discussing services to supermarkets. As a result, I made an approach to Sainsbury’s and following involvement in a south London project, was invited to head office at Holborn to meet all the marketing managers for the UK and Northern Ireland. It was clear that there were numerous free bus services around the country that had been initiated by local store managers. Head office wasn’t really aware of what was going on and there was a need for someone to organise and oversee their operation.
“There were all sorts of issues that needed to be resolved. I remember at one store there was a bus gate. The operator providing the service had transponders on its vehicles, but it was replaced by another that didn’t. A woman in the butchery department had to keep running out to press a button to open the gate to let the bus through.
“I approached ASDA thinking it might be in a similar situation and it was, but it was when Tesco came onboard that we really started to get busy. Marks & Spencer followed later. I think at the peak in the early 2000s we were responsible for routes to around 300 stores.
“Often free buses had been introduced as tools to differentiate stores from the competition while some were the result of Section 106 and 75 (for Scotland) planning agreements. The supermarkets would think that just because a route had been put on, people would know about it, but they didn’t. If someone went into a store and asked for details, all they might be given was a photocopied handwritten piece of paper with timings.
“There were clearly opportunities to better tailor what was being provided and publicise it through whatever mechanism was necessary, paper or digital. It was important to get the message across to parish councils and local authorities as well.
“Everyone involved at the retailers had their own ideas and I was bombarded with requests to do this and that. There was also a perception that I could magically change existing bus routes to serve particular stores. There was no communication with operators or any understanding that they might need to be incentivised.
“It really was very hectic in the early days and regular changes in management at the supermarkets didn’t help. Nevertheless, we worked hard to get systems in place and at one time there were folders for each store lined up along the wall in our office. We had retailers’ accounts departments phoning up to find out if what they were being charged by operators matched our spreadsheets so a payment structure that we managed was introduced to stop that. Ridership would be surveyed and the data fed back to the supermarkets. The approach for each site would then be tailored appropriately.
“Branded buses were popular for some years. A lot of operators liked having vehicles painted in the colours of a supermarket which paid for the livery, but there was an added complication when they accepted commercial advertising from a particular supermarket chain only for those vehicles to appear on routes serving a competitor’s store. I remember one store manger getting quite angry about that, but the operator was perfectly entitled to do it.”
ANDY IZATT
One stop service
Talking about the retailer business now, James explained: “We’re a non-disclosed agent. Everyone is aware of our existence and the contract agreement for the route is between the operator and us. We are then contracted by the retailer so we mange the whole process.
“Every retailer has its own mechanism and equation for deciding how many passengers it needs. How much of the fixed overhead costs of a store should be apportioned and should the free bus be saddled with that, for example. Obviously we don’t know how much each passenger spends because we don’t know who they are. Normally the only way is to use an average figure. Continuing to monitor ridership is central because it’s the only way we can really quantify if what’s being provided is worthwhile.
“The financial benefits that accrue may not be immediately apparent. I was talking to a store manager in Bognor Regis recently as well as passengers who use his service. It was clear many of them spend decent amounts of money in the store café and encourage their car driving friends to do the same because it’s a good place to meet. The profit margin on café food and drink is much higher than produce sold off the shelves.
“For Tesco we undertook a soft trial that tried to quantify the profit and loss by relating the tickets issued by onboard Ticketer ticket machines to Clubcard use. Each ticket had a bar code and the customer would redeem it in the store. We could see who had used the ticket, link that to what they’d spent and quantify the profit and loss for the journey accordingly. The proof of concept worked, but the whole process was deemed too complicated to roll out.
“The length of a contract with an operator will depend on what the supermarket wants, but they’re usually rolling month contracts so there’s no specific end date. If there is any change in the service, we give the maximum notice we can, trying at the very least to stay in line with accepted industry practice for the benefit of operators and passengers alike. Any changes are carefully researched beforehand.
“The retail landscape has changed massively over the seven years that I’ve been involved. Everyone is tightening their belts. There are closer to 200 stores with free services now, but I think the fact that there are still so many illustrates the value that retailers continue to see in them. It’s often viewed as a differential compared to the cheaper discounters.
“Increasingly the impetus behind new services is the need to meet Section 106 or 75 planning conditions. There are instances when we become involved in the middle of the process where the council has already decided what sort of route it wants to see and the frequency, but I think we provide our best service when we’re engaged right at the start. When it’s a new site for Tesco or ASDA, we’re involved from day one.
“Typically, a lot of money goes into a route at the start to meet the conditions, but often what happens is once that requirement has been met, there isn’t the patronage to sustain it. However, the people using the service are often very vocal about any changes or it being withdrawn and they make their point direct to the store manager. Looking at the options and suggesting alternatives is where we can provide additional value for a retailer. We’re doing that at the moment for Sainsbury’s which has stores in Chichester, Bognor Regis and Rustington that have overlapping catchment areas.
“What we try and do is ensure that any reduction in provision is covered off by alterations to the wider route network. It usually makes little sense to run a free bus when it’s duplicating established commercial services, but what’s in place is constantly changing, not least as a result of local authority cuts, so monitoring has to be ongoing.
“Equally there have been instances where council subsidised routes have been amended or cut because a free bus continues to operate close by. While diverting to cover can create opportunities for a retailer and deliver public relations benefits, we shouldn’t forget it still has an imperative to create a profit for its shareholders. Perhaps dial-a-ride or community transport would be more appropriate.
“When a new service is introduced, we’ll conduct a tender exercise and ideally I would like to see at least five operators involved in that. It’s about making sure that we do our job properly so that the retailer isn’t short changed, but it has become increasingly difficult to find that many providers. We’ll undertake our own background checks and due diligence to make sure that the successful operator is of a sufficiently high calibre and once the service is operating, will work with store staff to spot check that everything is as it should be.
“Obviously at PB Bus Marketing we have the expertise to properly publicise what’s being provided and what we have found is that door-to-door timetable distribution along the route is what really works. It’s so important to give a new service the best chance of succeeding.”
Out to connect
“Our relationship with the supermarkets dovetails into ‘let’s talk’ just like everything else we do, because we’re talking to people at every level,” observed Phil. “It doesn’t matter the sector. Everyone is scrutinising their budgets and asking why money is being spent. We understand that and the importance of listening.
“PB Bus Marketing has been providing marketing services for a long time and we felt it was time for a refresh. We’ve created a new website, will be exhibiting at industry events such as ALBUM and we’re also building a database so we can keep operators informed through eshots of what we’re doing on a monthly basis.
“We’re not suggesting people should go out and spend a fortune. What we’re saying is that we can provide affective marketing material at a reasonable price. What is more, it will have a clean design and will be easy to use.”
Said James: “We’re members of the CPT (Confederation of Passenger Transport) and will be attending its events and regional meetings throughout the year. The quality leads it has been able to give us have already been very useful. It’s so important that we keep in touch with what’s engaging and concerning operators. If we’re not talking to them about what their businesses are doing, we’re not doing our job. It all comes down to communication.
“We’re not going to come up with marketing messages that are full of inspirational buzz words and clichés. We’re straightforward in our approach whether it’s producing timetable leaflets, cartography, signage or branding. An operator might have a local agency that it has used in the past for, say, mapping, but we can probably provide a higher quality product, more cost effectively.
“Trying to evolve what we offer is important too. For example, we’re currently working with a couple of small operators on producing a Drivers Handbook. The point is we’re flexible and when it comes to print runs we’re not going to impose unreasonable minimum order values.
“We know how important it is to offer a full range of services and digital is something we’re moving more into now, particularly website development. We do interactive mapping and are also getting involved in client’s social media, but it’s important to emphasis, if a client simply wants business cards and letterheads, we’re happy to help with that as well. Everyone’s requirements are different. We understand the need to listen and pitch accordingly.”
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