Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Matt Steele on October 25, 2010, 06:31:19 pm
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Hi all, other than the obvious; company name, phone numbers, what you do etc. what do you think it's important to have written on your van ?
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fully insured
free quotes
Inside & out
website
email address
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never found inside van graphic that good a return ;) outside ones seem to work well enough
Seriously just put your name phone number and what you do thats about all you can hope people see clearly
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I have a van which is fully wrapped with an 'unusual design' it is the centre of my company image. A picture of my van is in the Y/Ps on my leaflet, reminder-card, business card, recommendation card, spotter bottle.
say to anyone in Beverley "animal van" and they will know who you mean.
my point is unless you are going to do the same then just stick to the basics, with van graphics its either go all the way or don't bother
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I was in partnership for years with a signwriter and van graphics is probably the best investment that you can make in advertising. Graphic design is a skill on its own. My best advice would be to visit several signwriters, most will give you a computer generated drawing of your van, many will design a logo or carporate image for you within the cost quoted. Many signwriters will copywrite their design so do not take somebodyelse's design to a cheaper competitor. The quality of the films also varies considerably so the age of the vehicle is also a consideration. Shop around , show the designs to your freinds, family etc and get as much feed back as possible. Treat it as an ivestment and do not scrimp. Try to choose a signwriter that employs graduated graphic designers as many people are self taught with very little design flair or aptitude. If you have a website this is probably one of the main things to push because it will give people access to any other information that you have on your van and more.
Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com
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In my opinion less is more.
Company name/logo
Professional carpet and upholstery cleaning
Phone numbers
Website address
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say to anyone in Beverley "animal van" and they will know who you mean.
yeah it's definitely a remember able one, you've posted it on here before an tbh it's the only one i remember in the whole thread. out of interest did you buy a second hand van from somewhere like butlins that come with that on it or was it some mad (but good) thought that you'd put animals all on it?
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I originally told the designer i wanted lots of animal on the van some of them partially hidden from view I so i could have fun with customers and more importantly their kids, if they could count all the animals on the van they would get a prize,
I was also going to attend garden fetes in summer and have a stand called find the spider where children pay 50p ( all proceeds to charity) and they have 2 minutes to look around the van and find the spider. while they are looking i'm chatting to the parents about .......guess what :D :D
but the designer could never get it right, so in the end I just said "make it stand out and memorable"
(click my website below to see my van)
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I changed to a simple, bolder looking version... I've had some very good feedback from customers and a few calls saying "I seen your van and I need my carpets cleaned..." :)
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Keep it simple :)
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mike: how much did oyu pay for the graphics? hell of a gamble to go with that so glad it's paid off. do you ever think about changing it to something related to carpet cleaning but just as eye catching?
also who did the logo on your site? just realised it's exactly the same as the windows security logo though in slightly different colours.
you can see it on this site...
http://mintywhite.com/vista/automatically-download-latest-security-software-ssdownloader/
you could be aware of this so no problem but just thought perhaps if you've unknowingly used a lazy designer who's stole an already made logo (which happens all the time) and just changed 2 of the colours and if found out you could end up with a big bill having to change everything.
colin: how do you find the space in that van? i asked on here before and was told off for wanting something a little larger then that so shocked a combo can fit it all in so well.
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Colin
Is that your back-up vehicle to the right of your van in the first pic?? If so it needs some signs on it ;D
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Cheers for the replies, interesting to see/hear other peoples ideas. food for thought indeed ;D
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Il try and post some of mine tmor mate,i was the same when i got my new van and its hard to decinde even when you have a blank piece of paper in front of you to do ideas ;D
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Adam it cost a grand, i was lucky my next door neighbour did it ( he owns a big graphics company) as a favour. if he has put it through the books it would have cost more.
it wasn't really a gamble, signwriting on vans under normal circumstances never really contributes to a companies marketing, you might get a couple of jobs a year but not a lot more. what was the worse that could happen?
this is the nice thing about being busy all the time I can play around and take gambles
god know where that logo came from.... crap isn't it ::) ::) like you say a lazy webdesigner.
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a grand is very good value for a full wrap like that!! I've been looking into wrapping a new van and a half wrap will cost around £800, not including the other side i want doing :o
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I've just read this article on the cleanfax site, he makes a point which is the very reason I have a van like i do, I've highlighted the point.
Most marketing gurus make building a brand sound like it’s rocket science. It isn’t.
Do you want to know the secret to building an irresistible brand?
A guy worth $4 billion revealed his secret.
It’s so simple… and totally brilliant. Here’s what he said;
“You must have the finest quality products or services. If you do that, then you’re in the re-order business; NOT the selling business.”
His name is John Paul DeJoria. He owns Paul Mitchell salon products as well as the high-end Petron Tequila brand. (He’s the dude with the famous ponytail.)
He knows what he’s talking about. Branding is the process of distinguishing yourself or your products. It’s the sum of who you are; what you do; how you are different and better than the competition.
DeJoria was recently featured on the TV show, “How’d You Get So Rich?”
He told an incredible story.
After high school he enlisted in the Navy. Then he sold encyclopedias from door-to-door for three years. Time goes on. By 1980, he was homeless and living in his car. Then he and his partner started the company with a tad over $700.
Now his products are sold in over 100,000 salons in 85 countries.
Yeah, yeah, yeah… you’re not the Paul Mitchell company… and neither am I. Really, how many companies are?
The two big lessons about successful branding
1. Excellence is mandatory in today’s New Economy. Consumers are demanding nothing less.
2. You must stay in front of (or at ‘top of conscientiousness’) with consumers. That means YOU want to be the first company that comes to mind when your services or products are discussed.
I can say within my target area if carpet & upholstery are mentioned (or thought about) my van and name will be remembered. I am never just another faceless company.... I'm a common sight around my town.
most people trust and are comfortable with what is familiar to them
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The Kings New van signage
I've just changed the van to accommodate the new machine, had two new danish signwriters who promise me the finest van wrap from a vinyl invisible to anyone who has really dirty carpets and no money or "just a pains in the arse"
I think its brilliant ,what do you think ?
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Paul, I would have made the phone number bigger, but I like the logo. Shame about the dent in the back ;D
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Was it the "A-Team" that have done it for you? You've parked right in front of their secret shed ;)
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i spent over 7 k getting two van wrapped and its payed for it self three times over in two years ;D
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never found inside van graphic that good a return ;) outside ones seem to work well enough
Seriously just put your name phone number and what you do thats about all you can hope people see clearly
If something stands out like a bulldogs wotsits, i.e. it's very different to what you normally see, I'm sure your eye is drawn to it and only THEN do you read what it says.
This is why Mike's van is a good idea although I think you could achieve the same thing and have something also relevant to carpet cleaning. But it probably doesn't matter because if they are considering carpet cleaning you have them anyway.
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i spent over 7 k getting two van wrapped and its payed for it self three times over in two years ;D
Long time not heard from you. Good to see you back.
Your van wrap looked really good, but if I remember right you were struggling t make it all pay!
Have things turned around so it has become good for you?
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Guys
just remember that you will be advertising to thief's as well. depend where you live. if i ever get mine done again i would also fit a tracker in the van.
Respect
Ian
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i spent over 7 k getting two van wrapped and its payed for it self three times over in two years ;D
Long time not heard from you. Good to see you back.
Your van wrap looked really good, but if I remember right you were struggling t make it all pay!
Have things turned around so it has become good for you?
yes and no flat out then dead cant work it out been dead for two months now yet have two massive jobs booked in for jan ??? but the detailing is booming guess we have to many flashly cars around here