[wynne jones]

So the marketing folk who design billboards, television adverts, radio ads, magazine ads, leaflets etc at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds are all wrong

I think they are in the main.

An advertising agency bills clients not on results but on air time and advertising space. Most advertising like this has no mechanism to attribute their advertising to sales.

However if you want a flashy van you will be proud of and take pride in keeping it looking good, then that's reason enough.
 

[peter maybury]

Marketing and peoples buying descisions are quite complex.
Yes you do want certain things prominent. When I was in the sign business I did not know it all so we paid for the expertise that we did not have, spent a lot of money employing graduate graphic desighers etc.  I have seen first hand what an effect a professional image given to somebody who only has the abilities in their own field.
Obviously you will always get people who think that they cannot afford to look professional but to my mind I do not thing you can afford not to. The cost of sign writying a van is just a small percentage of what many bussinesses will spen on marketing but If done properely it will probably give you the best returns £ for £.
People on here go on about cowboys and price shoppers etc and then consider themselve masters of everything else.
Fine if all you can afford this is better than nothing but it is just a bex bissel in the sign writing industry.
It will take the producers of this to set up and cut just a few messed up letters of vinyl, as it will have to set up the whole of the original job so do not expect it done for nothing.
Peter
www.carpetcleanercardiff.com

[wynne jones]

I'd like to see any research that shows fancy designs and logos out pull something like this response wise. Just because something does not look good is not an indication of effectiveness.

(This van and TM is up for sale BTW)

[The Carpet Cleaning Pro]

I use these... http://www.thesignbuilder.co.uk/ It's great. You can simply design the van yourself and they check it for you and even design it for you if you want. It lets you save your designs for future reference. When you are happy with the desigh it is checked and ammended accordingly then before you order a proof is sent to your email address for you to double check. it takes about 2 days for the signs to arrive and comes with full simple instructions how to put them on. I stuck them on a renault master van in under 2 hours. Not a single bubble, and with the simple use of a tape measure and some masking tape easy to line everything up.

[AshWhite]

I'd like to see any research that shows fancy designs and logos out pull something like this response wise. Just because something does not look good is not an indication of effectiveness.

(This van and TM is up for sale BTW)

Two points:
i)The signwriting on this van is nothing like the package available on eBay
ii)I'm pretty sure this van has been up for sale for a LONG time. Doesn't really reinforce your POV.

I think we're maybe getting our wires crossed - I'm not saying sign writing has to be garish, or in your face, but plain single colour plain text can not be as effective as something more colourful - just look at Mike Hallidays van as a great example, you can't tell me you wouldn't look twice at that van (whether or not you were looking for a carpet cleaner), and it would certainly stick in your mind for when you WERE looking for a carpet cleaner.

[wynne jones]

I agree Ash on a number of points. If you don't get attention in the first place then whatever you are trying to say is a waste of time.

If someone does a poor job of putting up lettering then yes it probably will reflect badly on them and could put people off

On the other hand I see lots of vans that people can feel very proud of but then totally miss the point which is to get the phone to ring or ask for a quote.

The van in question looks awful, that's my point, and probably detracts to some degree in it's attractiveness to a new owner. But I bet it got lots of work.  

[derek west]

I'd like to see any research that shows fancy designs and logos out pull something like this response wise. Just because something does not look good is not an indication of effectiveness.

(This van and TM is up for sale BTW)

you got the link for the sale wynne?

[wynne jones]

It's on the Alltec site Derek.

[robert meldrum]

The van displayed above has the essential and meaningful message in red along the top.

As such it's achieving it's objective of grabbing ATTENTION most of the additional " script " is a waste of effort as having got the prospects attention all that's required is a contact phone number in LARGE letters.

[wynne jones]

The van displayed above has the essential and meaningful message in red along the top.

As such it's achieving it's objective of grabbing ATTENTION most of the additional " script " is a waste of effort as having got the prospects attention all that's required is a contact phone number in LARGE letters.

 

Cue Garry's long copy lecture. 

[Mike Halliday]

I think the important point with sign written van is it is part of a whole branding/marketing strategy

Some say my van is a Bit OTT but it's picture is on every piece of marketing I use, every body in Beverley knows my van and my name, people trust what they are familiar with, when people receive my leaflet I'm not a nameless face, 90% of the leaflet is a picture of my van.... they see the leaflet and remember constantly seeing the van