Justin Murray
Pyramid Visuals Ltd
After researching the many different companies on the internet that provide this service it has become more apparent that the demand for this alternative form of promotional advertising has increased considerably over the last 2 years. Small businesses, large corporations, media outlets and others that want to attract attention are turning to vehicle advertising as a means to that end. There is no doubt that there is lots of value to be made in wrapping vehicles. Vehicle wrapping is fast becoming one of the hottest forms of outdoor advertising. Digitally generated graphics printed on to vinyl and ‘wrapped’ on to vehicles
The competitive market is expanding considerably in this field and most companies that provide vehicle livery service and signage, promote heavily, their vehicle wrapping capabilities, on their websites with a impressive array of their completed work.
Because of the flexibility of the materials used, customers are allowed to be more creative in design and can be more easily accommodated to achieve the desired end result.
Vehicle wrapping and vinyl car wrap
Regardless of the brand name, experts stress the use of cast over calendared vinyl for vehicle wrapping. While calendared vinyl starts out as a solid and is melted and formed into a sheet, cast vinyl starts out as liquid. The end result is that calendared vinyl has a memory of being something else and cast vinyl does not. In application, if you use calendared vinyl over a rivet, then it will tent because calendared vinyl tends to shrink a bit. Cast vinyl doesn\’t shrink so it allows installers to go over rivets, corrugation and complex curves that run both horizontally and vertically with greater ease and longer-lasting performance.
Most large companies that want to advertise on their vehicles don’t have to be sold on vehicle wraps. But the high cost compared to traditional vehicle graphics will cause some individual operators and small business owners to cringe. This is because when customers look at the initial costs they think it’s a lot compared to normal vehicle graphics and do not think of it as their best marketing opportunity.
Maybe one avenue to be explored to overcome this train of thought would be to work with vehicle financing companies to work the price of the wrap in to the lease.
Getting the customer to stretch their imagination and visualise the greater impact that this would generate, rather than normal vehicle graphics, is the key.
The first virtue of vehicle wraps is visibility. They will always get attention. Vehicle wraps make great “brochures”, as long as viewers have sufficient time to review an offering’s benefits. Their effectiveness as an ad medium can suffer. Vehicle wraps may suffer from too much “background noise.” Effective design is achieved through simplicity, clarity, crispness, balance and punch. How many wraps have you noticed that failed to convey a simple, clear message? Does the wrap convey value to viewers or does it just shout, “Notice me!” like a commercial that entertains without leaving a meaningful product message?
A few examples of the business advantages are..
They can provide exposure in urban places and motorways
Allow advertising where no billboard space exists giving geographic and demographic flexibility.
A less intrusive and annoying form of advertising or promotion
Vehicles can be stripped of wrapping with no damage paintwork. Great for companies that lease vehicles.
Cars, Vans, Trucks, Lorries, Buses, Trains, Boats, Yachts, Bicycles, Farm Vehicles maybe Aircraft ? Just a few examples of vehicles that wrapping could be applied. Maybe in the future even the general public will turn to a vehicle wrap instead of a new ‘paint job’ for their beloved mode of transport. Certainly it would be a cheaper alternative for a ‘colour change’ whilst keeping the original paint work just incase they got bored!