Advertising on a trailer, truck or van puts your brand and message in motion.
While stationary billboards have been the staple of outdoor advertising for decades, advertising on commercial vehicles is now a competitive option for the most advertising bang-per-buck.
- Wider exposure. Impressions generated by a stationary billboard are obviously limited to those who travel the route where it’s permanently installed. Moreover, many are repeat impressions whose impact diminishes over time as the billboards tend to blend into the landscape. However, a mobile ad constantly on the move continuously exposes your message to an ever-changing population of new, potential customers.
- Less expense/greater effect. To duplicate the exposure provided by mobile advertising on a trailer, truck or van, the cost-per-impression of renting enough stationary billboards in high traffic areas would be prohibitively high. An ad placed on multiple trucks traveling within the same metropolitan area could easily produce millions of discrete impressions per month at a lower, cost effective expense. Best of all, you already own the high-profile advertising space where it will be placed.
Ads On Smaller Vehicles
For vans and small delivery vehicles, the current state of the mobile advertising art are vinyl skins known as “wraps” that apply directly to the vehicle. Designed with computer graphic software and produced on large-format printers, wraps allow full creative expression and produce vivid colors to grab attention. Readily applied to the smooth body surface of most smaller commercial vehicles, a wrap is also easily removable anytime you decide to upgrade your advertising message. Most vinyl wraps are rated for three to five years service life on the road before replacement is advised.
Conventional Trailer Options
Trailers obviously offer the big-format advertising opportunities. With a length of 48 to 53 feet and height ranging up to 14 feet, an 18-wheel trailer is a rolling palette just waiting for creative application of eye-catching color and design. However, the striking vinyl advertising wraps ubiquitous on vans, municipal buses and smaller delivery trucks are generally problematic for big-rig trailers. The expansive side of a typical trailer is usually ribbed and riveted—not the ideal smooth surface required for direct application of vinyl wraps.
For conventional van trailers, two alternatives exist to add advertising value. Painted designs created by an artist are imaginative and original but also labor-intensive, costly and permanent—a substantial outlay of time and expense is required to upgrade to a new theme and stay current. However, an alternative to both vinyl wraps and painted designs is the use of banner frames glued around the perimeter of the van trailer sidewall. This mounting system allows the addition of full-size vinyl banner signs to the exterior of the trailer, digitally designed and printed and readily exchanged when it's time to add a new theme or advertisement message.
The Curtainside Advantage
Curtainside trailers offer the best of both worlds as a rolling advertising medium. Problems associated with applying graphics to the surface of a solid-side trailer aren’t a factor with a retractable curtain. The curtain is, in fact, the ideal medium for creating and displaying your design. Advertisements are custom created using software much like that utilized to produce vinyl wraps, and are limited only by your imagination. Produced on a high-resolution digital graphic printer, your finished ad is printed onto tear-resistant, polyester curtain material coated with PVC as well as a clear topcoat to reduce color fade due to UV exposure. The size advantage of a curtainside trailer advertisement—essentially the same as the largest billboards on a major highway—is a brand-boosting advertising asset anywhere your truck travels, on the road and even when it’s parked.
For additional info about the benefits of curtainsides, take a look at our white paper:
