Wrapping a car with advertisements is one of the newest and most extraordinary media of advertising these days. With the first appearance of car wraps in Bangladesh, you might be wondering if it’s something worthwhile for your small business to invest in.
That is why we put together a complete breakdown of what car wraps are and whether it would be beneficial for your business to invest in them.
A car wrap is a customization technique for vehicles where vinyl stickers are used to stick digitally-printed designs on a car or other vehicle. It can be considered as a mobile billboard.
You may consult professionals to have them design a customized advertisement for your brand based on your goals and likeness. After an eye-catching and colorful design is created using graphic design software, they will then paste it on a vinyl sticker and wrap various cars with it.
You can opt for either a partial wrap where only the doors of the car will be covered or an advanced wrap where both doors and the back window will be covered with advertisements. A good quality vinyl wrap won’t harm the paint on the car and will last for 3 to 5 years on average.
Vehicle wraps are definitely not the most “go-to” marketing medium for most brands. But they can be highly effective considering the following statistics:
These metrics alone are good enough to motivate small businesses to invest in vehicle wrap advertising.
Many people think vehicle wraps are only suitable for large companies that own a huge vehicle fleet. But that is not the right idea as you can always rent a vehicle for an affordable price and advertise on it. Moreover, there are companies like Sticker Driver that will hook you up with car owners so your brand can be advertised on cars without you even owning one.
Taking advantage of these platforms will not only gain you valuable impressions but also put your small business at the same playing field as large companies with vehicle fleets.
The cost of a car wrap depends on the size of the vinyl paper needed for wrapping the vehicle which means partial wraps will cost less than full wraps on installation ranging between 7000 to 15,000 BDT.
And, of course, the longer you use a car for advertising your brand, the more rent you’ll need to pay. This might range from 3,400 to 10,200 BDT depending on the wrapping package you picked.
If you are using an advertising platform to help you with the process, designing, printing, and installation should be included in the initial sign up fee. A vinyl wrap usually lasts for a long time which means you won’t have to worry about paying for re-installation at least in a couple of years unless you wish to.
And if you use cars or vehicles from your own fleet, you will save money on car rent and repainting the car on a regular basis. Vinyl wraps are cheaper than new paint jobs and will keep the original paint of your car safe while giving your vehicles a new look.
According to Out of Home Advertising Association of America, vehicle advertising has a lower cost per thousand impressions than other OOH media making it the most effective and efficient outdoor advertising strategy.
Renting a billboard in Dhaka city costs around 60,000 BDT a month and the smallest ads in popular newspapers cost more than 6000 BDT per day. Car wraps are significantly cheaper than that while bringing equal, if not more, impressions for your business. While compared to online advertising, wrap advertising might not be as cheap as them. But are certainly more effective than most of them.
Vehicle wrap advertising has the potential to reach possible customers of all ages and demographics for your business. As anyone who walks or rides down the road is most likely to look at a colorful car wrap. For instance, if you put your advertisement in a newspaper or magazine, you are limiting your potential consumers to only the readers of that publication. But when you use a billboard that moves from one area to another carrying your ad, there is no such limit.
This can not be answered for certain as the return you get from your investment is dependent on factors like the type of your business, the design and time period of your advertisement, how much the car’s been driven, etc. But if you are curious to know whether you are making a profit and how much, there are certain ways to measure it.
Quoting Todd Stuart, the president of SignZoo.com, “We hear stories from customers on a daily basis about how their business increased after wrapping their vehicles. Some tell us that they gained new customers before they even got home with their newly wrapped car, while others literally took an order as soon as they left our offices. One of our customers tracks his job leads and says his sales shot up from $42,000 to $219,000 in 10 months due to his wrapped trucks.”
So, even if there are no confirmed ROI figures for car wraps, you can assume that your business will gain at least a workable profit from this medium of advertising.
With the development of printing technology, vinyl paper ads have been more accessible than ever. But the installation of a vinyl wrap on a car can be tricky.
Vinyl wraps should not damage the paint job of the car. But if the wrapping is done by someone inexperienced, there is a possibility of leaving scratches and chips on the car while making the advertisement look unprofessional. Your money will be spent much more safely if invested in hiring a company that has experience in wrapping cars with vinyl stickers.
Moreover, there are certain places where the government has banned mobile advertisements. Before engaging in wrap advertising, make sure to check the laws on it in your country and whether the agency you are consulting has the clearance to wrap cars with advertisements.
Vinyl wraps can be a valuable part of the overall business plan for any small or large business. Especially in a densely populated area like Dhaka, where you can reach a larger number of potential consumers with a relatively smaller investment. Yet, monitoring your ROI and impressions from different media of advertising can give you valuable insights on where your money will be well spent.