Page 24 - Newcom

MARKETPLACE
Messages that matter
Truck and trailer wraps are an effective way to promote a message. Especially when it’s one that’s close to the heart.
that to their graphics provider,” Beghetto said. Participating fleets that first year included James Steed Trucking, Arnold Bros., Tandet Group, and Rosenau Transport. The program has since been taken over by Trucks for Change Network.
Pete Dalmazzi, president of Trucks for Change, said fleets that participated in the program have seen benefits, including higher employee engagement.
“It’s hard to measure a hard return on investment on corporate culture, but it undeniably exists in the form of employee engagement and brand loyalty,” said Dalmazzi. “You can clearly see it on the proud faces of the teams posing with these vehi- cles. Employees today, more than ever, want to work for companies that make the world a better place, and these moving billboards remind them that their employer’s values are consistent with their own.”
This feeling is reinforced by fleets that took part in the campaign.
“Wrapping a truck enabled us to engage our driver base. Our fund- raising initiatives are often within our office while many of our drivers are on the road,” said Brent Arnold, director of corporate development at Arnold Bros. “The wrapped truck gives drivers the opportunity to spread the message across North America. Our drivers are asked, ‘Hey, tell me about Plaid for Dad’ regularly, and it gives great pride
to share how they and our staff are supporting the initiative.”
Arnold said truck and trailer wraps provide an image to engage the public, without the distraction of social media. And it can spread the message far and wide.
“Giving our message wheels allows us to communicate nation- ally and reach an audience
we couldn’t otherwise capture,” Arnold explained.
Tandet Group has a similar expe- rience. It pulled a Plaid for Dad tanker across North America.
“I have had drivers indicate that they have had customers and other drivers in parking lots ask what it is about,” said president Scott Tilley. “They give a brief description that we support the foundation every year in June with fundraising and then say to go to the website.”
Finding drivers to pull a spe- cially designed trailer that’s decked out to promote a meaningful message is never difficult. Just
ask Scott Pustai, owner of Total Transportation Solutions. His fleet is pulling two trailers adorned with graphics supporting the Wounded Warriors campaign, which raises funds to help military veterans and first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress.
“Already, my drivers are fighting over it,” he told Truck West when the trailers were unveiled earlier this year. “I’ve not run into any guy who said, ‘Why are you doing this?’ It’s a no-brainertome.”TW
Truck and trailer graphics have long been used to market products and promote companies. After all, these 53-ft rolling billboards can be seen by thousands of sets of eyes each day as they travel North America. But increasingly truck and trailer wraps have been used to promote more personal and meaningful messages – whether it be related to health, or to promote the industry itself.
Shelley Uvanile-Hesch, CEO of the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada, recently had her new Western Star 5700 decked out with images of real women in the Canadian trucking industry. The idea was to promote careers in the trucking industry to women. A lot of thought went into the design.
“I was pretty adamant that I didn’t want stock photos of women drivers to be used,” she said. “I wanted real women that are out
in the industry right now. And members of my organization fea- tured on the truck.”
Promotional Graphics Group in Ayr, Ont., was chosen to install the graphics. It’s a deci- sion that isn’t taken lightly when the message the graphics are to convey is so personal.
“He is a 25-year veteran designer,” she said of Kael Edworthy at Promotion Graphics. “I love him. He’s a graduate of Conestoga College and a 3M pre- ferred installer. He is the owner and lead designer there.”
The design struck a balance between the Sharp Transport cor- porate fleet identity and “some color flair,” Uvanile-Hesch said. The wrap was printed on 3M clear wrapfilmthatallowedtheoff-
white color of the truck to show through. The wrap was printed using a HP L360 latex printer, which uses water-based inks and doesn’t contain any harmful VOCs or solvents.
“HP latex printing is one of the most eco-friendly printing pro- cesses in the business,” she said.
It took about three weeks for the design. Uvanile-Hesch’s truck
was recognized by the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada
as a winner in the special events/ promotional category of its Fleet Graphics Awards program. More importantly, Uvenile-Hesch is seeing evidence that the message is getting noticed.
“I can tell you in the last three weeks, as I’ve been crossing the border at U.S. Customs, they have seen news articles about my truck. They’ve asked questions about the truck. The truck is drawing a lot of attention,” she said. “I’ll pull into a rest area and people will stop and takepicturesofthetruck.Ihave
people honking and pointing at the truck while I’m driving.”
Three years ago, Marco Beghetto, vice-president of communica- tions with the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA), was involved
in launching the mobile billboard messaging to support the Plaid for Dad campaign to create awareness about prostate cancer.
“When we originally joined Prostate Cancer Canada to do something for the trucking indus- try, we figured let’s take advantage of the fact we are a mobile indus- try that travels all over the country. What better way to get the message of fighting prostate cancer out across the country than using what we know are mobile billboards,” Beghetto said.
Fleets were invited to participate in the campaign by donating use of their equipment and working with their graphics supplier to affix the graphics to their trailers.
“We made the artwork available tothefleetsiftheywantedtotake
24 Truck West • August 2018