7 Bad Reasons Why You Haven’t Wrapped Your Company Vehicles

So, why haven’t you wrapped your company vehicles? You know you should every time you see a competitor’s wrapped vehicle on the road. And how often is that? I’m going to end this post with stats to get you out of your car or truck and wrap it, (skip ahead if that floats your boat). First, let’s address the most common reasons companies give to justify not advertising with a vehicle wrap.  

7 Bad Reasons Why You Haven’t Wrapped Your Company Vehicles

You haven’t wrapped your company vehicles because, “We’re too small we only have two cars.”

Digital printing has made it cost-effective for everyone to wrap vehicles. If you have any advertising budget, why wouldn’t you put your dollars where they are most effective? Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. When you see a plain company vehicle with no identification, does it inspire confidence? Worse yet, what if it’s dirty, damaged, or dangerous looking. What do you think when you see a substandard vehicle that represents a business?

How would you react if an unprofessional company vehicle pulled into your parking lot to “sell” you? What if it was a provider’s van parked in your home driveway there to complete service work? Vehicle graphics add a sense of professionalism. Think about it. When’s the last time you saw a car or truck from one of the major providers in your industry that didn’t have vehicle graphics?

You haven’t wrapped your company vehicles because, “It costs too much.”

Billboards can run $700 to $2500 per month. A vehicle wrap can run $1500 to $4000, and last two to seven years or more.

So, what does a vehicle wrap cost? The best answer we can share is … it depends. It depends on the size of the vehicle, the scope of the work, and the location of the vehicle(s). Other considerations include the type and quality of the adhesive vinyl material, experience of the installation crew, and the condition of the vehicle. There’s no one exact answer to the question. Here’s More,  FAQ: How Much Does a Vehicle Wrap Cost?

You haven’t wrapped your company vehicles because, “We only have small cars — they’re not big enough for wraps.”

Once again digital technology has changed things. No vehicle is too small to wrap. We have effectively wrapped Smart Cars, sedans, and small SUVs. I saw a Smart Car fully wrapped for a vision group. The side of the car advertised Lasik Surgery, the rear shared their web address and phone number and then in large letters it shared, “Be Smart”. It’s a tiny car and I don’t know if there is a smaller car on the market. Yet, the wrap worked as effective advertising.

You haven’t wrapped your company vehicles because, “We’ve used the same lettering for years and that’s all we need.”

You may have a point; however, think of how much better your message could be conveyed with a wrap? If you own ABC Plumbing, your logo on your truck becomes a whole different message with an image of a clean, uniformed all-American plumber standing at a sparkling, clean sink.

You haven’t wrapped your company vehicles because, “We cannot afford the time to have our vehicles off the road to get them wrapped.”

In most cases, you shouldn’t have a lot of downtime. Ask the graphics company if they can provide graphics installers during your off-times. Here’s an example of working to fit the clients schedule. We were asked to install graphics on 4,000 vehicles, at 200 locations, all over the United States. The vans were used from 6 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday. We completed the vast majority of the installations after hours and on Sunday at their locations.

“The company now has over 4,000 re-branded work vehicles on the street. They deliver a new fresh message at a cost of less than $1 CPM (cost per thousand impressions). Putting the CPM in perspective, traditional media, such as TV, radio, and print, can cost upward of $20 CPM. The work was all completed after work hours with zero time lost. A potential multi-thousand dollar loss, from interrupted work, was avoided.” — Case Study: Rebranding 4,000 Vehicles at 200 Locations with Zero Down Time

You haven’t wrapped your company vehicles because, “Vinyl doesn’t last, it looks shoddy, and paint is better.”

These statements were true at one time — and can be true today, if cheap, shoddy materials and poor workmanship are used. With today’s adhesive vinyl materials almost anything can be wrapped better than it can be painted. Vehicle graphics don’t replace the need for paint and aren’t always the best option. Research the options, and then make the best decision based on use and needs. Before painting a vehicle, compare vehicle graphics to painting – you may be pleasantly surprised. If you’d like to learn more try this post, Should You Wrap Your Fleet Vehicles or Paint Them?

You haven’t wrapped your company vehicles because, “We can’t use wraps because we frequently change our products.”

I wish more businesses knew they could easily change messages on their wraps. By using a changeable film on part or all of your wrap, it can be changed as often as you like.

Just The Facts, Please

The benefits of a vehicle wrap are apparent when you compare the Cost-Per-Thousand Impressions (CPM) of other forms of advertising (Statistics courtesy of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America):

• A 30-second prime-time spot in the top 100 television markets costs $17.78 per thousand impressions
• A 60-second drive-time ad in the top 100 radio markets costs $8.61 per thousand impressions
• A one-third b/w page ad in the top 100 newspaper markets costs $22.95 per thousand impressions
• A four-color one-page ad in the top 23 magazine publications costs $9.35 per thousand impressions
• The average for all forms of billboard ads costs $2.18 per thousand impressions
• Vehicle wraps cost $.77 per thousand impressions

According to Driving Revenues — a vehicle advertising firm in Washington — a $20,000 advertising investment buys:

• Radio attracts 900,000 listeners in six weeks with ten to twelve 30-second spots
• Value Pak offers reach 600,000 with 100,000 addresses per drop, and your client is just one of many advertisers included in the packet
• Billboards receive 700,000 impressions per month
• Direct mail reaches 20,000 names with one postcard mailer

Let’s compare the advertising above to wraps. If you spend $3000 (high-end) on a wrap, and keep the vehicle for five years:

• A vehicle receives 30,000 – 70,000 per day
• Five years = 1825 days
• 30,000 impressions per day (low-end) = 54,750,000 views
• If you wrapped six vehicles for a cost of $18,000
• This is over 328 MILLION views over the span of five years

Isn’t it Time You Wrapped Your Company Vehicles?

So, why haven’t you wrapped your company vehicles? If you’d like to discuss this further please Contact Us!

If you’d like a free estimate for your fleet or vehicle graphics; you can Request A Quote.

TKO Graphix is a national fleet and vehicle graphics company helping customers since 1985. We provide full-service graphic design, digital printing, screen printing, graphics installation, and removal of large format graphics.

We’re a fleet and vehicle graphics company and since 1985, we’ve been helping businesses, large and small, brand their fleet of tractor-trailers, service trucks and company vehicles. Whether you have a fleet of thousands or a few vehicles, we are here to lead you through the vehicle branding process.

TKO Graphix is a Certified 3M™ MCS™ Warranty graphics manufacturer. Our installation crews are 3M Certified and are employees of TKO Graphix, not sub-contractors.