– By Ben Hershman –
In today’s business, most companies are constantly challenged as to where to prioritise marketing dollars. Companies are constantly seeking to get cut-through and gain sales opportunities and get the best bang for their buck. Some companies spend millions on digital, TV, radio and outdoor advertising, trying to determine the best marketing mix.
In the case of outdoor advertising, it’s impossible to drive, ride or walk down a high street without being presented with advertisements on billboards, shop fronts and bus shelters.
Which all begs the following question; are companies maximising their own outdoor billboard asset? – namely their fleet of cars, vans and trucks.
Certainly the technology is available to wrap fleet vehicles in sophisticated branding and messaging. The challenge some companies face is understanding the Return on Investment (ROI) of vehicle branding and signage in order to make an objective business case to grab some of that marketing budget.
Phil Hopper, General Manager at Liberty Signs based at French’s Forest in Sydney, says they recognised the opportunity to develop a proprietary tool that they could load with specific data, allowing them to show clients the ROI.
“Fleet Managers have massive assets on the road that can generate brand awareness”, said Hopper. “Companies need to start to realise that their fleet is a profit, not a cost centre.”
Hopper’s view is that vehicle signage is a cost effective investment that can last up to five years (using high quality materials). The ROI tool uses traffic statistics, analyses vehicle fleet travel patterns and kilometres and times of day the fleet is used.
Vehicle signage principals recognise that busier messages can be presented on the rear glass or panel, where vehicles following have more time to absorb the message.
Of course the bonnet will get more eyes than the rear as traffic drives in the opposite direction, so bonnets are actually seen as a good place for simple branding awareness.
“As an example, we are able to compare cost of advertising in typical prime TV slots against exposure of the fleet vehicle over its lifetime” confirms Hopper.
Simple door decals cost around $500 to $600 and a typical full vehicle wrap for a mid sized sedan are $3,000 to $3,500. And the ROI must be good because so many small businesses brand their vehicles with limited marketing budgets.
And what happens to the signage at the end of the vehicle’s fleet life? Well it’s simply removed professionally, a process that typically takes about two people a working day and can be projected into the fleet operating budget.
With high quality signage available and tools to assist in ROI calculations, it seems a logical step to review vehicle signage and branding to ensure the rolling assets are earning their keep.
