Now when it comes to hands on capture I put on full camo and face paint, put the catch pole in my teeth and belly crawl through the yard,
aka Rambo Wildlife Control. [/quote]
...more like Carl the Groundskeeper, is what I'm envisioning. ("Don't worry, little gopher, it's just your friend Mr. Rabbit, not a plastic explosive or anything...") tee hee.
Good points there. Excellent observations, Kevin. And to the guy who remarked that he didn't want other drivers calling to report bad driving in your company's trucks (Wink?): your tech's need to learn how to drive, safely and courteously. Their driving reflects badly on your company. Who needs that?

That's the thing for me I don't want to be mistaken for the cable guy or electrician (in this area most all of them - even the sub contractors for Time Warner Cable use magnetic signs - I want potential customers to know that I am in the neighborhood.

I offer a needed service, am proud of what I do and want to advertise it to potential customers in what ever neighborhood I am in and most of them are mid to high income areas and never am I questioned about lettering or get push back even when working for the mega-rich.

Down side - Trucks must be clean (not really a down side).

Must be a courteous driver (hot summer months I load up extra diet coke, juice boxes, waters and so on in cooler and pull in front of broke down cars - where they can see logo - and offer them drinks which has resulted in both radio and TV interviews).

Can get attention from bunny huggers - usually at gas stations for some reason - but I can handle that. When it is the nosey neighbor who is the bunny hugger and confronts me I like to hand them a card and let them know we are concerned about the wildlife as well and if they see animal in trap or have any concerns just call us. Have never had card refused.

Have heard of vandalism to truck - never issue here, but it's insured. But if it did happen it seems like the perfect opportunity to contact one of our reporter "friends" to do a story on the hard working business, helping people in the community with wildlife in their homes, being attacked by wackos.


Old & in the way - the plus side far out ways the possible negatives in the areas I service. Very effective marketing that pays for it's self quickly and continues to offer that bang for the buck for the life of vehicle. How many miles you drive a day and how many potential customers see you? Somewhere I have a marketing fact sheet that gives you a idea based on population of just how many people vehicle lettering can reach. I will see if I can find it as it is an eye opener. Look around your service area. Are the bug guys running marked trucks? If so I would say you are Ok to as well. Customers see a pest as a pest and don't care if it has four or eight legs. I have never understood this alleged stigma associated with wildlife in home (except commensal rodents)when the PCO truck in drive could mean roaches, bed bugs and other vermin that has a real stigma associated with filth. Have heard speakers tell operators at meetings to use unmarked vehicles and I think some of it has to do with outdoorsman attitude. I feel no need to hide what I do for a living...Now when I fur trapped or am targeting a big buck with bow on open land I was/am very low key.

Not what I was looking for but gives you an idea.


Information from 3M tell us that "research has been able to determine the effectiveness of moving billboards, or fleet advertising, through the study of Global Positioning Systems installed in trucks and traffic counts". This specific study was completed by the Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB), which is an independent non-profit organization that authenticates the circulation of out-of-home advertising such as billboards.

In the recent trial, one truck reached an estimated 40,585 people a day in Chicago, where an average Chicago billboard reaches about 48,000 people. While the exposure is comparable, the cost for fleet advertising is half that of traditional outdoor advertising, or 70 cents per 1,000 impressions, according to TAB.

"Fleet advertising represents a unique media opportunity. It is less likely to get lost in the clutter or blend in with the background, as other out-of-home advertising can sometimes do," said Bob Swanson, advertising manager, Seiko. "If used strategically, fleet advertising, by its very nature, has the potential to be more dynamic and captivating.

Impact

Unlike traditional forms of outdoor advertising, vehicle advertising goes to where the people are. One wrap can leave impressions at a parkade, at a shopping mall, at a local restaurant, and on the highway.

A recent poll shows that:
•90% of travelers notice graphics on wrapped vehicles.
•75% of consumers form impressions about a company based on the fleet graphics.
•30% of consumers base buying decisions on impressions they receive from company vehicles.


These numbers show that we are a very visual society, driven by effective advertising and marketing. Vehicle advertising caters to all levels of business and projects the message like no other form of advertising can.

this is how my truck used to look

Having your business name on the door gives you a more professional look. Mine is just a magnetic sign on the door but it gets folks attention. I've had people ask me about the sign and when I tell them what I do, it surprises them that there are people who do this kind of thing. Then they ask for a card and a potential customer is born.

Along with that I have a couple shirts and hats made up with the business name. The shirts also have trappers association patch on one sleeve and educational patch on the other. I like to look the part.

Thanks for the thoughtful responses everyone. I will be lettering my truck very soon. I would appreciate seeing some more examples of your vehicles if anyone has the time to take and post pictures. Rick, I like the look of your truck. Who designed the graphics, you or graphic designer?

Not the best pics but I keep it simple

This is one of those topics like pro-con NWCOA, everybody has their my way or the highway point of view, I'm neither I see both advantages. Now here's a tip with your signed truck, whenever there is an ag/farm show or home improvement show go down there at the crack of dawn and park your signed spare truck in the nearest spot to the main entrance. My spare truck has a semi-permanent sign bolted to the back of the ladder rack, the sign has a skunk in the cocked, loaded and ready to fire position, very graphic and in your face. The skunk catches your eye and draws people over to take a fridge magnet I leave on the tailgate.

As for myself I'm never out of uniform, even working around the house. Once a shirt is too worn for public viewing it becomes a lawn mowing/painting shirt.
I even have Big Sky underwear. Be grateful I can't post pictures.

Mr Schmidt, if we ever see each other again I'll tell you a story about the old timer that held up traffic for twenty miles doing 50 in a 70mph zone. He had traffic so backed up I couldn't see the end of the line. When I finally passed him I made sure he got the phone# off of my truck. We had a talk.

Dave same here logo's on everything. Only exception is when we go to casino or out for a night on the town (if I am going to be drinking) or if I don't feel like answering questions about wildlife. Immediate family members all have polo's, button down shirts and hat's as well as business cards. Even had those flat brim trucker hats done up for nephews.

Marketing is marketing just about everywhere.

Old & in the way
We are in the middle adding new trucks and revamping our truck graphics with the Road Board company. A lot of back and forth trying to get the "look" we want. We sent picture of truck and they do their graphic stuff and then we make changes and so on and so on...But it is painless and easy to see what you are going to end up with. Went with a local "graphics/tint company at first and their lack of artistry set me off so we went with Road Boards $897 each truck including art work/install and all design/concept work. Following picture is their first draft and all we did was explained what it is we do and they come up with a starting concept. We are on third of fourth draft now and still tweaking stuff. If you have them around you I highly recommend them GREAT customer service and they are not afraid to tell you your ideas are "wrong" from a marketing angle or hard for customers to get the info they need quickly.

This is getting to be a really wonderful topic and to carry further what Salys said to Schmidt, I'm old enough to be the 50 mph driver, but I get really ticked at people my age giving us all a bad rep! If the speed limit is 70, you better be going 80.

Also Mr. Schmidt, since my employees don't get any tickets, I don't care about their driving habits. They all drive the same unmarked Ford vans with ladder racks like 18 thousand other companies in this area so how is this going to reflect badly on our company?

P.S. When one of our guys was driving the Advertising Van, we got a complaint from an old lady about his driving habits, so we called him on the carpet. It seems that this old lady was getting a lot of horn noise from her fellow drivers and was actually in the wrong when she tried to take on our van and chickened out.

P.P.S. I also think that it's terrible that some ethnic groups are sold vehicles that don't contain turn signals. I think that this is something that our president is finally capable of handling.

i had to white out the name and logo of the other company i used to be with and i had to take the wrap off...so right now it looks like this until i can get it painted and fixed up as i rebuild my own business here in central Iowa

Last time I rode with dad he was in his early 80's, when he put the pedal to the metal in his '76 Cutlass it laid you back in the seat.

Agree with Kevin 100%. Having gone through several trucks over the years, when I get a new one the lettering guy is contacted before I even pick it up. I get so many calls from people who saw the truck, I can't imagine why anyone would think the negatives outweigh the positives.

On one job several years ago, I had to borrow a truck (non-lettered) due to the job location and circumstances. It was a college campus with a beaver problem on their lake. The beavers chewed down ALL of the 35-year old white birch trees at the apartment complex on the lake, and were plugging the spillway constantly. I was instructed to do the trapping program in 100% stealth mode, as there were five different animal rights groups on the campus. The facilities director said I probably wouldn't have any tires or windows left on my truck if any of them noticed me on the property. You know, those "tolerant, open-minded" college students. I had to drive around the edge of a grassy clearing and hide the unmarked truck behind some pine trees near the shoreline in a brushy area. Removed the entire colony.... no one had a clue.

But the other 99% of the time, I park my truck in the most obvious places. Working in large cities like Springfield (IL) I'll make sure I drive IN TOWN instead of using any by-pass routes, as the stoplights and low speed roads are where you pick up the callers for business. Tail-gate is the most noticed "billboard" but sides are also always lettered. No magnets.... permanent signage.... indicates a serious business and not a fly-by-night like you see with roofing companies that storm-chase. Can't say I would ever hire a roofer with magnetic signs on their truck. Just my opinion. (NOT an atttack on Muddawg!)

Tailgate shot: Basic, but easy to read and gets to the point.

I love this discussion! This is not about who's right or wrong, but knowing your customer. I started my business 26 years ago with a pick-up truck that my dad practically gave to me. I could hardly afford the gas, much less having it lettered.

The fact that my advertising was non-existent, did not deter me. When I started, the major franchise company was already in place and all of their vehicles are prominently marked. ( At this time, they only had one )

26 years later, the major franchise company has had four owners and has added one vehicle. We have eight vehicles and are about to add two more. Only our oldest vehicle has lettering and it is the least driven.

We have become a major player in the industry without vehicle advertising because we know our customer's preferences. With the kind of money that we pay for advertising, I would not deter anyone from having their truck lettered. But it's not for everyone!

P.S. When one of our guys was driving the Advertising Van, we got a complaint from an old lady about his driving habits, so we called him on the carpet. It seems that this old lady was getting a lot of horn noise from her fellow drivers and was actually in the wrong when she tried to take on our van and chickened out.

P.P.S. I also think that it's terrible that some ethnic groups are sold vehicles that don't contain turn signals. I think that this is something that our president is finally capable of handling.[/quote]
Some time ago, when I did wildlife control for the world's worst PCO, I was called on the carpet for "bad driving". Seems a woman had called the 800 # from the back of my truck and complained about something I was doing. I explained to the so-called service manager that the woman was an extremely belligerent, aggressive driver and that my mistake was to fail to outguess her as to how I could get out of her way: at least once, I changed lanes so as to give her as much room as possible, only to have her follow me into the new lane!
Wink, seems more like demographic groups are sold vehicles without signals rather than ethnic groups.
Another point on lettering: KISS Make it too fancy or too much info. and it's sensory overload. By far the most important information to have on any of your advertising is your business website and phone #. These should be at minimum 3" high on your vehicles.