Bakerl0.0 line - new TFL advertising

[simonw]

It's a good job some of you don't live in Madrid

Madrid underground station renamed as publicity for star wars film.

 

[starlight73]

I’m not saying I think it’s a good idea (I personally keep reading it as the Bakerlol line, my brain is confused by it.) I worked in arts marketing/social media for a bit. And I noticed that social media content that did well was ‘ad’ content that blended into organic content. It seemed that people would switch off as soon as they noticed it was an ad (I’ve probably read this somewhere and forgotten where).

So I can see why an advertiser would want it because it works advertising into a space where people aren’t thinking ‘it’s an ad, don’t bother’ (As well as the extra publicity). Again, not saying I agree with it, I personally find it confusing to look at.

 

[TrenHotel]

Well who remembers Surrey Docks on the ELL being renamed Surrey Quays back in the 80's to reflect a new commercial development ? There was an in joke at the time that the intended name was Sarah Quays (Keys), who was having a fling at the time with then Transport Secretary Cecil Parkinson.

And around that time there was also the deal where the Waterloo & City Line (then run by British Rail) was sponsored by the conglomerate Allied Lyons.
(edit: there is a picture in this post from last year)

 

[Horizon22]

If they had kept it as "Bakerl0.0" that probably would have been enough, but changing a bunch of station names is too far.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Looks extremely tacky and classless. "Not as bad as Burberry Street", maybe not, but that is a low bar.

I think that there was a reasonable case for renaming Surrey Docks in the late 1980s - the docks themselves had closed, the neighbourhood was just about to undergo a very substantial transformation, and the shopping centre was a location that someone might consider using the station to access. Likewise with the 1970s renaming of Brent station as Brent Cross (the questionable nature of pedestrian access between the station and shopping centre notwithstanding) - not least as the previous name wasn't really that helpful in describing its location in a rather nondescript bit of south-west Golders Green that was admittedly near a bit of the River Brent.

I do think that naming the Overground station "Imperial Wharf", at the behest of property developers, was more misguided though - "Chelsea Harbour" might be rather more helpful.

 

[bluegoblin7]

I don’t see many objections to Gillespie Road’s brand activation, which has been live since 31 October 1932…

As I’ve said already, this is bad (and every time I look at it I find another mistake) but it is far from the most egregious activation and the empirical evidence is backing that up.

There are entirely good reasons to dislike these things - and it is generally accepted that Burberry Street was a step too far - but we should also be fair and consistent with criticism. There is no reason for Gillespie Road to still be renamed, and arguably that “sponsorship” should move…

 

[nw1]

I don’t see many objections to Gillespie Road’s brand activation, which has been live since 31 October 1932…

As I’ve said already, this is bad (and every time I look at it I find another mistake) but it is far from the most egregious activation and the empirical evidence is backing that up.

There are entirely good reasons to dislike these things - and it is generally accepted that Burberry Street was a step too far - but we should also be fair and consistent with criticism. There is no reason for Gillespie Road to still be renamed, and arguably that “sponsorship” should move…

I had to look that one up but it seems fair enough. Arsenal station for nearby Arsenal football club. People might actually use it to access the ground, so the name is helpful. Nothing wrong with that.

Burberry Street and Fold Street were news to me, and they are even worse because they are geographically completely inaccurate, misrepresenting the real names of the streets they are located on. OK for those in the know, but what about overseas visitors?
As I said, if they want to raise money, then why not do bus-style all-over advertising on a few units?

 

[321362]

I don’t see many objections to Gillespie Road’s brand activation, which has been live since 31 October 1932…

A bit off topic, but hilariously, many Spurs fans (myself included) still refer to it as Gillespie Road despite very few of us having been alive then.

 

[Thirteen]

It's amusing how people hate that TfL is getting money from companies through brand partnerships, you'd think they want a transport authority to get as much money as they could given the system cannot fund upgrades through fares alone.

 

[Snow1964]

It's amusing how people hate that TfL is getting money from companies through brand partnerships, you'd think they want a transport authority to get as much money as they could given the system cannot fund upgrades through fares alone.

I think there is a big difference between having some advertising with company logos and names (which is reasonable advertising revenue), compared to fundamentally confusing occasional users and tourists by renaming places and swapping stations around on line maps (which is not acceptable in my view even if brings in few pounds).

 

[D365]

If they had kept it as "Bakerl0.0" that probably would have been enough, but changing a bunch of station names is too far.

I think there is a big difference between having some advertising with company logos and names (which is reasonable advertising revenue), compared to fundamentally confusing occasional users and tourists by renaming places and swapping stations around on line maps (which is not acceptable in my view even if brings in few pounds).

I concur. Especially with the supposed focus on making transit systems more accessible to all demographics.

 

[edwin_m]

I think there is a big difference between having some advertising with company logos and names (which is reasonable advertising revenue), compared to fundamentally confusing occasional users and tourists by renaming places and swapping stations around on line maps (which is not acceptable in my view even if brings in few pounds).

To me this one falls on the right side of the line, apart from the swapping of stations which I can't imagine was anything other than a stupid error by whoever was preparing the signage. The only real potential for confusion is replacement of "oo" by "0.0" which I consider remains comprehensible.

 

[SargeNpton]

I do think that naming the Overground station "Imperial Wharf", at the behest of property developers, was more misguided though - "Chelsea Harbour" might be rather more helpful.

The story I heard was that the Chelsea Harbour developers backtracked on their promise to help fund the station, so TfL changed the name of it to Imperial Wharf instead.

 

[Lockwood]

I don’t see many objections to Gillespie Road’s brand activation, which has been live since 31 October 1932

Serious one - was there much at the time? Or were people used to tube stations getting renamed every few years?

I suppose we had less international travel then, and the attitude to disabled people was more "stop being disabled!"


There is also the difference between a long term renaming and what they are doing now. I'm guessing that whichever body was responsible then would have had some signs up, something in the local paper, etc to say "Foo & Bar station will be call Bar from the 1st February"?
Whereas now we just see a station get turned into Blueberrymuffin Street or whatever for a week

 

[Adam Williams]

It's amusing how people hate that TfL is getting money from companies through brand partnerships, you'd think they want a transport authority to get as much money as they could given the system cannot fund upgrades through fares alone.

The brand partnerships (or ""activations"" if you don't have a real job work in marketing) bring in the sum total of absolutely naff-all for an organisation of TfL's size and at the scale of their operation at the expense of a) looking incredibly tacky and b) actively harming passenger way-finding.

Bond Street to Burberry Street netted TfL £200k. That's one three hundredth of the amount of taxpayer money TfL threw down the drain on a pedestrian bridge that was never built in the mid-late 2010s. Are you really going to argue that that £200k was worth the chaos and bad press it caused? It's a complete drop in the ocean.

 

[thomalex]

The brand partnerships (or ""activations"" if you don't have a real job work in marketing) bring in the sum total of absolutely naff-all for an organisation of TfL's size and at the scale of their operation at the expense of a) looking incredibly tacky and b) actively harming passenger way-finding.

Bond Street to Burberry Street netted TfL £200k. That's one three hundredth of the amount of taxpayer money TfL threw down the drain on a pedestrian bridge that was never built in the mid-late 2010s. Are you really going to argue that that £200k was worth the chaos and bad press it caused? It's a complete drop in the ocean.

Still £200k more than if they hadn’t don’t it. These sums add up

 

[RUK]

I wonder why Maryleb0.0ne, Paddingt0.0n, Charing Cr0.0ss, Lambeth N0.0rth, Willesden Juncti0.0n, St0.0nebridge Park, N0.0rth Wembley, S0.0uth Kent0.0n/S0.0uth Kenton, Kent0.0n, and Harr0.0w & Wealdst0.0ne appear to have been left out, and Oxf0.0rd Circus rather than 0.0xford Circus, or even 0.0xf0.0rd Circus?

 

[LUYMun]

It’s easy. Loads of tourists and passengers interchanging trains at Oxford Circus would be exposed to the campaign.

 

[Lockwood]

0.0xford would look so much better

 

[Mikey C]

A bit off topic, but hilariously, many Spurs fans (myself included) still refer to it as Gillespie Road despite very few of us having been alive then.

White Hart Lane station should be renamed Spursy station

 

[RUK]

It’s easy. Loads of tourists and passengers interchanging trains at Oxford Circus would be exposed to the campaign.

I understand - but for the sake of consistency, shouldn’t every station on the line map with an “o” in its name get the 0.0 treatment, rather than just Oxf0.0rd Circus and Waterl0.0? I mean for the stations which have already been re-branded already and hence have to incur the cost, not the extra cost of re-branding at more stations which haven’t already been done.

 

[SargeNpton]

White Hart Lane station should be renamed Spursy station

There was a plan a few years ago to name it after Tottenham Hotspur. I think it died a death when the costs of doing so were made known to the proposer.

 

[rmHawk765]

I have seen a lot of people asking why there are typos all of a sudden on the route maps!
The advertisement is clear as day below the maps, of course, but I can see the thought process. Thankfully it doesn't cause confusion or anything this time round.

 

[Dstock7080]

Thankfully it doesn't cause confusion or anything this time round.

Except for the stations that have been listed in the wrong order.