When passengers board, they hand a bus operator their time and their family's peace of mind.
Passengers choose an operator on trust in its safety and punctuality, while many operators look alike on booking apps. Sinh Vũ makes the vehicle, ticket counter, ticket and uniform carry one promise.
Three things first: a mark recognizable at once on the vehicle, a promise of safety and punctuality shown in what passengers see with their own eyes, and a booking and pickup experience that matches the vehicle. Those three decide whether passengers choose you again.
Readable from far away at the station and at small size on the booking screen.
A few specific, consistent things: clean vehicles, neat drivers, clear departure times.
The booking page, ticket, counter and pickup point wear the same face as the vehicle.
All of them carry people, but the passengers differ, so what the brand has to say differs too.
Their customersRegular commuters between two places, people going home, students; they book through an aggregator app or call the operator directly.
Brand challengeStand out in a list of many operators on the same route, through the vehicle, the ticket counter and the reviews passengers leave.
Their customersPeople who need to travel right now in the city and compare a few apps on one screen.
Brand challengeEarn trust from the first ride: a recognizable vehicle, a driver as described, an app and vehicle with one face.
Their customersCompanies, schools and tour groups hiring a vehicle for a whole group; the person booking isn't the person riding.
Brand challengeGive the person booking a compact profile and photos that match the real vehicle, so they dare entrust a whole group.
These are the places where operators lose passengers that good driving can't save.
When something happens, news spreads faster than explanations; even returning passengers hesitate.
Have a shared voice ready and an easy-to-find information page on vehicles, drivers and procedures, so passengers know where to read official information.
Start from this problemOn booking apps, operator names, departure times and seat photos look nearly the same; passengers pick by list order.
A consistent set of real vehicle and seat photos and one reason to choose the operator, readable at thumbnail size.
Start from this problemThe vehicle is spotless, but the waiting room, ticket counter and timetable each look different and the small text is hard to read.
Signs, timetables and counters use one template, with large type and clear contrast.
Start from this problemPaper tickets, confirmation messages, screenshots sent over Zalo; passengers aren't sure they booked the right trip.
Short ticket and confirmation templates with the time, pickup point, license plate and contact number, in the same face as the operator.
Start from this problemAt the See stage. Passengers choose an operator on the booking screen or at the station, in a few seconds. If the name and the vehicle photo don't suggest peace of mind, they tap over to another.
Touchpoints are where passengers see, touch or hear your operator. These five go first because passengers meet them before they step on board.
Passengers recognize the vehicle at the station, and passers-by remember the operator's name from here.
This is where passengers choose an operator, often within seconds.
They reassure passengers that they booked the right trip.
Where passengers wait longest and look hardest before the trip.
They are the people passengers meet directly and use to judge the whole operator.
In the order Sinh Vũ would do them. A small operator can stop at step two or three; a company with many routes goes all the way.
Name, mark, color, type and ticket template: the base for everything after.
A set of real photos of vehicles, seats and stations for use on every booking channel.
A page introducing the operator, its routes and booking.
Vehicle livery, ticket counters, timetables and uniforms.
When you add vehicles and routes: a guide so every site does it the same way.
Sinh Vũ hasn't published a bus operator or passenger transport project. The two below are the closest: a hospitality standard, and a tour boat fleet speaking in one voice.
2020LE Hospitality is a serviced apartment for Japanese guests living in Hanoi, a place where hospitality is measured by the things a guest has not yet asked for. Sinh Vũ built the positioning…
Hospitality turned into details you can see, from a sign to an email signature: a way of thinking that works for ticket counters, pickup points and a driver's greeting.
A refined identity system for the parent company of the Hàn River cruise fleet in Đà Nẵng, with Poseidon leading as the five-star flagship…
A tour boat fleet in one voice, with the parent name stepping back so the sub-brand shines: close to an operator with many vehicles and routes.
The principles behind it
It must be readable from far away on the vehicle and at small size in the booking app. Avoid wheels, maps or arrows, since everyone uses them; look for a detail of its own in the name or the route.
Follow the passengers on that route: a business route suits a neat, refined look, a tourist route suits a relaxed one. Most important is consistency from the exterior to the interior and the ticket.
Use real vehicle and seat photos in one style, a memorable name, and replies to passenger reviews. The app decides display order, so what an operator can do is make passengers remember the name and find it again.
Do it when new vehicles come in or a repaint is due. Build the template once, have new vehicles follow it right away, and change older ones gradually.
A name and contact number readable from far away, colors that separate from the vehicle's paint, and space left for the license plate. Check traffic law and the Advertising Law on where and how much advertising is allowed on a vehicle before printing.
A few lines about your routes, your vehicle types and what's holding you back are enough. Sinh Vũ reads and replies within one working day.