70% of consumers choose a company because of branding

That’s not a figure we’ve made up at all but one that is based on various consumer polls and, our only surprise perhaps, is that it’s not a higher figure.

When you think about van signs, or van graphics, 70% as a perception becomes a huge figure. Just think about it – you’re a window installing firm, a property development company with a plush head office, allocated parking and ambitious growth patterns. Once the factors of word of mouth and online presence are factored out of branding equations, physical marketing becomes important.

Next time you’re travelling around Manchester or Salford, just look around you at how we’re immersed in a world of marketing. The car in front of you and next to you and behind you is recognisable from its appearance and branding as an Audi, Vauxhall or Toyota. These car companies don’t hide their lights under a bushel – they used the front, back, sides, headlights, wing mirrors and rear lights to promote that brand.

The BMW Mini takes this to extremes with Union Jack rear lights and lettering stretched across hatches, stating COUNTRYMAN.

In this white noise of marketing – on billboards, digital signage, physical adverts at junctions and roundabouts – you have to stand out to get noticed.

Consider supermarkets and their delivery lorries. They could easily forego vehicle graphics and have plain white vans delivering orders. But they don’t. Tesco, for example, don’t just wrap vans in their name but use them as clever marketing with phrases like “Freshly clicked for you.”

You don’t have to have the might and financial muscle of Tesco or Asda to do this either.

No.

Your fleet of vans can be fully or partially wrapped at an affordable cost – but here’s the rub: affordable. That 9 letter word means different things depending on your perspective. Affordable should mean to a set budget that provides value for money, but it can often have less than negative connotations as in “affordable housing”. Cheap is often used as a synonym for affordable – and cheap can mean good value or poor quality, as in cheap and nasty.

Let’s make this crystal clear – if you have a budget of £100 and expect vehicle graphics to be designed and fitted to your Manchester van, you need to look elsewhere. It’s not because we’re dismissive of low budgets; it’s just that we can’t provide our exceptional design and fitting at such a low price point. You won’t stand out from the crowd either on a journey to Reddish or Rochdale.

You need to remember though that 70% of customers pick because of branding.

If you’re prepared to spend 5k on a website, 25k on a marketing manager, and 10k for digital marketing, you should allocate similar amounts for vehicle marketing. It lasts a long time. It looks attractive. It protects your vans.