A Departure in Omnibus Advertising.
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T"COMPETITION of owners of independent buses operating over the same routes as some of the bigger companies in the provinces has brought into prominence the value of various forms of advertising. Some companies content themselves by bringing to. the notice of the public the fact that their vehicles are run strictly to schedule and, consequently, are able to give regular and reliable service, whilst others are adopting novel means by which the pane can be inchieed to remain faithful to the older-established concerns.
In this conn&tion a scheme striking an entirely new note in omnibus advertising has been recently introduced by that well-known company, United Automobile Services; Ltd., who operate a large number of buses in East Anglia,South Durham, York and Northumberland.
The matter is well worth mention, as the class of advertising undertaken by many other_ companies operating in the provinces has not hitherto been 'very inspiring, and this accentuates the refreshing novelty of that brought into use a short time back by the company to which we draw particular attention.
To be brief, the new publicity scheme is to give a Pictorial card, resembling those contained in packets of cigarettes,
but in this case each depicting some place of interest situated on or near routes over which vehicles a the company run. These cards are issued in series of 25, and any person who collects and returns to the operating company the full series is presented with a Hawk-eye camera made by the famous Kodak Co.
The whole object of the scheme is to induce traffic by popularizing the sale of return tickets and as a means of emphasizing the regularity and reliability of the services provided by the company, which, as a matter of fact, are in direct contrast with the irregularity of certain independent operators who, perhaps, cannot afford to run, say, on nonpaying routes for the sake of public convenience or at slack traffic periods, which, in the case of the companies who run a large number of services, can be offset by extra profits made on, the more popular routes.
Extraordinary interest has been taken in this scheme by the public which is served in the aforementioned districts, and the keenness to secure the camera prizescould hardly have been exceeded; in fact, from observations which have been "made on the vehicles and by the number of cameras which have been issued as a result of this scheme, it
would appear that every picture each given to a passenger is now being thoroughly examined to determine ita potentiality towards the completion of a series.
Although the scheme has only been In operation since the end of March last, a tremendous number of cameras has been given away already, and the large number for which arrangements had been made between the operating company and the Kodak Co. is about to be considerably increased.
The system of issuing return tickets on buses, although not used to a very large extent, has been adopted with considerable success in certain neighbourhoods, and, in fact, has been employed to a small extent for a number of years.
It would be an advantage to all bus travellers if they could be assured of seats on. the return journey. Many who visit popular districts at holiday time have experienced great difficulty in obtaining accommodation for the return journey, and in some cases they have had to wait, possibly hours, for a vehicle. By a well-organized system of return tickets such waiting could be obviated, at any rate, to those who had the foresight to obtain their return halves.