Exploring the Most Effective Forms of On Car Advertising for UK Businesses

Vehicle advertising has long been a way for companies to promote their services on the go, ensuring local audiences recognise their branding and perceive them as a known service provider in the immediate area.

This same advertising technique applies to larger nationwide companies, who use the space on their trucks, lorries, vans, and company cars to showcase their logo, slogan, or offer, boosting awareness and familiarity wherever they travel.

For many clients, the number of potential customisation options can seem overwhelming. It can be tricky to know which solutions are ideal for short-term promotions, those suited to ongoing advertising campaigns, or the types of on-car ads that will stay looking bright and fresh for years to come.

Today, we’ve put together a quick look at some of the most commonly used options to help you make informed decisions about the right approach to vehicular advertising for your firm.

Commercial Respray Vehicle Advertising

The first and most conventional option is a respray. You book each car or vehicle in your fleet into a body shop, where each panel will be prepared, taped off, and sprayed, either in static brand colours or with your choice of artwork.

Commercial resprays can be beneficial if there is no likelihood you will change your branding or logo in the future and own every vehicle in your fleet, since it may be unlikely you’ll be granted permission to make a permanent and major modification to a car or van that is on a lease agreement.

However, the plus side is that a properly resprayed vehicle will remain looking as new, provided you don’t encounter any nicks or collisions that cause damage to the bodywork.

In contrast, resprays can be expensive, especially if you have a significant number of vehicles in your fleet, and it is far easier to respray a company car than a larger vehicle like a lorry, truck or long-wheelbase van.

Most respray providers will also need to have your vehicle for at least a few days since the respray work will need to be broken down into stages to ensure sufficient time for the panels to be cleaned, primed, painted, and sealed.

Decals on Commercial Vans and Lorries

Decals are a straightforward way to add your logo or a concise message to a commercial vehicle and are most often seen on the back doors of a van or along the side of a lorry. Decals are a great option for smaller businesses since they are cost-effective and can communicate essential information, such as a contact number, without modifying the whole vehicle exterior.

We often create bespoke vinyl decals as they are far more durable than stickers, which usually start to peel and bubble after exposure to rain or heat.

Vinyl decals work very much like a full commercial vehicle advertising wrap but can be sized accordingly. This enables you to add graphics, logos, or smaller advertising features to the side, front, or rear of any vehicle of any size.

Using a Quality Vinyl Wrap for Business Vehicle Advertising

Commercial vehicle wraps are another high-demand service perfect for brands that want to stand out and be noticed. They can completely transform the exterior of a fleet into a bright, attention-grabbing mobile billboard.

With more space and creative freedom, advertising wraps are the ultimate in vehicular promotions and can be used on anything from a lorry or truck to company cars.

As always, we recommend getting in touch for further advice since there is a huge amount of choice, from impactful full-colour wraps to strategically wrapped commercial vehicle panels and even cutting-edge wraps that can be holographic, colour-changing, or matte.

There are multiple benefits, from speed and efficiency to ensure fleet vehicles are back on the road within a day to the lower cost of professional wrapping, which is a fraction of the cost of a respray.

Businesses also pick vinyl wrapping for the ability to choose either budget-friendly temporary wraps for promotions and launches or long-lasting, high-quality wraps for ongoing display.

Adding Promotional Magnets to Commercial Vehicles

Magnets are our final option, and while they’re less common, they might be the best way to advertise your business or add branding to your fleet if you’re working with a tight budget or need to customise the exterior of work cars that are also for private use.

For example, salespeople and tradespeople who use a van or car during working hours might keep a set of magnets featuring their branding and quickly add these to their vehicles when they’re on a callout.

Advertising magnets aren’t, of course, as vibrant as a vinyl wrap or respray but offer the convenience of adding temporary decals to any vehicle you might be driving on any given day.

Choosing the Right On Car Advertising Formats for Your Company

As we’ve seen, there are several ways to promote your business when you attend call-outs, make deliveries, or travel between clients and appointments. The best vehicle modification options might depend on your budget, expectations, business size, and the number of vehicles in your fleet.

Quality and visual appeal are equally essential since the finishes and aesthetic you achieve can directly influence the way passersby and motorists respond to your on-car advertising and the reactions and brand awareness your decals, wraps or paintwork will deliver.

It’s also worth thinking about time constraints, both the maximum period you can manage with your vehicle in the workshop, the time it might take for each to be modified, and how long you’re likely to want to display the same branding for.

Fleet and on car advertising can be incredibly effective and ensure you shout about your brand or business everywhere you travel, especially during peak periods when traffic is heavier, and you’ll achieve more impressions for every minute you spend out and about.

However, it remains worth putting a little thought into these varied options to ensure that, whichever method of fleet advertising you choose, the returns you achieve will be viable and ensure your moving advertising delivers the outcomes you’re expecting.