Why Vehicle Branding?

By: Matthew Evans 21/03/13

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With one eye on the rapidly changing face of the advertising world, it’s time to take a different view of how you brand your vehicles.

Used correctly, vehicle wrapping can be an integral part of your company’s advertising strategy and a gateway to your digital marketing campaigns.

Vehicles – workhorses or advertising opportunity?

Introduction to vehicle branding

Whether you operate a small business, a large corporate, work in marketing or are in charge of your company’s vehicle fleet, you will be aware of the opportunity to use vehicles of all types as an advertising medium.

Ever since the vehicle was invented, companies have displayed their name, service and contact details.

Back in the 1900s this was in the form of a hand painted livery. Now it has evolved to today’s vehicle wraps containing colourful logos, pictures and simple, self coloured graphics.

 

Sometimes it’s the vehicle that makes the statement and draws attention, it can also be the creative design and how it is displayed on the vehicle. Get the combination right and you can create an advertising opportunity for your business or client that provides fantastic return on your marketing budget.

 

Like all forms of advertising, it is not always easy to tell whether the branding of your vehicles provides a return in terms of lead generation, and ultimately increased sales.

This blog will delve into the world of effective vehicle branding, and give you the basics you need to know when it comes to:

 

• Best Practice
• The Design Process
• Critical Content
• Making it a Dynamic Advertising Medium
• Tracking Responses
• Continual Improvement

 

Vehicle wrapping as an integral cog in your marketing strategy

One common mistake that many people make with their vehicle branding is to think of it in

isolation or as an afterthought to all of the other sales, marketing and promotional activity.

On one hand a company has a website, on another a sales team that are out

canvassing for business. They then have a fleet of vans out delivering the company’s products.

 

What if you could combine these activities by driving quality sales enquiries from your vehicle branding, through your web presence, directly into the hands of your sales team? Or maybe generate increased business through e-commerce? You can with vehicle branding.

 

As we all know, digital communication is changing the way we all work and play. Smartphones, tablets and laptops are the ultimate target for advertisers and social media websites allowing marketeers to reach out to target groups in new and innovative ways.

 

But vehicle wrapping has an integral part to play in any company’s marketing strategy. As we all know, developing a great website which showcases the wonderful services or products that you offer is one thing. Driving customers to the site is another. We can easily spend lots of money with

Google to drive potential customers to a website, but quite often are left wondering whether it was the right kind of customer in the first place.

 

A lot of companies are putting great effort into promotions via social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It might work for some businesses, especially those with consumer products to promote, but for most it can become a huge daily effort with little rewards at the end.

 

This is where effective vehicle branding comes into its own. Just imagine you have a mobile

billboard which travels around the country, interacting with both the general public and your own customers. On this billboard you can add whatever promotional content you wish. You can combine colours and images which compliment your website and other promotional literature.The person steering this billboard is either your delivery driver or a member of your sales team.

 

Finally, this billboard is good for at least three years or can be updated in full or in part on a regular basis.

 

It can help to drive sales to your website, directly to your sales team. It can intereract with potential customers via QR codes, augmented reality, product promotions or even product launches.

Vehicle branding can be a central pillar of your company’s marketing strategy. Don’t waste it!

 

Brand reinforcement or advertising?

Today advertising is everywhere you look and many media companies sell every inch of space.

You own the space on your vehicle, it’s your ‘real estate’, a mobile billboard, and it’s seen by possibly hundreds of people each day. Why not use it more effectively?

Vehicle advertising isn’t new. The sides of buses have been used for decades.

 

Vehicle wrapping isn’t so new. Wrapped buses, trams, taxis are an everyday sight these days.

 

It will help you to:

 

 

• Reach a larger audience more often.
• Stretch your advertising pounds further.
• Generate a positive opinion.
• Create a buzz and increase awareness.
• Reinforce your overall marketing strategy.
• Make a good first impression

 

The secret of effective advertising is to make a great first impression. Vehicle wraps are a memorable way to spread your business’s message. Vehicle wraps for sales, service and delivery vehicles are very visible and are a powerful branding and marketing tool.

 

Grabbing attention

Brightly coloured, attractive vehicle wraps make your company’s vehicles stand out from all the other vehicles on the road. Passing drivers won’t pay much attention to an anonymous

white van, but they will notice a well-designed vehicle wrap.

Colourful vehicle wraps are so engaging that peoples’ eyes naturally gravitate towards them.

 

Reach a wider audience

Depending on how many vehicles you own, how often they are on the road and how far they

Travel. You can reach tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand viewers per month.

You can reach a larger audience with a vehicle wrap than almost any other form of advertising.

Many businesses gain more customers from their vehicle wraps than their websites!

 

Advertising on the move

As an integral part of your marketing strategy a vehicle wrap enables you to take your campaign out onto the streets.

Vehicle wraps are active, they travel into the view of potential customers instead of passively

waiting for the audience to see your television commercial or run across your newspaper ad.

As a business, you can reach out to potential customers wherever your vehicle or vehicles travel.

 

Why is it cost effective?

Unlike billboards and advertisements that have consistent recurring costs for as long as you advertise, you can change your vehicle wrap as little or as often as you like for less money.

You can make an initial investment for a fraction of the cost of other long term advertising campaigns and generate results for years.

 

What if I run a local business?

Vehicle wrap advertising is targeted because you are advertising

to your local market. The people who will see your vehicle wrap

most often as it goes to and from base are the people in your

local area. Local marketing produces outstanding results because

people like to deal with nearby businesses.

 

Will people read it?

Whether the public chooses to read it will depend on the design but more importantly the marketing message. Remember, the content of your vehicle wrap needs to target your ideal customer identity.

 

Will a wrap affect the residual value of our vehicles?

Vinyl vehicle wraps help protect the vehicle’s body from scratches

and small dents from road debris. Specialists can easily remove

vinyl vehicle wraps without damaging the vehicle’s paint.

Vinyl vehicle wraps help keep your vehicles in better condition

for when you need to trade them in or sell them. Depending on

the age, make and model of your vehicles when you sell them it

is quite possible to off-set the original vehicle wrapping cost

against the increased residual value due to improved bodywork condition.

 

So what are the downsides?

Outside of being an additional advertising expense, there are practically no downsides to using a vehicle wrap for advertising.

Most business and fleet owners feel that they recoup the expense of vehicle wraps in the added exposure their business receives. If you want to stand out from your competition, a vehicle wrap is a wise investment. However, like all forms of advertising, you need to make key decisions on both what and how you brand your vehicles to really see the benefits.

 

To see examples of vehicle wraps please visit our gallery based website – www.fleetwrap.co.uk

Posted: 21/03/13 | In: Uncategorized | By: Matthew Evans | No Comments

That’s a wrap

By: Chris Parkinson 16/08/12

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One of the many great services we provide here at Leading Edge Creative is vehicle graphics, including full vehicle wraps. This process isn’t restricted to advertising/branding for vans, you can also do a complete colour change for your everyday car (at much less expense than a respray). With this in mind I thought I would let our very talented vehicle graphics fitters have a go at the very sun-damaged roof on my 1974 Citroën DSpecial. We found an almost exact colour match to the original and the vinyl took less than hour to fit, as you can see from the pics it looks great and I couldn’t be happier with the result! So if you fancy changing your car colour or just sprucing up an old classic for the fraction of the price of a respray, get in touch, I can totally recommend it.

For more examples visit our micro site, FleetWrap

Chris

Posted: 16/08/12 | In: Vehicle graphics, Vehicle wrapping | By: Chris Parkinson | No Comments

A golden era!

By: Chris Parkinson 16/08/12

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Well done from all at Leading Edge to the People’s Republic of Yorkshire for a sterling effort in the 2012 Olympics, I doff my flat cap to you all. Our great county finished up with seven gold medals, two silver and three bronzes, placing it twelfth in the medal table. And well done to the Post Office for the great idea of painting post boxes gold! A couple of us from the studio have been spotted checking them out ‘in person’, although I think I had a few too many celebratory wines by the look of my picture – hic!

Chris

Posted: 16/08/12 | In: Olympics | By: Chris Parkinson | No Comments

London 2012 Olympics Identity – has it hit the target?

By: Chris Parkinson 14/06/12

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It’s been 5 years since the Logo for the London 2012 Olympics was launched. Created by London based branding agency Wolff-Olins, who are famous for some of the more controversial rebrands such as AOL, sorry that should be Aol. and the city of New York.

The London 2012 Logo was hugely critisised both by the general public and people from within the Design & Marketing industry.

Personally I always thought the logo was a bit quirky but could really see the potential of the logo when it would actually be used in application (which I think is the best way to look at corporate identities).

I think London and the UK in general is a hotbed for innovative, interesting and dare I say it, Leading Edge design! so the identity for the Olympics held here should reflect that, and having seen some of the applications where the identity is being used now we are nearing the start I think its a great, bold and contriversial Identity, but all the better for it. It’s a hit with me anyway.

Chris

Posted: 14/06/12 | In: Branding | By: Chris Parkinson | No Comments

Bread Roll, Teacake, Balm (sorry Barm), Cob or Bap?

By: Chris Parkinson 06/04/12

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Being based in the North of England, sandwhich time here at Leading Edge can be a very confusing afare. What type of bread would you ask for?

Ask for a ‘Cob’ at the local Sandwhich shop and you’ll get a funny look but 2 miles down the road it could be entirely different situation.

Personally I’m a teacake guy, but then I will always get told that a Teacake has Currants in it!, well, no, that would be a Currant Teacake, obviously ;-)

Chris

Posted: 06/04/12 | In: Yorkshire-isms | By: Chris Parkinson | No Comments