Bus Down Stop-iana

“Bus stops are far more interesting and useful places to have art than in museums” – Banksy

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Sure Sydney may have the Opera House, but at least we have… bus stops?

Canberra concrete bus shelter

The Canberra bus shelter is arguably the most recognizable and well-regarded icon of Australia’s capital (sorry Parliament House/NGA/Telstra Tower). Reminiscent of their 70’s heritage, these round, concrete structures have over time become synonymous with Canberra, and loved by its population. Somehow avoiding association with their much less popular counterparts, Canberr’a Action Buses, the shelters have been represented time and time again in art and popular culture, including in murals, merchandise, and more.

And of course we can hardly talk about the concrete shelters without mentioning Newcastle artist Trevor Dickinson who became a local hero for his series of mugs and prints depicting the famed bus stops.

Mural, Woden

Earrings, Etsy

Mug, Trevor Dickinson

So we’ve established that Canberrans like bus stops – so what?

Branding is what.

At just shy of 400,000 people, what is often referred to as “the Canberra bubble” is a very small market with some very unique characteristics. Some of these the stats will tell you, for example Canberra has the highest median income of all the states and territories, largely thanks 38% of the total Australian public service workforce being here, despite having less than 2% of Australia’s population.

But there are other things which you need to have lived in Canberra to know. For example, did you know that the only thing Canberrans love more than complaining about Canberra, is owning anything remotely cool that came from Canberra? It’s the same reason why every Canberran is somehow born knowing that Jackie Chan used to live here – yes we take credit for Jackie Chan and we are proud to do it. It’s the same reason we love those damn concrete bus shelters. What’s the main difference between Jackie Chan and a concrete bus shelter? A bus shelter can’t escape to build a successful career literally anywhere that isn’t Canberra.

THE COMMUTERS

This branding thought experiment was inspired by the Northbourne Flats, an alternative rock band named after the infamous public-housing units on Canberra’s main city road.

The concept: a band built on the image of the Canberra bus shelters. By leveraging off of the iconic structures, a small start-up band would be able to take advantage of the notoriety of the shelters, as well as preexisting positive attitudes towards the shelters within the Canberra market.

The Commuters, self-titled album cover

THE DANGER OF ASSOCIATING A BRAND’S IMAGE WITH THE CANBERRA BUS SHELTERS, IS THE RISK OF BEING TOO CANBERRA.

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While the concrete bus stops are iconic in Canberra, they are not as well-known elsewhere. Most people will think of politicians and Parliament House before bus stops when they think of Canberra. And for many non-Australians we’re just happy if they know that Canberra -not Sydney!- is the capital (we’ve all been there).

Secondary brand association with the Canberra bus stop would be largely positive for a brand within the Canberra market. But outside of the Canberra market it would have either A) a neutral effect, due to a lack of awareness of the bus stop brand, or B) a negative effect, due to association with the brand of Canberra itself. Despite the many good things about this city there a range of negative perceptions that sometimes come with it, such as the association with politicians, being the home of public servants, or just generally being a bit boring. And if the goal for aspiring musicians such as The Commuters is to make it on the international stage, associating too closely with the Canberra brand might prove detrimental.

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This blog post was made for a MKTG3023 assessment task.