When the Sun Goes Down, Your Fleet Shouldn’t Disappear

Extending Fleet Advertising After Dark With Vizilight Reflective Graphics

By Jason Scott | Fleet Intelligencer

Here in the Pacific Northwest, there is a good portion of the year when the workday continues long after the daylight has disappeared.

That is simply part of operating a business in this region.

By late fall and winter, service technicians may still have several calls ahead of them after sunset. Delivery vehicles remain on the road. Security vehicles are operating. Construction and trade vehicles are heading between jobs or returning to their yards. Traffic is still heavy throughout Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, Woodinville, Kitsap County and the rest of the Puget Sound.

The vehicles are still working.

The problem is that much of the advertising on them becomes harder to see.

That is what originally makes reflective fleet graphics such an interesting idea from a marketing standpoint.

Most people are familiar with reflective materials from emergency vehicles, road signage or safety markings. Those applications are obviously important, but reflective material can also be integrated much more creatively into commercial fleet graphics.

That is the idea behind Vizilight.

Rather than thinking of reflective material as something added to a finished wrap, we can think about the daytime and nighttime versions of the graphics at the same time.

A logo might appear relatively conventional during the day and become much more prominent when headlights strike it at night. A dark pattern might reveal itself. A company name might become the strongest visual element on the vehicle after sunset. A website, stripe or icon might suddenly stand out in a way that would not be possible with standard printed graphics alone.

The result can be a vehicle that effectively has two visual personalities.

One during the day.

Another after dark.

Reflective materials work by returning incoming light toward its source. In practical terms, when headlights illuminate the reflective portion of a vehicle graphic, that area can appear dramatically brighter to the approaching driver than conventional material around it.

That difference creates contrast, and contrast is what gets noticed in dark environments.

From an advertising perspective, that can be extremely useful.

3M has cited research indicating that reflective fleet graphics can increase advertising impressions by as much as 40 percent compared with traditional graphics in certain situations. The exact results will obviously vary based on where the vehicle operates, how often it is driven after dark and how the reflective material is incorporated into the design, but the concept itself is fairly easy to understand.

The fleet is already on the road.

The audience is already there.

Reflective graphics simply give the brand another opportunity to remain visible.

That makes particular sense in the Pacific Northwest because our environmental conditions are different from those in many other parts of the country.

Winter daylight is limited. Overcast weather is common. Rain and wet pavement reduce visibility. A significant portion of the evening commute happens after sunset.

That means nighttime performance is something worth considering at the beginning of a fleet graphics project rather than treating it as an afterthought.

I also think it is important to point out that reflective does not have to mean excessive.

There is a tendency to picture reflective graphics as huge fluorescent stripes covering the entire vehicle, but that is only one way to use the material. In many commercial applications, restraint can actually create a more interesting result.

A company logo might be the only reflective element.

A subtle geometric pattern may become visible only under headlights.

The website could illuminate while the rest of the graphics remain relatively subdued.

A rear-door message could become much easier to read in traffic at night.

In some cases, using less reflective material can create more visual impact because the change between the daytime and nighttime appearance becomes more surprising.

That is where design becomes important.

The question should not simply be, “Where can we put reflective vinyl?”

The better question is, “What do we want the vehicle to do after dark?”

What should remain visible?

What should become more prominent?

What should disappear?

What will another driver see first?

Should the nighttime version look almost identical to the daytime design, or should it reveal something new?

Those are creative decisions, and they are much more interesting than simply adding a reflective stripe after the wrap has already been designed.

The rear of the vehicle deserves special attention as well.

Commercial graphics tend to focus heavily on the sides because those large panels are visually impressive, but drivers behind a truck or van may spend much more time looking at the rear doors than they ever spend looking at the side.

That creates an opportunity for reflective logos, websites, patterns or other simple brand elements to remain visible for longer periods in nighttime traffic.

Again, the goal is not necessarily to make the vehicle brighter.

The goal is to make the brand more visible when normal graphics start disappearing into the darkness.

There can also be a secondary visibility benefit.

Reflective materials can make parts of a vehicle more noticeable at night and in other low-light conditions. 3M has specifically discussed increased nighttime conspicuity as one of the potential benefits of reflective fleet graphics.

That needs to be described responsibly.

Decorative or advertising-oriented reflective graphics are not a substitute for legally required lighting, emergency markings, conspicuity treatments or any other safety equipment.

But greater visibility is still something worth considering, especially when a material can support both the branding and the visual presence of the vehicle.

That is why I think Vizilight is particularly interesting.

It sits at the intersection of advertising, design and visibility.

A fleet customer does not have to abandon the daytime look of the brand. The reflective elements can be integrated into the graphics in a way that still feels appropriate for the company.

A plumbing company should still look like a plumbing company.

A security company should still look like a security company.

A restoration fleet, contractor fleet or delivery fleet should still have its own personality.

The idea is not to create a generic “Vizilight look.”

The idea is to make that particular brand more effective in conditions where it would otherwise become harder to see.

That can also support long-term recognition.

A customer may become familiar with the daytime version of a company’s fleet, then encounter the same vehicle after dark and notice the reflective elements. The branding is still consistent, but the experience is different enough to become memorable.

That is another form of repetition.

And repetition is what builds familiarity.

The more I look at fleet graphics as a marketing medium, the more I think businesses should consider advertising hours rather than daylight hours.

If a vehicle operates for ten hours but the graphics become difficult to see during the final several hours of a winter day, there is potentially unused advertising value sitting there.

Reflective graphics provide one way to reclaim some of that visibility.

The company is already paying for the truck.

The driver is already working.

The fuel is already being consumed.

The route is already being driven.

The road audience is already present.

The only question is whether the branding remains visible.

Here in Washington, that is a particularly relevant question.

Our days get shorter.

Our weather gets darker.

Our roads get wetter.

But businesses do not stop operating when the sun goes down.

The fleet should not disappear when it does.

Vizilight by WrapJax
Be seen. Be safe!