Installation by Front Range Vital Signs Inc

More often then not, when you’re out looking for a vehicle wrap, you are looking for a company to both print and install the wrap.   In addition, you very well may be looking for that same company to assist you with the design.  This works out nice for the buyer because they only have to deal with one company.  Some franchise companies, however, will have a contract with a single source to print all of their vehicle wraps.  This isn’t a bad thing as it ensures that the colors will always match.  Often, they will send those wraps to where the vehicle is going to reside so that a local company can perform the installation.  There are issues and benefits to be aware of when getting your vehicle graphics installed this way.  First off, let’s take a look at the potential issues:

• The biggest issue you may have will occur several months or even a year or more down the road.  If the wrap starts to fail, who is responsible for supporting you?  Will the installation company point the finger at the printing company and vice versa?  If you are not familiar and comfortable with your local installer, make sure you get a signed contract before the  installation starts.  This contract should state who is responsible for what.
• What happens if there is a problem during the installation?  Most companies that perform vehicle wrap installations are very professional and do excellent work.  Even if you work with the most qualified wrap company around, issue can occur.  If the vinyl gets damaged, how will it be replaced?  The installation company certainly can’t reprint the part that was damaged.  Talk with the printing company to see what their policy is up front.  Will they replace any damaged vinyl free, or will there be additional costs involved?

On the other hand, there are benefits to this scenario as well:

• Dealing with a local company gives the buyer any easy method of getting support….assuming the install company and the print company don’t sit and point fingers at each other.  It is much easier to drive across town to get an issue fixed then to go half way across the country and often, a local company will go further out of its’ way to make sure you are happy.
• When you have an issue, you can talk to someone face to face as opposed to a faceless person over the phone.  Often, this by itself motivates the installation company to give excellent support.

Here at  Front Range Vital Signs, we welcome the opportunity to perform these types of installations.  This not only keeps us busy, but it introduces us to potential new repeat clients.

Remember to ask questions before signing up with any wrap company.  Make sure both the buyer and the installer are on the same page for providing support on that vehicle wrap should anything go wrong.

Many businesses have seen the value of social media in their marketing campaigns.  Although there are many social media hubs, today I want to discuss Facebook.  In particular, what is the best way to setup your company on Facebook.  There are really only two choices…setup the company as a user or as a page.

Setting up your company as a user gives you separate ID and password to get into Facebook.  A user account allows you to better control who has access to the content you are posting since you would have to accept or initiate any friend requests.  This may be important for some businesses out there, but for most, it can be rather tedious and time consuming.  Generally, a business wants as many people as possible following it.  Making it easy for someone to do that helps you to increase your following quickly.  This is where a group comes in.  Generally a group is setup in such a way that it is open to the public.  Anyone can go to that page and click on the “Like” button to follow the business.  In addition, a “Like” button can be added to your website so that visitors to your web site can just click the button to begin following you on Facebook.   Here is a link to be able to create a Like button for your page.

Here are benefits of using a page instead of a user account for your business:

• Ability to setup multiple administrators so that more then one person can post as the company.
• Normal setup would allow for users to set themselves up to follow your company by clicking on the Like button on your page.
• Like button can be added to your website to allow users to easily follow your page.
• Still have the ability to control who can follow your company if you prefer higher security.
• Can enable age restrictions so that only people over a certain age can view your content.
• Can setup your blog to be included on your page.
• If you sell your company, you can easily transfer the page to the new owner.

As you can see, there are many benefits to setting up your company on Facebook as a page instead of a user.  With the security settings that are available to you on pages, I don’t see any benefit to having your business setup as a user over a page.   What are your thoughts?

The first  picture is of our company truck before we did any advertising on it.  Yes it’s a great looking truck (had to get that in), but it certainly won’t attract any new customers to our door.

Now compare the original truck to the “new and improved” version after we wrapped it.  Now which do you think stays in your customer’s mind longer?  There is no doubt about what our business name is, what types of products we produce, and how to get in touch with us.

When deciding on a wrap, keep in mind these simple items:

1. What is the name of your business?
2. What services do you provide?
3. What is your contact information?
4. Do you provide services when it is dark out?

The first three items provide the bulk of the information that will be on your wrap.  The fourth will help determine if you might want to include a high reflective vinyl in the mix.  Now each of these items can be further broken down as well.  Will you just provide a text name for your business, or will it be a logo?  Do you put your phone number and email address on the side, or do you put a QR code (or both)?

It’s important to remember that the main reason for getting a vehicle wrap (or graphics) is to attract more looks from possible customers.

A wrap is a tool for you to advertise.  As such, it should be a part of your advertising budget.  Generally, a wrap will last 4-5 years.  If you paid $2000 for a vehicle wrap and it lasts 4 years, it is costing you just under $42/month.  What other method of advertising  gets your business name in front of as many possible customers for that price?  Currently spending less then that?  You must have one heck of a referral network, or you aren’t getting any new clients.

The frequently used cliche of “you get what you pay for” often is true in these cases.

Front Range Vital Signs Truck

My suggestion, decide up front how much you’re willing to pay for your graphics.  Work with your trusted usual sign company.  Tell them what your budget is, and see what they can do with that.  If you feel you’re not getting enough for your money, tell them.  Maybe there are very good reasons why the price you have given them only buys what they have suggested.  Then again, since you are a loyal customer of theirs, maybe they will be more willing to work with you to get to a solution that you and they are happy with.  I would much rather provide enhanced value to a repeat customer that I know will continue to come back to me then a one time deal that is just out looking for the best price.  If you have a design in mind, have the graphics ready (in the format required).  Believe it or not, designing a vehicle wrap/graphic is time consuming.  Most wrap companies will charge you for the time they put into that design.  Outside of price, find out:

• What type of materials they plan on using?
  Materials come with different life ratings.  Most wrap material has at least a 5 year warranty.  Typically, this is the time frame in which it can be removed from the surface it was placed on.
• What type of warranty they give with their work?
  We give a one year warranty on our work.  If something goes wrong during that time, we’ll fix it.  Realize, no one can warranty their work when their customer “abuses” their graphics (I had one customer that took a scraper to his back window that we had covered with a graphic). 
• Do they remove hardware from your vehicle, or just manuever around obstacles? Does it matter to you?
  To get the best look on your wrap/graphic, it may be necessary to remove door handles, mirrors, etc…  This is not always required.  Just having the logo and contact information viewable is often fine for work vehicles.  You need to know if this is important for your specific application.
• If you have an issue, will they be there to get it fixed quickly?
  Having a customer driving around with a defective wrap can bring a lot of negative attention to the install company.  If one of our customers has an issue, we try to get them in immediately to get it resolved. 

If you don’t get satisfactory answers to these questions, maybe you are dealing with the wrong sign company.  This might be a good opportunity to upgrade your sign company to one that meets your needs.

Any experience you want to share?  Please post a reply.

In many ways however, you will need to do more maintenance when using a magnet.  Here is a list of things you’ll want to take into account when using a vehicle magnet to ensure you get the most life out of it, and to make sure you reduce the risk of any possible damage to your vehicle.

• Ensure the vehicle’s surface is fully cured:

1. New paint – 90 days
2. Clear coat – 60 days
3. Wax – 2 days

• Thoroughly clean the surface where the magnet will go.
• Thoroughly clean the magnet to make sure dirt does not scratch your vehicle.
• Apply the magnet when it is at room temperature (about 68 degrees).
• Ensure the magnet is flat against the vehicle.  There can not be any air pockets.
• Remove magnet daily to clean the vehicle and magnet.
• It is best not to install on horizontal vehicle surfaces that are exposed directly to the sun (such as automobile hoods).
• Magnets should not be put on when the temperature they will be exposed to is above 160 degrees, or below -15 degrees.
• When storing your magnet, it is best to keep flat, or to roll with the graphic towards the outside.

If you follow these recommendations, you should have a vehicle magnet that lasts a long time.  Remember, having a magnet on your vehicle for long periods of time can result in “ghosting” where there will be a slight fade in the color between what is under the magnet, and the rest of the vehicle.

It took about 4 hours to get the hood completely done.  This included the following prep work:

• cleaning the hood
• degreasing the hood
• wiping the hood down with alcohol
• putting tape primer where it was needed

The material itself goes down fairly well and it conforms easily with a little heat.  You want to take your time putting this down so as not to stretch the pattern out of shape.

Here is a video of our hood install: YouTube video

Overall, we love the look, we’re just disappointed with the durability.  Here is a picture of the hood, what are your thoughts?

Carbon Fiber hood

Hard to see, but notice the Chevy emblem has also been wrapped in carbon fiber.

We tackle one of the sides next.  Stayed tuned!

Let’s start with why we are wrapping this vehicle.  For those workers out there that utilize their vehicle in the course of performing their daily workload, your vehicle is your best, most cost effective form of advertising your company.  Think about it, you drive to your clients and everyone on the road see’s, you park outside your clients residence or office and everyone driving by sees it.  You are getting the name of your company out everywhere you go.  If you were to pay $2000 to get your vehicle wrapped, and that wrap lasted 5 years, you are getting an incredible amount of advertising for only $400 a  year (sending out one mailing could cost almost that much!).

Our first order of business was to get come up with a design (we went through several) and get it laid out on our template.  We just happen to have a template for this vehicle, otherwise we could have created one by taking pictures of all sides, and getting the measurements.  Since we want this to be an advertisement not only for the company, but also to show our quality of work, we decided to use materials that show off our capabilities.

We have now ordered (or have onsite) all of the supplies for our wrap.  These include:

• Avery1005 Supercast wrap vinyl
• Avery 1360 gloss laminate
• Oracal Oralite 5600 reflective vinyl
• 3M Carbon Fiber vinyl

So why did we choose these particular materials?  We chose the Avery 1005 Supercast vinyl because it is very easy to work with.  It conforms to compound curves, and generally just makes the installation easier.  The 10 year durability of the vinyl also played into our decision.  The 1360 laminate was a no brainer since it is the recommended laminate for the Supercast vinyl.  We chose the Oralite 5600 because of it’s reflective nature, it’s durability and the ability to print on it.  Many people do not think about the advertising potential of reflective vinyl.  If you utilize your vehicle at night, this adds a great way ensuring your message is seen.  It also is   Now the 3M carbon fiber is a different story.  Honestly, we just thought it looked cool.  Part of the reason of wrapping a vehicle is to get people to look at it.  We believe the carbon fiber will enhance our design enough to get those extra looks.

Besides just advertising, vehicle wraps are done on normal vehicles just to customize them.  You don’t need to have a printed message to enhance your ride.  The carbon fiber we are using would be a great addition for a person that is looking to give their vehicle a new, classy look.

Tune in next time as we print off our graphics, and carbon fiber our hood.

Here is a picture of our starting vehicle.

QR Code

Never heard of a QR code before? You better listen up or you’ll be left behind. QR codes (short for Quick Response) were developed in Japan in 1994. These are now becoming more and more popular in the US. Basically, a QR code is a type of barcode. You can embed just about any type of information in them. These can contain over 4000 alpha-numberic characters although most readers will not be able to read that much. Most people will be scanning these with their smart phones. There are many free applications out there for reading QR codes.

So what the heck do I do with this?

I’m glad you asked. Here at Front Range Vital Signs, we suggest to all of our customers that these codes be added to any vehicle wraps or vehicle graphics that we install. Think about it…you spend all that money on a wrap, why not make it easy for your customers to collect your information. You can make it as easy as having your web site embedded in the code, or go a little further and embed your full business card (name, company, address, web address, phone number). Some scanners let you take the information you scanned and have it automatically added to your address book. Can it get any easier?

How else can I use these?

Here are a few more suggestions:
-Put a code on your business card. Your clients can scan it into their phone instead of having to manually enter the info.
-Realtors: put it on your real estate signs. Make it a link to a web site where the prospective buyer can get more information on the house. This will also save money on not having to put out fliers.
-Car dealers: much like the realtors, put a code on your cars that takes the user to a web page that has more information about the vehicle they are looking at.
-There is an advertisement at Denver International Airport that has a code embedded that allows you to download a free phone game.

Basically, anywhere you want to share information with people is a good place to have one of these codes. Get on board the QR train now before you’re left long behind. Have other suggestions for using these codes, reply to this post with them.

• Vehicle Wraps
• Banners
• Window Graphics
• Real Estate signs
• Industry Trends
• Descriptions of projects we are especially proud of
• Recommendations on what to look for, or ask for when looking for a sign

Our hope is that you will be both informed, and with any luck, entertained.  We encourage your opinion even when it differs from ours.  Active discussion is the best way to keep people informed of the pro’s and con’s.  Any profanity, however, will result in your post being removed.

Thanks for listening.  We look forward to a long and informative relationship.  For additional information, check out our web site at: Front Range Vital Signs