Van Turned Into A School Bus

• Quantities:  Make sure the supplier knows how many vehicles you are interested in wrapping.  Many vehicle wrap companies will offer a quantity discount for agreeing to wrap multiple vehicles.
• Design Requirements:  There is some design time involved in every wrap, as the art must be formatted for production.  The vehicle wrap company needs to know if they are designing the wrap or if they are just prepping it to be printed.
• Locations:  Where is your wrap(s) being installed?  Are you bringing them to the vehicle wrap company?  Is the supplier coming to your location?  This information is imperative to the wrap company so they can determine any additional man hours that are to be accounted for in travel.
• Coverage:  The type of vehicle is a major factor in determining the amount of vinyl that is to be printed.  This is especially important with irregular vehicles like enclosed trailers, box trucks, and 18 wheelers!  These types of vehicles typically will require someone putting a tape measure to the side of the vehicle.
• Surface Conditions:  This is one of those unspoken variables that are often included when quoting a vehicle wrap.  Vehicles that have rivets, screws, and/or corrugation will require additional man hours to successfully complete the installation.
• Geometrics:  The contours of your vehicle are another unspoken variable.  Straight/Flat surfaces are much easier to install than a vehicle like a Chevy HHR which has extreme contours throughout its body!
• Roof, Bumpers, Cabs:  Some wrap companies include these in their pricing, however, most do not.  Make sure to clarify with your supplier exactly what your expectations are so that they can provide you with accurate pricing and deliver a final product that will make you smile.
• Perforated Vinyl:  This vinyl is used to continue the design onto the windows of your vehicle, but is somewhat transparent allowing the driver/passengers to see out still.  Clarifying whether or not you want this may save you a handful of change!
• Special Requests:  Most vehicle wrap suppliers will work with either 3M or Avery vinyl.  These wraps are intended to be a branded message and left on your vehicle for 3-5 years.  However, both of these companies offer a multitude of different vinyl types.  When talking with your supplier, be sure to indicate how long you intend to have your wrap on your vehicle.  These suppliers also offer products like a Matte Black vinyl, which is priced differently than your traditional vehicle wrap vinyl.

Once the vehicle wrap supplier has all of the necessary information, it is very simple to provide a quote.  Make sure to take the time to meet with your potential suppliers and provide them with the necessary information to accurately evaluate and quote your projects!  This time spent with the supplier is also a great time to view their portfolio, ask questions, and determine if this is the type of company you want to work with…

If you have any questions about the vehicle wrap process or would like to learn more, I can be reached at BCastetter@advertisingvehicles.com or 513-588-5719

Yuengling worked with an advertising agency out of Pennsylvania who helped them coordinate their plan of attack.  They broke Ohio down into 12 markets and decided to make sure they had a strong presence in each market.   The backbone of their marketing plan was their Out of Home campaign.  All 12 markets had a traditional billboard presence while 4 markets (those where transit advertising was offered) added a strong transit advertising presence.  “The capabilities of mobile outdoor I find interesting.  Much outdoor is stationary while transit finds the people” said the spokesperson, Frank G. from their agency.

Transit advertising is a very popular medium when used to introduce a new product.  Its ability to reach the entire market place can’t be matched!  “When in metro markets I believe that any OOH campaign that doesn’t include transit is dismissing a major portion of the available consumers. Cities are normally +/- 50% commuters and 50% residents. Why anyone only caters to 50% of them or finds them important is bewildering to me” said Frank.  The biggest strength of transit advertising lies with the fact that it follows the crowd, to the most popular destinations in town!

Over the past few weeks, an esteemed panel of experts went through our thousands of vehicle wrap pictures and was able to get them down to 12 finalists.  Is your wrap one of them?  Go to our Facebook page to see our 12 finalists, located in the “Vehicle Wrap Hall of Fame” picture folder.  If your vehicle wrap isn’t a finalist, please vote for your favorite by “Liking” the picture of your favorite wrap.  However, if you were chosen, you should probably vote for your picture… heck, tell your family, friends, and colleagues to vote for your picture!  There is a pizza party and some other things in it for the winner!  Voting ends July 31^st!

Why make such a move?  Who are we kidding, they are cool!  But for the past 7.5 years we’ve been helping businesses differentiate themselves from their competition through vehicle wraps.  We figured it was about time we started doing something different to help us stand out from the other companies who claim to do vehicle wraps like we do!  And since we began selling transit advertising in 2006, the main reasons companies continue to advertise on the buses are increased perception (appearing much bigger than you are) and their ads are fragmentation-free (avoiding the clutter: DVRs, iPods, Smart Phones, and satellite radio… oh, and iPads!).  We see this as a great way to show potential advertisers the fragmentation that’s affecting the advertising industry, just how many people have devices that keep them from spending time with the “big 3” (TV, Radio, and Newspaper), and just how much time is actually spent on these electronic devices!

Terry showing off just how good our staff looks with our new iPads!

As you can see here, I skipped out of work a bit early (don’t tell the bosses) and waited in line for the iPad2.

Did you think it was already tough to reach consumers?  It just got a whole lot tougher!  The original iPad sold roughly 300,000 in the opening weekend.  Apple, according to a survey released by Piper Jaffray, sold an estimated 400,000-500,000 iPad 2 units during its opening weekend.  That’s not the number to focus on!  Roughly 70% of those sales went to new, first-time users!  America now has between 280,000-350,000 new iPad users who will be spending even less time in front of the TV.

Where is one place where consumers can’t ignore your ads?  On the streets while driving! Outdoor advertising should continue to benefit greatly from all of the technology advancements in our world!  Got a fleet of vehicles?  Check out some of our vehicle wrap examples here.  See what’s going on in the world of advertising and want to talk?  Contact your local Advertising Vehicles representative (preferably me… I’ll even bring out my iPad!)!

Article from FOX19.com—

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) – A new METRO bus service taking off this weekend.

The “One for Fun presented by Hollywood Casino” links all of the city’s hot spots together. It will being running on Sunday, Dec. 5.

The route starts at the Cincinnati Museum Center, runs through downtown, Mt. Adams and ends at the Cincinnati Zoo. Points of interest include Music Hall, the Fire Museum of Greater Cincinnati, the Art Academy of Cincinnati, the Contemporary Arts Center, the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Aronoff Center, Playhouse in the Park, Eden Park and many more.

The new route map is available on www.go-metro.com. Fare for The One for Fun will be $1.75 per ride. The new route will operate service every 30 minutes, from approximately 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekends.

Additional photos below from today’s event:

Enter 2010.  Entrepreneurs are creating business models around mobile food and established brands are also getting in on the game due to the increased opportunity to sell more!  One key element to a successful mobile food unit is the vehicle wrap.  Vehicle wraps draw attention!  When it comes to a mobile food unit, drawing attention & letting everyone know you’re there is kind of the goal, right?  Not only will vehicle wraps work for you on-site, but they’ll also advertise your business when the vehicle is in motion!

Over the past month, three vehicle wraps have been produced for mobile food units in Cincinnati alone.  Gold Star Chili got the ball rolling when they purchased a new vehicle and a new wrap and created the Chilimobile.  “Gold Star is a neighborhood chili parlor and the Chilimobile literally and figuratively lets us take our branding message to the streets of the communities we serve” said Charlie Howard, Director of Marketing for Gold Star Chili.  Gold Star’s wrapped Chilimobile will be used for: event marketing, philanthropic endeavors, a mobile lunch route, and for catering!

The other two vehicle wraps were for mobile ice cream units.  Mobile Cold Stone Creamery wrapped a box truck while Wiggy Dip wrapped a trailer that serves as a parlor.  This parlor serves up a unique ice cream experience as consumers walk through (as opposed to up to) their trailer!

What’s the one marketing piece all three of these business models have in common?  A vehicle wrap!

Brian Burke, owner of ISELLMAC.com and SellYourMac.com has a vehicle wrap on his Dodge Ram, advertising both of his websites.  He uses this truck to run all of his day to day errands, but also uses it as part of his marketing strategy!  Brian understands that his vehicle wrap is simply another piece of his advertising mix, and uses it as such.  If you visit his Facebook fan page, you’re sure to find a couple pictures of his vehicle wrap being spotted in different places around town.  He has even tossed around the idea of giving a major discount for those who snap a picture (with their camera phone) and upload it to his fan page.  One thing Brian does really well when using his vehicle during and after work hours, centers around his parking.  Whenever he is looking for a parking spot, he determines the area that will get him the most impressions…which usually involves parking by the main road and hoofing it!  In the instance below, Brian parked his Mac vehicle wrap in front of the Apple store at a high-end shopping center in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Talk about hitting your target market at the point of purchase!  His truck screams “Buying a new Mac?  Sell me your old one.”

Vehicle wraps are three sided moving billboards, advertising your company 24 hours a day, that can be placed wherever you want!  With that being said, the next time you attend a sporting event, take your wrapped vehicle, get there early to get a prime spot, and pay the $25 to soak up the impressions.  Same with major shopping weekends; whether you’re shopping or not shopping, take your vehicle wrap to a shopping hotspot and park it where the most people will see it.  These are just a couple examples of places that you can go to get more bang for your buck!  Have other ideas or suggestions. please share!

Vehicle wraps are a great way to market a company.  A vehicle wrap may be the only marketing platform that allows companies the ability to advertise 365 days a year, on any budget!  The awareness of a company with a vehicle wraps will grow rapidly as they attract more and more eyeballs everywhere they go.

One company that experienced the results that vehicle wraps provide is Tri Weh Restoration.  Their entire fleet has vehicle wraps, and as they grow, they continue to wrap their vehicles.  One problem, a good one though, how do you increase awareness once you run out of vehicles to wrap?  Use someone else’s!  Tri Weh leveraged the mobile billboards on Metro’s fleet of buses.  Transit advertising has become very popular, and when done properly will yield great results!  Transit ads, like vehicle wraps, run 365 a year and travel the same major arteries and highways that people use to commute!

Looking for other creative ways to get more out of your vehicle wraps?  My first three ideas can be found here.