Do Vehicle Wraps Work for B2B Companies?

According to David King, who ran a very successful large-format print shop & publishes articles frequently in industry trade magazines, there is no better bang for your advertising buck than a vehicle wrap. A full wrap may cost ~$4k. It will last 3-5 years or longer if properly maintained and could be seen by thousands of people every day. Compare that to the "cost per eyeball" of other forms of advertising (billboards, direct mail, radio, TV) and wraps come out way ahead.

As owner of a business that produces wraps, I can see the value of a well-designed & installed wrap. Most people, however, see the upfront cost and get hung up there. I'd advise people to look not only at the initial cost but what you get for that cost.....the overall value.

The latest wrap from Lone Eagle Digital Imaging was recently featured in Digital Graphics Magazine as one of "The Best Graphics of 2008". Please see the Dec '08 issue online at www.DigitalGraphicsMag.com. Page 31 shows photos & describes the WW2 bomber themed vehicle wrap on this old 1952 Willys Wagon. You can be sure that THAT vehicle gets attention wherever it goes.

Rick
www.LoneEagleDigital.com
Lone Eagle Digital Imaging, LLC

Wraps are becoming a popular, low-cost means of effective advertising. They benefit both the clients and the everyday driver. Wicked Wraps develops innovative designs for advertising your business by creating a moving billboard on your vehicle. Vehicle wraps provide companies with a method of advertising on cars in three-dimensional form, providing an extremely effective CostPerMile rate and creates a high retention rate among those who see the vehicle.

Vehicle advertising circulates to over 30,000 viewers a week. This is more than most magazine and radio advertising combined! Radio and TV stations even use wraps. Many large companies have been utilizing this innovative mobile advertising technology for years. WickedWraps is comfortable working for companies large and small and on vehicles of all sizes and quantities. Affordable, durable and professional, WickedWraps are the ultimate way to advertise your business.

Can you remove the wrap? Yes, our product is warranted for a clean removal if applied over an OEM factory paint job. You get an added benefit of paint protection film, so when you take the vehicle out of service, remove the wrap and have a new factory paint job increasing your re-sale value.

Our service vehicle is wrapped and generates a conversation where ever it parks. It was recognized by Signs of the Times magazine in the December 2008 issue.

A wrap can run from $900 to $5000. The average is $2-3000.

As a side note; we are members of LeTip, and number 1 on their top 10 list of growing your business is vehicle graphics.

Fred Becher - admin@wickedwraps.net General Manager www.WickedWraps.Net WickedWraps Everett, WA

I think the best company out there by far for wraps is SkinzWraps. There are a lot of new companies out there but their design skill is nowhere near what Skinz has... plus Skinz has a great warranty and installers all over the nation.

Check out their portfolio compared to the other local companies. http://picasaweb.google.com/skinzwraps

My sales guy was CJ - he was very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. 214.741.4529

Hope this helps.

Yes they are good at what they do; however for the local Puget sound region Wicked Wraps certainly produces the equivalent in design and quality.

Our wraps have received local and national award recognition. Local car enthusiasts have mistaken our wraps as custom paint jobs done by a well known airbrush artist featured on Monster Garage and West Coast Choppers.

This is a great topic to discuss. I started wrapping Volkswagen New Beetles and Eurovan's for my real estate company in 2003 after traveling throughout Europe and seeing the effectiveness of this form of advertising there.

I can honestly say from experience that it was HANDS DOWN the best return on any advertising dollar we ever spent. Yes, it isn't cheap to wrap a vehicle, however, once you factor in the lifespan of the wrap at 5-6 years and calculate the number of visual impressions (The Traffic Audit Bureau study measured it at between 30,000-70,000 PER DAY!) your vehicle will generate over the days/weeks/months/years.....it is absolutely, positively a money maker!

For us, our wraps returned the original investment 10 fold and as a start-up company, we reached a much wider audience than we ever could have otherwise.

With that said, my overwhelmingly positive experience with wrapping my own company vehicles AS A CUSTOMER, have led me to start my own vehicle wrap company here in the Puget Sound. Like another post said, it is difficult to find talented designer's that can create a layout that best suits the marketing objective without being too cluttered.

WrapJax has a highly skilled designer with nearly 10 years experience and is a graduate of the Art Institute of Seattle. Our equipment is state of the art and we use nothing but the highest quality 3M ControlTac materials available. Additionally, our lead installer has 13 years of wrap installation experience, which shows in each and every vehicle wrap we produce.

Vehicle wraps are without a doubt a very dynamic way of marketing your business for about the price of a cup of coffee each day.....and that is if you wrap the entire vehicle! There is always the option of doing a partial wrap or even the tailgate or back window which could cost as little as $200.

if your interested in knowing more about WrapJax, take a look at our website at:

www.wrapjax.com

We serve the entire Puget Sound region.

Our all inclusive price for vehicle wraps is $14.00 sq. ft. which includes design, print and installation.

Whether vehicle wraps work probably hinges in part on how well you are marketing yourself in other media.

Jessie, your point is well taken. While just one approach to marketing your business would be short sighted, I do agree with WrapJax about the effectiveness of vehicle wraps.

As a company that finances vehicle wraps, I can share with the group that we receive calls every week from the vehicle wrap vendor/dealers and from businesses that want want financing options for their customers.

Based on the number of inquiries that we get from b2b owners who want to promote their goods and services, I believe that they are finding that mode of advertising to be very productive, regardless of other marketing channels that they employ.

We began offering lease-financing on vehicle wraps in 2007. We advertise nationwide for vehicle wrap vendors/dealers and their customers who are seeking financing options other than cash or credit card.

Vehicle wrap vendors/dealers... and their b2b customers find that this type of advertising offers a very good return on Investment when they can get short-term financing for as little as $89.00 per month and get multiple advertising impressions where ever their vehicle travels.

Information video about financing vehicle wraps for wrap shop owners and their customers.... http://wrap-financing.askjakefor.info

My sense is yes depending on your business. I have worked with people in many industries that have tried this in various ways - the ones that seem to get the greatest return or larger vehicles vs. the small ones. The distraction with the small (a scion or bug) is that the impression is lost on the 'cute or fun' factor.

Check out Go Mobile Advertising - they have a great product!!

I have been wrapping vehicles for almost ten years but came from a business and marketing background and my wife came from PR. We have found that the majority of clients we have are B2C, but we do have a handful of strictly B2B clients that have had great results with their wraps when used correctly.

The key with any marketing tool is to understand why you are using it and who you are targeting with it. Obviously a wrap that sits in traffic every morning has the potential to reach a decision maker for a business, but it is a smaller percentage than the number of consumers in traffic that morning. The key with any wrap is first designing it to reach your market and then putting it front of them in the most effective way.

With a B2B client, we would first ask them how the van is used on a daily basis. Just saying "yes we can wrap your vehicle" and not providing them with a solution that works won't help them in the long run. B2B marketing with a wrap is great for keeping your brand in front of your existing clients and also creating awareness with surrounding businesses.

A great example of an effective way to use wraps for B2B marketing is your local Chamber of Commerce or networking events. We advise our clients to use their vehicles as a billboard that they can park right by the entrance to any event. These events are full of Businesses looking to sell their services, but placing a well wrapped vehicle in a highly visible spot so everyone know you are there. Taking it another step and having a name tag made in the shape of your car with the wrap on it immediately tells everyone you meet at the event that the vehicle is yours and starts building your brand.

Simply put, vehicle wraps should be looked at as just a piece of a much larger and cohesive marketing effort.

We have a local client that provides phone, network and security solutions and historically has built its business on servicing local school districts through contract work. Two years ago they wrapped four vans and since have seen a huge growth in their business client base. The vehicles are the only change they made to their marketing efforts, but when they are parked in front of a school in the morning they are reaching business owners who are dropping off their children.

This is a great topic and has brought up many other important subtopics as well. Thank you for posting it!

Our Web site is www.indepthwraps.com.

We do B2C wraps that also work well as B2B. Our shop's vehicles are rolling adds for Wicked Wraps (B2C and B2B), and when I stop and park in a store lot (even get flagged down while driving) I hand out business cards. Most informal meetings result in a job or a referral that becomes a job. They range in B2C, B2B, and custom wraps in lieu of paint for show vehicles.

We no longer think of wraps as one dimensional e.g. just being on a car or truck, but have expanded into all aspects of branding and advertising.

Our wraps have gone beyond cars and vans to include service trailers, boats, motor homes, golf carts, ambulances converted to pizza delivery trucks, signs banners, A-boards, storefront windows, interior designs for walls, etc. Sure we still do cut vinyl, but the wraps are new and exciting, and usually lower in cost to produce and install.

We delight in the fact that our vanity wraps (e.g. custom cars and trucks) have been mistaken for elaborate paint jobs done by a well known airbrush artist that's been featured on Monster Garage.

We are striving to bring to market a top quality product at an affordable price. Our current promotion is a mini-wrap $299.99 installed artwork provided by the customer. What do you get? (2) ~25"x~52" panels and (1) ~6"x52" hatch or bumper panel. Very effective for the small to mid-size car or vans and pick-ups to get a more professional look, that's better than the old hat magnetic door signs, that usually end up lost or stolen. The min-wraps are also low enough in cost that you can change your advertising campaign every few months or so.

When you go out and look for a wrap, check the potential suppliers references as far as qualifications,training, and experience. There are a lot of shops advertising wraps but not all have the knowledge to do a good job.

As a tip for interior designers, look to your local wrap shop for that custom wall covering for your next project...