Digital marketing is often the main focus for businesses trying to reach more customers. However, more traditional methods of getting your business in front of potential customers can also be effective. Vehicle branding, whether if it is for a car, van, or truck is a great way to make the most of traditional ways to get your brand out there. This way, company vehicles can serve as a marketing channel for new enquires; companies with fleets of vehicles can really leverage vehicle branding to make the most of their marketing efforts.

Why vehicle branding is useful

• – Cost effective promotion – vehicle branding can be a very cost-effective marketing tool. If company cars already exist, the only additional cost would be to apply the vinyl wraps, film or tape.
• – Strong local presence – developing your vehicle branding can help increase brand recognition within the local community. As your fleet drive about completing jobs or making deliveries. You will be getting your brand name in front of more people in your service areas.
• – Brand awareness and recognition – this is related to a strong local presence, but general brand awareness and recognition is also a very important benefit. Potential future customers will be regularly exposed to your brand and are more familiar with the services you offer.
• – Traditional advertising – vehicle branding is a more traditional form of advertising because it is ‘out-of-home advertising’ like billboard advertisements. These types of advertising are generally not as invasive and pushy as digital advertising. This is because there’s no data collection, tracking, or disruptive advertisements involved.
• – Can easily be changed – you can easily remove and replace vehicle branding which makes it easy to keep up with your evolving brand, or should the vinyl get damaged.
• – Protects your vehicle – the actual vinyl, film or tape will also help to protect your vehicle from minor damage such as scratches and chips.

Branding for cars

There are numerous ways you can incorporate branding into cars. Reflective films are a really effective way of grabbing attention both during the day and at night time with the added benefit of increased safety.

As some cars have accentuated curves and edges it’s important to make sure that the films you choose for your car branding can conform to the complex shape of the vehicle. Another consideration is making sure your branding graphics are designed in 3D and not on a 2D printable surface because this can cause major problems during application.

For cars, we would recommend going with Aura Optical Systems 124 as it is a vehicle specific engineering grade reflective. For long-term car fleet branding, we would recommend Avery Dennison VisiFlex V-4000 as it is a reliable and durable vehicle branding graphic.

Learn more about designing vehicle graphics >

Branding for lorries and vans

Vehicle branding for vans and lorries is very similar to car branding, except you must also take into account safety regulations and guidance on highlighting the vehicle’s larger size in poor light conditions. Adding branded vinyl can help improve the visibility of the vehicles on the roadside and in poorly lit conditions, while also promoting the brand.

Another important consideration for branding larger vehicles is the design on the graphics to suit the functionality, consider sliding doors and moving components.

For vans and lorries, we would recommend going with either Aura Optical Systems 124 or Avery Dennison VisiFlex V-4000 as it is a vehicle specific engineering grade reflective. Avery Dennison VisiFlex V-4000 is a particularly great choice for van branding as it has amazing conformability for moderate curves.

Learn more about the use of ECE 104 reflective tape for commercial vehicles >

The different options for vehicle branding

There are multiple different options available for vehicle branding, from full vehicle vinyl wraps to printable film and tape. The best option is undoubtedly printable reflective films because they are so easy to personalise and customise with your chosen graphics and logo.

They also have the added benefit of being visible in low-light so your vehicle branding can still be seen at night. Reflective film is the safer and more responsible option as it has the functional advantage of being a safety feature for the vehicles that makes them more visible at all times.

Lakeside Group has more than 30 years’ experience working with reflective safety graphics. Get in touch with one of our team to see how we can help.

Tips for vehicle branding designs

Ultimately the design of your graphics, logo and other features that will be part of your branding will determine how effective your vehicle branding is. Try to stick to branding guidelines and keep it as simple as possible so it doesn’t become an eyesore and it is easy to read while the vehicles are moving.

You can go for more creative designs if you think they’ll work or will look nice on the specific type of vehicle. Remember to include crucial company information such as contact details, the company logo and what the company does.

Try to keep the colours as simple as possible and preferably use a colour scheme that matches the vehicle colours in case some of the car paint will still be exposed.

Leverage vehicle branding to reach more people and elevate your brand with Lakeside Group

If you are considering using vehicle branding, then hopefully this article has been useful for giving you some ideas about what direction to take. The benefits of vehicle branding are clear so it’s just a matter of deciding what design you want to go with and applying it across your fleet.

Here at the Lakeside Group we are experts in the use of reflective material for vehicle branding, with more than 30 year’s experience in the industry, feel free to get in touch today and find out how our lovely team can help you elevate your brand.