FLEET managers could be earning their companies millions of pounds worth of unseen benefits provided they have their branding clearly displayed on their vehicles. Rather than blowing big budgets on expensive press and TV advertising, companies could be better advised to give their fleets a new lick of paint and some eye-catching liveries.

According to research commissioned by 3M, vans could be at the forefront of future advertising campaigns and the company has come up with a new software package to gauge their effectiveness. 3M Commercial Graphics' lap-top-based MOVIE system - standing for Measurement of Vehicle Image Effectiveness - tells companies exactly who sees vehicle advertising. Fleet operators answer questions about their vehicles, routes, route timings and distances travelled and the program crunches the numbers and gives instant feedback on the numbers of people who will see the advertisements.

The information on which the system is based comes from Ministry of Transport road traffic statistics and national transport surveys and is constantly updated.