After thirty years, a shifting up in gear

Tranzit Coachlines have been in business for nearly ninety years, and for a majority of that period, in the hands on one family, the Snelgroves. Originally Grey Bus Services, they operated between Masterton and Carterton.

It wasn’t until 1985, that the operation had expanded to the extent they needed to consider renaming the company. This was when they became Tranzit Coachlines, the product of a brainstorming at one of the highflying advertising agencies in Wellington at the time, and with that came the identity they’ve used since then.

The operation has now expanded to Charters, Touring, Urban Commuter Services and intercity services, right across New Zealand with territories and contracts growing into new areas all the time.

With the advent of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and the success of snaring a lucrative contract for all the team buses, they had certainly come of age, but their branding hadn’t. They were now operating a fleet of over 600 beautifully maintained vehicles, yet the branding was letting the rest of the service experience down.

My brief was to turn this on it’s head. To create a brand commensurate with the quaity of their service, and to make it highly visible on the road.

The brand had to be economic to implement, and reflect the range of product offerings; from high quality tourism products, through to efficiently run urban commuter services.

Strategic sessions with what seemed like the entiire extended Snelgrove family were had, to discuss the brand platform, a range of concepts developed, and after some time a direction was agreed upon.

Since the rollout, the results have been astounding. Enquiries have tripled with huge leaps in brand recognition. They have a growing book of regular contracts, a lot, they say, has come down to the highly recognisable fleet. The quality impression lift was immediate. Staff have adopted the new brand with pride, and as a result all the quality measures the company have put in place, have been increasing ever since.