Opinions wanted, vinyl graphics Pros / Cons

My company's marketing department is kicking around the idea of having the delivery vehicles "wrapped" to advertise. They say it will be a revenue neutral venture that will be paid for by the vendors we represent. They sent out a picture of a design they were thinking about asking for input from the field.
To me the idea would have merit if our company depended on walk-in trade like a retail store. We do not.... we have a staff of outside sales people who call on our accounts and we rely very little on "walk-in" trade. The design they sent looks Wayyyyy to busy.... almost every inch of the truck has some kind of ad for either our company or one of the vendors we distribute for. It looks about like a Nascar design.
So, does anybody have any experience with vehicles that are wrapped? I'm looking for Pros & Cons.... to me I think if they wanted to advertise like this a magnetic type of sign would have the same impact and allow for transfer when we get new trucks in the fleet. Of course magnetic signs have their drawbacks too.
My question's are, what does it cost? Even if our vendors pay for the initial application what happens in the event of an accident? Will insurance cover it? Who can install it? We have nearly 50 trucks in service in 10+ states... will someone in each city have the ability to apply the wrap? How long does it last? Will it fade over time and look tacky?
Anyone with experience or opinions about this? Please chime in..... I want to hear ALL comments ..... good and bad!
Thanks

No professional experience, only personal experience. I think 'quirky' cars look good 'wrapped'. Minis, Cubes, Scions, etc. Bigger is bad - there's a radio station in Buffalo that had a wrapped Hummer and it looked horrible.

But here's a thought: what about a solid color wrap for your MGB, instead of a new paint job? About 10% (or less) of the cost of a new paint job. Given you'd only drive it in season, you'd get 3 or 4 years from it...

the major problem with signs "designed" by amateurs (which includes far too many of the folks working at sign shops, even!) is making the thing too complicated.

Someone should be (a) able to see it clearly (i.e. proper color contrast...not red on blue or gold on black for example) and (b) be able to tell in a glance what it says (no having to divert attention from driving to have to read the thing.)

Wraps can greatly improve local awareness of a particular brand. However, as you note, not all brands really need heightened awareness on the street.

Around my town the metro busses are wrapped. Giant moving bill boards with the same message on each side...and back and front...
As for your specifics I have little or no good input. Most of your questions are what a marketing department is supposed to figure out ahead of time. I question the adviseability of advertiseing for others on your own company vehicles. Implications to your customers who can't afford it or can't buy space from you.

If its more than one company and starts to look like Nascar i think it would look cheap, cheesey and ineffective. Those decals on NASCAR cost someone BIG $$$...so disproportionate to what you are considering as to be not valid. Less is often more in the world of graphic design and Adv. IMHO....

My experience:, when I was working for a major power tool manufactuer one of my perks was a company vehicle. a F-150 four wheel drive with extended cab. These trucks were all white and after 70k miles were available for purchase by the employee. The white truck looked good and I could take it anywhere. Some trucks had canopies and some had the hard flat cover over the bed.

One day one of the suits got the idea to have our trucks wrapped with pictures and the company message, etc. First problem for me was that I felt like a clown driving a circus wagon. Truck did not look good in my nieghborhood and we had one employee who lived in a new area that prohibited commercial vehicles so he had problems. The other problem was that the wrapping indicated that the truck most likely had new tools in it. Several trucks were broken into and one was stolen and stripped.

Employee purchase of the vehicle was a perk that became not quite as attractive with the circus wrap. After awhile the company went back to plain white vehciles.

Mike

Used truck dealers like this one won't buy wrapped trucks, even the orange ones in this line-up are harder to sell than white ones.

"They say it will be a revenue neutral venture that will be paid for by the vendors we represent"


This is in my field so I will chime in briefly. It sounds as though your company wants to allow others to use your trucks as advertising space. More or less renting advertising space. Your company can make money this way. Our company has similar contracts with local transit vehicles. If that is the idea go for it, otherwise if no money is to be gained I dont really see the point.

When done right, the vinyl will not damage the paint at all. Professional installation is a must. A lot of inexperienced installers will cut into the paint when trimming. Nothing looks worse than wrinkles or bubbles either. I will not name brands so no companies can come at me saying their product is just as capable, but I will say the right vinyl is a MUST for a good wrap. All vinyls are NOT created equal and they all do not conform to curves or stay down as well as others. When it comes to removal, if the right vinyl was used it will come off easily and leave no damage. The wrong vinyl will require heat and a scrape blade to remove, and will probably result in damaged paint.

You didnt say what kind of trucks. Box trucks? If so, magnets wont stick on aluminum sides and you wouldnt want them over rivets. Magnets tend to get brittle and break after a year or so. I have seen magnets where the owner never removed them and the magnet actually bonds to the vehicle. I have even seen rust under a few that were never removed. Stay away from magnets unless they are small enough
to remove weekly to clean behind and allow moisture to dry from behind them.

As for the cost your company will need to shop around in your area. It can vary a lot from shop to shop. You have a unique situation that your in 10+ states. You may find one company to print all of your graphics, then find installers in each state. I would not really want different companies doing the printing. There is an art to getting the colors you want out of a digital printer. To keep it consistent, I would not have 10 shops from 10 states printing them.

I am playing it safe and still not naming names, but there are large companies that print and specialize in fleet graphics. They can also help find qualified installers in each state. Google search fleet graphics. Ask questions about materials, expected life, and locating installers.

I hope this informations helps.

Thanks men for all of your comments....... my company is exploring this idea in hopes that it will generate more sales. The purpose is it advertise only for my company and the graphics will have only the vendors we are authorized distributors for.... (there's no attempt to sell ad's to anyone else) They hope that by charging the vendors a fee it will offset the cost of the graphics. I have no idea what is cost to wrap these P/U's.... (they are regular cab long bed Silverado's) but I have concerns about what happens when it's time to sell them.... what happens when we have fender benders etc.
For me there's more questions than answers... and I feel that if the marketing committee feels strongly about pursuing this concept that they should do a test market in several locations and expand from there if it generates the results they are trying to achieve.

I've been led to believe that vinyl wraps can be removed with little to no damage to the paint if installed right. So when the truck is retired the vinyl can be removed.