7.) Do a stunt just to get attention

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/8030766.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/8030766.stm

The above pictures of an art student and her graduation project got international press. The car was donated to her by a local junk yard and their name on the windshield launched them into world-wide notoriety, not to mention a huge spike in local business and sight-seer traffic. It might as well have been for a vehicle wrap installer. The hard part is coming up with an idea that will get noticed, but don’t try to make it happen all by yourself. Always be ready to jump on a good idea when it comes to you. This car was already junk and not a huge loss for the junk yard, but a short-sighted owner might have only seen the profit they were losing in parts and scrap sales. Don’t be guided by fear – build funding for some small, low-risk stunts into your budget and listen to people who ask for help with a project (especially hippie-looking art students).

8.) Don’t take yourself too seriously

http://thebsreport.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/black-friday-busiest-day-for-plumbers/

Professionalism and understated elegance are essential if you’re a funeral home or law firm. But a little silliness goes a long way, especially in a saturated or highly competitive industry where it’s difficult to stand out. Great advertising gets maximum bang for every buck and a magnet with your logo/phone/website could be a total waste of time and resources. Take advantage of vehicle wrap technology and do something a little wacky.

9.) Execution can make or break your campaign

http://www.gatorwraps.com/gallery/vehicle_wraps.html/title/carriage-shoppe

This vehicle wrap for a body shop was a very risky move that easily could’ve backfired. Instead, it looks impossibly perfect (and in fact won several industry awards). Potential customers will unconsciously equate the quality of your advertising with the quality of your service. If you can impress their socks off with a well-carried out vehicle wrap, they’ll expect the same when they call you. And they will call. The inverse is also true – if the Carriage Shoppe had stuck one of those half-baseball-stuck-in-the-window things or some fake gun shot holes on their PT Cruiser, they could have seriously hurt their business. An obviously lazy ad campaign, especially one with as much exposure as vehicle wrapping, communicates that your service will be lazy as well.

10.) Tap into your history

http://www.sdgmag.com/article/2010-auto-art-contest

Take a cue from all the throw-back jerseys in professional sports. These are not just for fun – there’s real strategy behind it. People need to feel like they’re a part of a bigger story, we all want to be involved in history and join with something that started long before us and will continue long after us. Maybe it’s some quest for immortality, maybe it’s to help us know who we are and where we’re from. Whatever the reason, it makes for great marketing. If you can convince a potential customer that your brand has a story or is a part of history in some way, capitalize on that. Did your great grandfather do the same thing you’re doing now? Use his original logo on your trucks. Do you make your product the same way they did a hundred years ago? Highlight that connection to the past. Anything you can do to help your customers connect to a tradition and a legacy will get them emotionally involved in your product and turn them into evangelists for your brand.

Check out our deals on vehicle wrap printing.

Read about Tips #1-#3 for Great Vehicle Wrap Advertising.

4.) Take advantage of uniquely functional vehicles

http://www.bluemedia.com/blueline/

The tanker in the picture above doesn’t quite nail it, but I love the idea that this truck could be full of Pepsi on it’s way to Circle K. But your product doesn’t have to be a liquid to advertise on a tanker truck. How about a truck full of elbow grease so you can work harder for your customers? Or a delivery of glue because you’ll stick it out till the end. Or an entire tanker of whoop-ass because a single can just isn’t enough. Doing print ad on the side of a bus is fine, but isn’t going to make you rich. Different is good – a dump truck wrapped to be a delivery of money to your investors, a garbage truck full of good ideas that weren’t good enough for you, a cement truck with a logo that’s both upside down and right side up, just the fact that you thought it through enough to do both will impress potential customers and get you some attention. (Also, see #2 above, with its produce-shaped cement mixers.)

Check out some of our vehicle wrap deals.

5.) Do something interesting with fleet vehicles

http://www.legraphics.co.uk/?p=638

Not every company has a fleet of trucks or vans to work with, but if you do, consider it a fleet of free advertising. That many vehicles is a huge investment so make it work hard for you. Wrap those suckers in something different every month or quarter or year. Try as many ideas as you can afford and see what works. Do something unique to your industry and make is very visual. If you install cable, make it a giant television set. If you are a landscaping company, make it look like a riding lawn mower. The key is variety and accountability. Keep track of what works. And above all, don’t be annoying. Loud colors, a huge logo, phone numbers, websites – none of this matters as much as getting and keeping someone’s attention.

6.) Think outside of mobile ads

http://cityscoop.us/sanleandroca-signage/2010/04/22/non-vehicle-wraps/

Vehicle wraps are great, but any large-format printer / installer worth their salt can wrap just about anything. A waterfall of M&M’s cascading down a flight of stairs is fantastic concept and execution. This ad takes advantage of both the unique shape of the product and a unique location. Consider an average day in the life of your target customer. Spend some time where they spend time and look for a place or object to wrap that will highlight an aspect of your product. If you sell office furniture, make all the seats in the mall food court look like your desk chairs. If you make paint, put a huge, fake spill on a sidewalk. If you own a coffee shop, make the outdoor trash cans look like coffee cups. Creativity makes money.

1.) Good design is key

http://www.talkdelaware.com/f67/ads-kick-up-notch-11760.html

This ad for Jack Daniels on a London cab be easily seen from skyscraper windows and it looks classy and interesting from the street.  A great combination of good design and creative positioning.

http://www.talkdelaware.com/f67/ads-kick-up-notch-11760.html

Another example from the UK, this wrap for a printing company is loud enough to get a lot of attention but understated and elegant enough to convert viewers into customers.  This design is stark contrast to the huge-text, in-you-face, explosion-and-fire designs of most commercial wraps on the road.  No one has ever been annoyed into becoming a customer.

Good design in vehicle wraps is surprisingly hard to find. A clever, well-designed vehicle wrap is an easy and immediate way to set your ad campaign miles ahead of everything else out there.

Click here to see our current specials on vehicle wraps.

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You’ve finished your design and you’re ready to send it off to the printers. You triumphantly click “file” and “save as” but momentarily falter as you scan down the endless list of three letter suffixes. Which one should go after the dot at the end of your document title? You created your amazing document in Word 2007, but your work computers are still using Word 2003 and every time you try to send that to someone they email you back saying they can’t see it. So maybe you should save it as ’03 compatible, but what if the printer uses a Mac? So maybe you should export it as a PDF, but every time you do that it ends up looking blurry plus it takes forever to open.

This is a very common conundrum that Thomas Reprographics has dealt with on countless occasions. Fortunately, there is an easy solution. If your document is smaller than 11″ x 17″, you can save it as PostScript (.ps) file and if it’s bigger than that you can save it as an Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) file. The beauty of these formats are that they include all the data, including fonts, graphics, layout, images, etc., into a single file that can be translated by a printer. If a document is not saved in one of these universal formats, the printer you send it to must have the exact same program with the correct version that was used to create it. Most people have Microsoft Word, but not everyone has the most recent version. In fact, even different settings can cause a layout to get jumbled. There are even more issues if your document was created in a more professional design program like Adobe <a href=”http://www.photoshop.com/”>Photoshop</a> or <a href=”http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/”>Illustrator</a>. Some designs can have hundreds of layers and elements working together within one document that can only be decoded by Photoshop or Illustrator.

Saving and sending your creations in a standard .ps or .eps format will guarantee that your design will be printed looking exactly the way you made it. For more information or help with saving and printing as a PostScript or Encapsulated PostScript file, check out the following resources:

From Thomas:
www.thomasrepro.com/misc/digitaltips.shtml

From Adobe:
www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=pdrv&platform=win
www.adobe.com/products/postscript/overview.html

From Microsoft:
office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher-help/save-your-publication-as-a-page-independent-postscript-file-for-commercial-printing-HP010117015.aspx?CTT=1
office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher-help/why-a-commercial-printer-wants-a-postscript-or-pdf-file-HA001137354.aspx?CTT=1

From Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript

Other Sources:
www.techterms.com/definition/postscript
www.museweb.com/ag/ps/about_ps.html

Getting messages in front of a captive audience is one of the biggest marketing challenges faced by today’s brands. In the high-tech age we live in, messages bombard consumers constantly, and people have learned to tune out messages from sources like TV, radio, the Internet and print. That’s why so many brands choose to “drive advertising” with vehicle wraps and fleet graphics.

Vehicle wraps and fleet graphics have proven to be successful for several reasons. First and foremost, drivers are a captive audience – or at least we all hope they are. In all seriousness, the very act of driving requires that people pay attention to their surroundings, and to the vehicles in their proximity. The numbers regarding vehicle wraps and fleet graphics speak loud and clear:

• 97% said they remembered ads displayed on trucks**
• 29% said they would base a buying decision on these impressions*
• 96% claimed fleet graphics had more impact than billboards**
• 98% felt that the ad created a positive image for the advertiser**

When you look at those percentages, combined with the fact that fleet graphics give an average of 101 impressions for each mile traveled, it’s easy to see why brands are choosing to drive advertising with vehicle wraps and fleet graphics!

Of course, deciding to utilize vehicle wraps and fleet graphics seems like an easy decision. Fortunately, so is choosing the right printer to make sure that your vehicle wraps and fleet graphics pop off your vehicle with brilliant color and clarity.

Thomas Reprographics is an established industry leader in wide-format color printing. With over 50 years of experience, Thomas Reprographics helped pioneer full-color printing for vehicle wraps and fleet graphics, and provides a turnkey solution, from production all the way through installation on the vehicle.

Click here to learn more about how to ‘drive advertising’ with vehicle wraps and fleet graphics, and start realizing increased sales today!

Click here to learn more about our special offers for police car graphics and first responder vehicles!

Call 1.800.TRREPRO (877-312-7347) to speak with a Thomas Reprographics Print Expert to learn more.

Across a wide range of industries, companies are discovering the big benefits of large format color printing. Large, beautifully printed signs and banners are a proven way to deliver messages to consumers. Studies show that color messages are far more captivating and memorable than black and white. Size also matters, with bigger messages subconsciously placed in higher priority than small messages. Take advantage of large format color printing to sell your message!

There are several formats that you can take advantage of, depending on your specific needs.

Inkjet Large Format Color Printing

Oversized prints from a high-quality Inkjet printer are stunning to the eye, and versatile in their uses. These prints can be output in glossy or semi-gloss formats, and can be sized up to five feet wide by virtually any length.

Top Uses for Inkjet Printing:

• Retail Signage
• Trade Show Booths
• Color Comps
• Business Presentations
• Courtroom Exhibits
• Point-of-Purchase (POP) Displays
• Other Short-run Projects

Direct-to-Board Large Format Color Printing

When you’re looking to print on something rigid, direct-to-board large format color printing is your solution. Utilizing a state-of-the-art flatbed inkjet printer, high quality graphics can be printed on practically any flexible or rigid substrate.

Materials Printed on include:

• Vinyl
• Plexiglass
• Metal
• Plywood
• Many others – creative possibilities are infinite

Common uses for Direct-to-Board Large Format Color Printing:

• Large Format Color Outdoor Signage
• Vinyl Banners
• Posters
• Window Clings
• Backlit Displays
• Exhibition Graphics

Durst Lambda/LightJet 5000 Photographic Large Format Color Printing

The beauty of the Durst Lambda/LightJet 5000 (aside from the gorgeous images) is the fact that you can print continuous tone images straight from your Mac or PC. And the images can range up to a whopping 49” wide!

The Durst Lambda/LightJet 5000 is perfectly suited for:

• Exhibitions
• Fair Stands
• Museums
• Illuminated Displays
• Marketing Posters
• PR Launches

Aside from the gorgeous images produced, a wide range of media add versatility to the Durst Lambda/LightJet 5000 large format color printing possibilities. Media types range from gloss, matte, metallic, Duraflex, Duraclear and Duratrans.

Regardless of your Large Format Color Printing needs, Thomas Reprographics can help you find the solution that’s perfectly suited for your project. For 50 proud years, Thomas Reprographics has served customers with innovative print solutions and the best customer service in the business. Wide Format Imaging Magazine ranked Thomas Reprographics as the Best of the Best Top Shops! Let Thomas Reprographics print your next project to find out why.

Click here to learn more about how to ‘drive advertising’ with vehicle wraps and fleet graphics, and start realizing increased sales today!

Call 1.800.TRREPRO (1.800.877.3776) to speak with a Thomas Reprographic Print Expert to learn more.