ISB Advertising: NUS Giving

NUS Giving is an initiative by the NUS Development Office which organises events to promote the spirit of giving back to communities. They often take out dark-coloured advertisements on ISBs to promote their events and projects.

2019 Run BIG Advertisement

In 2019, NUS Giving organised NUS’ first not-for-profit run event, Run BIG (Believe in Giving). Run BIG was held on 29 September 2019 around the Kent Ridge campus, with the theme of celebrating everyday heroes who have impacted the lives of others.

In early June 2019, to raise awareness of the September event, NUS Giving took out advertisements on two ISBs – PC3849T and PC3925G. PC3849T appeared on D1 and D2, and PC3925G appeared on A1 and A2.

The advertisement was black, fading into a blue rear, and prominently featured the Run BIG logo as well as the event details. The NUS Giving logo was prominently displayed at the front, while the nearside featured blue silhouettes of runners.

The offside of the advertisement featured a drawing of the Education Resource Centre (ERC) in blue, as well as a bigger Run BIG logo.

The rear of the bus was almost light blue, giving rise to a few cases where the buses were described as both black and blue by students writing in to me at NUSSU. It took me a while to figure out what was meant.

Despite the date being prominently displayed on the advertisement, the wraps remained on the buses long after the event. They were still seen on the buses in late March 2020, prior to the nationwide circuit breaker measures to manage the spread of COVID-19.

As a result of the stay-at-home restrictions, I was not around to document the buses, so I do not know when exactly they were removed. The wraps were gone the next time I saw the buses in July 2020, but given that advertisements on ISBs are usually approved on a yearly basis, it is safe to guess that they lasted until early June.

2021 Run BIG Advertisement

Run BIG was not held in 2020, due to logistical difficulties with organising the event during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the event returned as a virtual race where runners could choose their run route and track their run using a GPS-enabled app to win prizes. It was scheduled on 26 September 2021. In conjunction, NUS Giving designed an advertisement to be applied again on the same two buses, PC3849T and PC3925G, with the same deployments.

This time, the advertisement wrap is black with green accents. The words “Virtual Edition” are prominently displayed on the window against an orange background, with “Islandwide Race” on silver.

On the offside, however the event details are positioned on the bus body between the axles, for a very aesthetically pleasing design. Also visible is the new NUS Giving branding, which features the tagline “Since 1905” and a logo that appears to be a teardrop. Note the QR code in addition to the URL.

The rear featured the RunBIG logo and a tagline “Tough runs don’t last, tough runners do.”

When the New ISB Network was introduced in July 2021, PC3925G continued to run on A1/A2, while PC3849T was deployed to D1 and E.

2021 NUS Giving Advertisement

In December 2021, the advertisements were updated, which means that the NUS Run BIG ads in 2021 did not last as long as they did in 2019. The new NUS Giving advertisement wraps were not event-based, bearing the slogan “Plant the Seeds of Change with NUS Giving” on both sides. The design reveals that the NUS Giving logo is not a teardrop but rather an unopened flower bud.

The colour scheme of these wraps was a slightly lighter shade of dark green, and the NUS Giving logo was no longer displayed on the front, giving it a rather plain appearance.

On the other hand, the rear of the bus featured the NUS Giving logo flower prominently.

PC3925G received the advertisement first on 28 November first, while PC3849T would receive it the following weekend.

2022 Run BIG Advertisement

In May 2022, Run BIG was held in a hybrid format, due to the relaxation of the safe management measures that had plagued us for most of the pandemic. A physical event was scheduled on 25 September 2022, with virtual runs taking place from 1 to 25 September. As a result, NUS Giving arranged for two buses to bear advertising wraps again.

Instead of replacing the NUS Giving wraps on PC3849T and PC3925G (which remained), ComfortDelGro opted to wrap PC3954Y (A1/A2) and PC4019R (D2/K). The new wraps were still on a black base and retained the “NUS Giving Since 1905” logo on the front. NUS RunBIG logos and the words “Hybrid Edition” were included on the windows.

However, the sides were coloured orange, but only from the windows downward. On this orange area were a QR code, the slogan “Push Your Limits Forward”, and the NUS/NUS Giving logos.

On the nearside, “Push Your Limits Forward” was shifted to the windows behind the exit door, together with the event dates (1-25 Sept 2022) which were curiously absent from the offside.

The rear was also in black, with the tagline “Tough times don’t last, tough people do!” above the RunBIG logo and a URL that curiously included the “https”.

I found the choice of PC4019R as one of the buses for the wrap rather interesting, as the bus’ previous livery was not the plain light orange, but a darker reddish-orange coat of paint with the NUS Vision and Mission emblazoned on the sides. This alternative livery was also featured on five other B9Ls, one of which is visible in the following image.

From close inspection, it appears that the wordings on both the windows and the body were scraped off to apply the ad, leaving nothing remaining.

Hopefully, better photos of this ad will come soon – as I’ve graduated, I am much less free to come to campus for bus photography…