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By Tony Natale, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.
Feb. 4--A relatively new industry is wrapping up profits in the Valley, the nation and throughout the world.
Vehicle wrapping -- the decorating of the outside of vehicles with visual advertisements and/or artistic images -- made its debut in the mid'90s in the United States, primarily with the wrapping of large public buses.
It has since expanded to include smaller vehicles such as vans, SUVs and autos and today is 20 percent of the $1 billion spent annually for outdoor advertising, according to SignWeb, the Internet's information service for the nation's sign advertising industry.
There are a half dozen companies in the Valley that offer vehicle wraps, including Signs By Tomorrow, 16411 N. 90th Street, Scottsdale.
The owners, Tricia and Andy Beran, work with their customers to first develop a design that will cover the vehicle, then they imprint the design on thin, malleable vinyl.
The vinyl is carefully placed on the vehicle in strips, using brushes, squeegees and, in some areas, molded by hand.
"We first became aware of wrapping and the use of large graphics on city buses," said Tricia Beran, who with her husband started their sign company several months ago after both worked for years in technology in the corporate world.
"It fascinated us."
The cost of a wrap ranges from $3,000 to $7,000 or higher, depending on the design and size of the vehicle.
The goal is to create a moving advertisement that will be seen by countless other motorists while driving as well as having a portable message that is parked at various locations for maximum visibility.
A study by Arbitron notes that more than 95 percent of Americans travel by car each week and that one car wrap can generate between 30,000 and 70,000 impressions each day.
One of the Berans' latest customers, Dov Safir, owner of Brinks Storage, 6900 E. Thomas Road, Scottsdale. Safir sees another advantage to having his company van wrapped with an advertising message.
"Its my way of going around the wall the cities call outdoor sign ordinances," said Safir, referring to rigid sign requirements.
"I can drive my van and my messages anywhere, but I can't park it in front of my company," Safir said. "That would violate Scottsdale's rigid outdoor sign ordinances because my parked van would be a stationary sign."
Scottsdale as well as all other Valley communities have no advertising sign ordinances covering or restricting wrapped vehicles, other than prohibiting them from being parked at the company site.
Safir said it cost him about $10,000 to install a stationary, back-lighted sign at his storage company, but his moveable wrapped van will only be between $2,000 and $5,000.
Yet, it will be seen by many more prospective customers, he said.
Jeff Tamulevich, an official with Tempe's Development Service Department, said portable advertising is not an issue -- yet.
"There's been no complaints raised," Tamulevich said. "At least, not so far."
Robbie Valenzuela, owner of Right On Custom Installing, 1522 E. Victory Street, Phoenix, was among the first in the Valley to wrap vehicles.
He started 10 years ago and has since expanded his business to include making wraps for vehicles for nearly all the Valley's television stations, dozens of radio stations and, more recently, an increasing number of race cars as well as vehicles for Arizona State University.
"It's called guerilla marketing," Valenzuela said. "The ads are in your face. You can't avoid them while you're driving. The vehicle wrap industry is exploding. We can barely keep up with the requests."
He said a wrap can last as long as two years. Once removed, another wrap can be put on the vehicle. Some companies have their entire fleets wrapped.
Most wrappers begin by thoroughly cleaning the vehicle's surface using cleaning fluids, including alcohol.
"Vehicle wraps are now used in place of expensive custom paint jobs," according to a report by SignIndustry.com, an Internet site for sign industry.
"The vinyl can be removed when the advertising campaign is over or you are ready to turn in your leased vehicle."
SignIndustry.com noted that the evolution of digital printing forced the price of creating wraps down so that smaller trucks and autos are now being wrapped.
"This form of mobile outdoor advertising seems to be popping up in every major city in the United States and abroad," according to SignIndustry.com.
In London, for example, many traditional black taxi cabs have been replaced by colorful taxis covered with newspaper stories promoting the Associated Newspapers as well as other commercials, according to SignIndustry.com.
Londoners can read a newspaper both inside and on the outside of a taxi.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.
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