How Expanding Your Vehicle Wraps and Graphics Offerings Can Increase Sales

Vehicle wraps are the most cost-effective advertising you can buy, and when you factor in their visual impact, they’re a can’t-miss choice. They elevate a simple logo or design to a truly special piece of signage.

Let’s start with cost: You can wrap the average sedan for $3,500 to $4,000. If you take off the wrap in three years, that’s a mere $3.19-3.65 a day for a rolling ad that gets around 30,000-50,000 impressions a day. You can’t reach that large an audience with traditional advertising for that price anywhere! Wraps also protect the vehicle’s finish from scratches and fading, which helps maintain vehicle value – a real plus for companies that lease their cars or trade them in frequently. They offer so much more than advertising for you and your client.

Marshall University “We Are Marshall!” football equipment tractor/trailer. | Credit: Signarama Rivercities

One of our most memorable wrap projects came from two brothers who wanted to honor their late father’s memory. The father was being inducted posthumously into the West Virginia Drag Racers Hall of Fame and, for the ceremony, they asked us to bring his car back to the former glory of his racing days in the 1960s. The car was originally red, but had been painted white when his sons started racing in his stead. We wrapped it in the original red, then added die-cut, layered decals to resemble the hand-painted badging from its original look. Bernard asked if they could bring their mom to see it for the first time when we revealed it; she hadn’t seen it like that since he raced it. It was a very emotional reveal, and we were proud and honored to be part of it.

We’ve won awards for another exciting project: wrapping the Marshall University “We Are Marshall!” football equipment tractor/trailer. We are very proud of our designers’ ability to transform the outdated digital wrap on the university’s vehicle into a rolling work of art which demonstrated their skill and creativity.

Trends in Vehicle Wraps

The wrap and graphics space has gotten more creative, and there are many more options today compared to when we started offering them in 2017. Eco-friendly vinyl, UV-resistant, and weather-resistant vinyl materials are gaining popularity, as well as newer colors and finishes. We have seen an increased demand for chameleon colors, matte and textured finishes such as carbon fiber, brushed metal, leather, reflective, glow-in-the-dark and chrome vinyl.

On one hand, we have seen designs move toward bold colors and gradients, while on the other, minimalist designs that roll toward retro are making a big comeback. We have also seen layering and overlays, with these different finishes and materials, being employed quite often on some of our more customized wrap designs. Our designers have even offered more seamless integration of their designs with the existing lines and features of the vehicles, making them works of art and marketing masterpieces.

Another rising trend is the use of QR codes on business wrap designs, which make the advertisements more interactive for observers. This will also yield valuable marketing analytics for the companies who employ them, because they can track when and where their target market is engaging with the ads.

Tips for Budget-minded Clients

• Offer free wrap removal when it’s time to change the design. We offer this to clients who get their wraps changed in three years. It keeps our customers coming back and makes the wrap easier to remove, saving time and money.
• Suggest partial wraps and decal graphics, which yield the same marketing benefits of a full wrap but at a more economical price.

Tips for Design and Sales

• Remember the 3 C’s of messaging: Clean, crisp and (high) contrast. Stick to a single message about what your client offers – just enough to grab prospective customers’ attention in the 15-20 seconds of visibility when the vehicle is in motion. Contact information should be big enough for them to read and remember.
• Keep the team up to date. Make sure they’re staying current on the latest installation techniques and designs. Have your team take advantage of continuing education from larger manufacturers, distributors and professional organizations. Being recognized as experts adds credibility with customers and presents unique marketing opportunities for attracting new business.
• Stay on top of the market. You and your team will get invaluable insight and networking opportunities from trade shows and conferences like the PRINTING United Expo, ISA show, SEMA, Graphics Pro Expo, Wraps Con, SARCON, Wrap Fest, and FESPA Global Print Expo.
• Subscribe to leading industry publications and online training with companies that make them available to your employees.
• Discuss opportunities regularly with your sales force and production team. Look at where your top markets are and identify the industries you’d like to grow your business within, so you know where you need to focus your marketing attention, and where you can dial it back.

Unwrap the Potential

Vehicle wraps can bring you a lucrative client segment with great potential for repeat business. And don’t forget your own company vehicles. We get quite a bit of business from our wraps, especially the one on Bernard’s truck. It is meant to be very flashy and eye-catching to draw attention to it – and it does. Bernard gets stopped every day at gas stations, traffic lights and parking lots with questions about our wrap business. We re-wrap it every 2 years to keep it fresh with the latest design concepts and materials, and it’s proven to be one of our most successful marketing strategies.