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by Tracy Fedkoe

The New Messenger Bus

If you’ve been to Pittsburgh, you may have noticed the transit busses decorated with Pittsburgh and Penguins signage, but have you seen the most unique and exciting bus in the Mon Valley and South Hills? It’s the new South Hills – Mon Valley Messenger bus. Full color, eye-catching graphics cover every inch of the bus and incorporate the moving wheels right into the design. It’s a one-of-a-kind look that reminds thousands in the Mon Valley and South Hills daily that the Messenger is your hometown community newspaper.

This bus isn’t just a promotion piece, it is a representation of excellent teamwork between Messenger staff, boutique design firm ocreations, and Mon Valley Signs who spent months working together to get everything perfect. “A lot of hands were involved, but everyone was working toward the same goal,” said Doug Haniford, owner and publisher of the South Hills–Mon Valley Messenger.

After the newspaper changed their name last year, they needed to re-establish their identity and chose transit advertising on a bus from the Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority as one of their primary marketing tactics. “We wanted to get people to notice us,” said Haniford. “It was important for us to continue to position ourselves as a neighborhood newspaper with a hometown feel,” he said. “We felt like the old-fashioned wagon and other images on the bus helps bring that feel to life.”

Ocreations, a South Hills design firm who has been working with the paper since its inception in 2004, designed the graphics with the goal of making the movement of the bus integral to the design. “We had carte blanche to be as creative as possible to maximize exposure,” said Shawn O’Mara, senior partner at ocreations. By incorporating the wheels of the bus into the design of the wagon and lawnmower they achieved their objective as well as portrayed the campaign’s theme of “news from your backyard”.

The New Messenger Bus

Mon Valley Signs, based in Charleroi, created the graphics on vinyl and provided detailed specifications on the measurements of the bus as well as all of the outside panels and clearances. “We covered every possible inch of the vehicle,” said Dave Zahand, president of Mon Valley Signs.

The bus wrap will remain in place for up to five years and continue to increase the paper’s exposure within the South Hills and Mon Valley markets, as well as promote Ocreations and Mon Valley Signs who are represented on the bus. The campaign strategy and design will be submitted for several marketing awards this year.

If you haven’t seen the Messenger bus yet, it is part of the Mid Mon Valley Transit fleet and travels the route originating in Donora through the South Hills along Route 88 into downtown several times a day. Make a point to check it out and don’t be afraid to honk if you love the Messenger.