By Barnaby Smith managing director of Mediafleet

Vehicle branding is becoming ever-more important in the business battle, which is why a creative brand agency-style approach to livery design is increasingly being adopted by fleets.

Poor vehicle branding is a real cost to business and could be draining profit from organisations. A strong brand should conjure up positive impressions in the mind of viewers, conversely poor branding has the opposite effect.

Vehicle advertising is proven to be the most cost-effective for a business in attracting customers.

A clearly liveried fleet of company vehicles raises an organisation’s identity, boosts their marketplace profile and is calculated to generate a significant number of inquiries.

Research suggests more than 3,000 people per hour see a liveried vehicle operating in a busy area.

So what does good branding look like? The tangible element of the brand is the logo and other consumer-facing articles such as packaging, stationery and messaging style, which must all support the message the business is trying to deliver.

Subliminal messaging also plays an important part within the brand logo. This is when a subconscious impression is made of a brand and, hence, the company.

One example is the Amazon logo with the orange arrow connecting the ‘A’ and the ‘Z’. It says the obvious – that Amazon will supply and deliver everything from ‘A’ to ‘Z’; but the orange arrow is also shaped like a smile.

That subconsciously informs people that they will enjoy the Amazon experience.

Consequently, branding should generate a ‘warm feeling’ towards a company that will drive sales and revenue. Therefore, the opposite must be true – that non-existent, poor or corrupted branding will impact on business opportunities.

Unfortunately, driving across the UK, I note that company vehicle livery is a ‘hotbed’ of brand corruption.

Vinyl graphics are frequently damaged and require replacement – too often returning a vehicle to the road quickly comes at the expense of specialist livery repair/replacement.

Branding can cost from £100 to £3,000 per vehicle – significant sums. But lost opportunities through brand corruption present a greater threat to success.