The Advantages Of Branded Vehicles
It’s not just the Eddie Stobart’s of the world who can benefit from branded vehicles. Any business, big or small, can get a lot out of branding up their company cars and vans. It’s a surefire way to expose new people to your business. As well as being cost effective and a clever use of empty space.
So what are the advantages of vehicular branding? Read on to find out!
Communication on-the-go
Branding a vehicle offers you, as a business, the opportunity to spread your message without actively doing anything. It’s a form of advertising that’s a by-product of another activity: driving. This is the ultimate two-birds-one-stone PR strategy.
You’re driving around, to and from meetings, to the office, to the petrol station, home. And everywhere you go you’re “talking” to prospective clients. People are seeing your vehicle, reading your message, absorbing your brand and business, without really knowing they’re doing it. This is one of the big advantages of vehicular branding — it’s a form of non-intrusive advertising.
Making impressions
One of the big advantages of a branded vehicle (as mentioned above) is that it offers a completely passive form of advertising. Wherever your vehicle goes, your brand goes with it. So every trip in the car becomes an exercise in raising brand awareness.
Also, according to the statistics, vehicle wraps can command anywhere from 30,000 to 70,000 views per day. That level of exposure reaches far beyond the scope of most small-scale marketing strategies.
And though it’s not a direct form of advertising, so may not have the impact of, say, a direct mail campaign, it’s still very effective in its own way.
An indefinite marketing campaign
The beauty of advertising your business on the side of your car/van is that you’re setting up a campaign, for a one-off cost, that will last as long as the vehicle itself.
Branding a van isn’t the same as putting out an advertisement online or in a magazine (most of which provide extremely short-term brand exposure, lasting only as long as the newspapers or magazines in which they’re featured).
With vehicular branding, however, there’s no time limit on how long you can advertise for. There are no restrictions. No running costs. Once it’s done, it’s done. And your audience will be enormous (just think of all the traffic you drive through on a daily basis).
Remember that you’re turning your vehicle into a rolling ad campaign. There are lots of possibilities. And looked at from a marketing perspective, it’s a very cost-effective method to get seen.
Building trust
Visibility plays a vital role in building trust and rapport with your target audience.
When a brand has a constant public presence, it creates a sense of familiarity. People start to consider it part of the scenery, which naturally leads to heightened levels of awareness. And, generally speaking, the more aware we are of a brand, the more likely we are to trust it (as long as the brand itself doesn’t evoke negative feelings).
There’s also an inherent sense of tangibility that goes with a branded vehicle. It’s a physical thing. There’s a real person behind the wheel, and that lends credibility and normality to the brand. It becomes, to an extent, more real and accountable.
Because few things make us, as consumers, feel more comfortable than the sense of a business’s humanity. And branded vehicles are a perfect expression of humanness, precisely because they represent something so ordinary and mundane.
A brief approach
Branding a vehicle is a fantastic exercise in simplistic marketing. First of all, we have to bear in mind that much of the time a vehicle is going to be seen by other drivers. And other drivers are going to be too busy driving their own cars to pay much conscious attention to a branded van. So whatever it says, it has to be brief. Because unless people are stuck in a traffic jam, they’re only going to catch a fleeting glimpse.
But there are ways to maximise your vehicle’s exposure to other drivers. If you have a van, for example, then by utilising the back of it you can increase the amount of time people will spend absorbing your message.
But for the most part it needs to be as simplistic and brief as possible. A branded vehicle needs to work on a quick-glimpse basis. Its message needs to stick even if it’s only going to be seen for a few seconds.
But the ultimate advantage of this is that your brand has a greater chance of sticking in your audience’s memories. As the old rule states: short is sweet. So a short, snappy, brief encounter with a brand may, in the end, be what makes it unforgettable.
A platform for humour
There’s nothing like a good bit of humour in branding, and there are few places where it’s more necessary than on a vehicle. It’s no secret that people get stressed whilst driving. Traffic jams and reckless drivers can make us angry and tired, so it’s always uplifting when something comes along and make us smile.
By adding a touch of humour to your vehicle’s branding, you’re potentially lifting the spirits of countless angry drivers. And in doing this you’re warming them to your brand. Not only are you making them feel better, but it’s likely they’ll consider your business more human and down to earth.
The other big advantage of humour is that it has a ripple effect extending far beyond the reach of advertising. By making someone laugh or smile you’re actually improving their day. You’re making them feel good, and to make someone feel good, even through marketing, is a great thing, and they won’t forget you for it.
Final words
If you’d like some design advice on how to brand up your own company car or van, why not get in touch for a free consultation.
Featured image by Pixabay.
