Make and Modeling

Summer is fast approaching. And with it comes the high season for mobile marketing.

An endless caravan of customized cars, expanded vans, and big rigs will be gassed up and unleashed onto American highways as the marketing world continues its recent love affair with mobile, event-based “experiential” campaigns.

“This business used to be Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch,” says Mike McLaughlin, vp-sales at St. Charles, MO-based Craftsmen Industries, the big wig among big rig manufacturers. “It amazes me to see who’s going on the road now.”

While marketers working established, road-tested efforts such as Bud World or the Wienermobile have their programs down pat after years of traveling, many others are venturing down a new road. And for the uninitiated, mobile marketing can be an overwhelming prospect, a strategy that has far too many variables to get a handle on easily. Those unprecedented choices begin with the selection of the vehicle that will give the brand message wheels. (Choosing the size of an FSI is just a tad easier, folks.)

Here are a few tire-kicking issues to consider before making the pick.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

The vehicle’s selection should be based on how it will be used — not on how much you have to spend.

For pure show-stopping chutzpah, nothing makes more of a statement than a customized 18-wheeler. A full-size truck contains enough room to allow heavy foot traffic and just about any activity, and promises that your brand won’t get overlooked at a large-scale event.

Take the truck used by Elmsford, NY-based FujiFilm for its Picture of America tour. When this 36-ton trailer pulls into events, then expands to twice its size after set-up, it’s impossible for attendees not to notice. (St. Clair Shores, MI-based Trailer Technologies built the vehicle; Port Chester, NY-based Advance Marketing Services executes for FujiFilm.)

But an 18-wheeler isn’t exactly an ideal ride for navigating through busy cities and won’t even fit on the grounds of some smaller events. (One marketer admits she once told her field staff to dismantle a fence at a state fair to get a truck in and out.) Huge rigs can also prove to be ostentatious at some venues, and thereby work against a brand’s objective of getting cozy with consumers.

Plus, rigs can require anywhere from three to as many as eight hours to set up and break down, which is an eternity for barnstorming brands with guerrilla activity in mind.

And don’t forget the price, which easily can run more than $1 million.

Smaller vehicles, such as customized buses, gooseneck trailers, RVs, or cars are less-expensive and a lot more nimble. They can cruise to multiple events in a single day, and zip around Manhattan or downtown Chicago as easily as gypsy cabs. And they take less time to manufacture, making them a better choice for stunt marketing or programs hitting smaller events.

Oscar Mayer, whose 65-year-old Wienermobile is the grand-daddy of mobile marketing programs, has opted for flexibility over size. That’s because the eight-car Wienermobile fleet blankets 1,200 events of varying sizes each summer. And as far as visibility goes, a giant hot dog on wheels generally attracts a fair amount of attention.

“Sampling in major cities requires a different vehicle than sampling at major events,” advises Bryan Buske, chief operating officer at event agency GMR Marketing, New Berlin, WI. “Figure out where you’re going, and then how to get there.”

Enfield, CT-based Lego USA chose the 18-wheeled option when going on tour in summer 2000 with a branding campaign for its toys — then took a different route last summer for a new Bionicle boys’ toy line. The company ordered six customized Nissan Frontiers (purchasing just one and leasing the other five) to visit 1,600 public venues over three months via Chicago-based Marketing Werks.

“An 18-wheeler wouldn’t have worked for this program. We were targeting skateboard parks and beaches,” says brand manager Colin Gillespie. “Those types of venues require a different type of vehicle.”

Whatever the ultimate choice, customized manufacturing options are available on most makes and models of cars and trucks.

Large tractor-trailers can be outfitted with an “expander” for one or both sides that, when activated, literally pops out a seven-by-20-foot room. (A “double-decker” option adds an entire second floor.) Vans and RVs, meanwhile, can be outfitted with expandable roofs or hydraulic systems.

One last tip: Investigate what other mobile vehicles will attend the events on your itinerary to ensure your choice doesn’t get lost in the parking lot. “You can’t go to a NASCAR race and throw some tiny thing in between two 18-wheelers,” advises Bob Tierman, president of Cameo Marketing, Bridgton, ME. “Find out who your neighbors will be.”

Lots-Down Financing

The vehicles and all related equipment (tractors and trailers are sold separately, for instance) can either be leased or bought outright.

When all is said and done, the cost of a vehicle and its add-ons will range anywhere from $25,000 for a customized car to $500,000 for the big rigs — and that’s just for the equipment (see pg. 31 for a breakdown of costs).

An outright purchase is probably better for brands planning to operate long-term programs (like Hershey Foods with its Kissmobiles) or companies with hefty budgets. Leasing works to reduce costs in general and particularly for short- term programs. “If you’re looking to run a 12-week tour, you’re nuts if you buy,” says Harry Kurtz, president of St. Clair Shores, MI-based Mobility Resource Associates, a vehicle sales and support company.

Leasing also works for brands that simply want to test the mobile waters. Red Lobster, for example, opted to lease its new 63-foot, 27.5-ton “mobile kitchen,” a restaurant-on-wheels the Orlando, FL-based chain is taking to events through the end of the year. (Riverside, MO-based Barrett Displays made the rig; Three Wide, Kansas City, MO, executes.) “This program represents a huge capital investment for us,” says Jill Ramsier, associate marketing manager. “We don’t [yet] know what its life is.”

Incidentally, Red Lobster first entered the mobile arena in 2000 with Clawde, a VW tricked out as, not surprisingly, a giant lobster. Success with that effort was enough to get the chain thinking bigger thoughts — and a way to literally, rather than just figuratively, bring the brand experience outside the restaurant. (Clawde now does the goodwill work of charity and p.r. visits.)

Whether you buy, lease, or both (some purchase the tractor but lease the trailer), strongly consider adding an escape clause to the contract. If the brand is sold, the budget gets chopped, or the new vp-marketing hates the idea, you’ll be grateful to have the ability to walk away from much of the financial commitment for a lump-sum payoff (call it the Mariah Clause).

Once you’ve got an estimate on the vehicle, work out the operational expenses and divide by the number of people you expect to reach to generate your cost-per-exposure. (There are many strategic ways to increase the reach if necessary.)

Looks That Kill

Now that you’ve got your ride, it’s time to work on the design, “which should mirror the brand’s total marketing mix,” says Tim Flavin, director of sales and marketing with Winston-Salem, NC-based trailer manufacturer and tour operator Spevco, which has serviced such clients as the National Basketball Association, Walt Disney Co., and Bank of America. “You want to make sure there’s a consistent story being told wherever that unit goes.”

For the exterior, fiberglass, foam, polyurethane, and bright paint jobs can be blended for eye-catching appeal when the vehicle is both mobile and stationary. The design budget for larger vehicles is usually devoted mostly to the interior, while smaller rides play up the outside. Maynard, MA-based Monster.com, for example, currently rides herd over a fleet of LandRovers (manufactured by Boston-based Turtle Transit) that were converted to resemble its snaggle-toothed mascot. The green SUVs have teeth over the grill, horns on the roofs, and purple neon undercarriages to provide a “hovering” effect at night.

Completely wrapping a car in foam or fiberglass can certainly add sizzle, but also can lead to safety or performance snags, advises Turtle Transit president James Riseborough. Does the fiberglass and foam treatment block air from getting to the radiator? Has the weight increased so dramatically that the car will burn through tires too frequently? Can the directional signals be seen? Does the driver have a clear sight path? It may look like a cucumber, but your vehicle still has to follow the rules of the road.

On the inside, vehicle interiors are starting to look nicer and more sophisticated than most homes. To make the proceedings more than a simple sampling opportunity, they carry kiosks, computers with Internet access, plasma monitors, satellite feeds, and Webcams — whatever it takes to lure in consumers and send them home with a permanent brand impression.

“The days of using these vehicles as eye candy are over,” says Rick Miller, director of creative service for Marketing Werks. “We try to have ‘multiple interactives’ with each vehicle to attract different types of people.”

Those interactives are getting more sophisticated, too: Anheuser-Busch’s Bud World, for instance, plays host to Beer School (Busch Creative Services, St. Louis, handles). Riverwoods, IL-based Discover Card’s Game Day trailer let college students sit in a faux TV studio and call games last fall (Marketing Werks handled). Business software developer SAP, Newtown Square, PA, transports a 23-screen theater to various locations (Spevco handles).

One design point to remember is to make sure that these interactive elements are in the right order. Consider what to use as a greeting when people first enter the vehicle and what to use as the grand finale. The entrance to Fuji’s Picture of America set-up is adorned with a wall of plasma screens depicting the company’s “Shoot, Store, Print, and Share” product portfolio. The end of the tour lets visitors use Fuji cameras and peripherals to take and print pictures, then store them online.

But there’s only so much room available, no matter how big the interior. Pack it too tightly, and you’ll have visitors losing interest throughout the walk-through or turning away when they see a line outside. Keep the layout appropriate to the experience (and remember to make it handicapped-accessible) and consider adding exterior tents if things get too crowded.

Lastly, electronics hardware doesn’t come cheap. So consider offering some of your real estate as a trade-out to vendors. Fuji scored those 24 plasma screens from Philips Electronics — plus computers from Gateway — by giving each interior signage. “It’s called leverage,” jokes Fuji senior marketing manager-digital products Eric Thorng.

That’s a lot to digest in a short time. So the first rule of the road is to start very early to get the planning and strategizing right. The manufacturing alone takes three to six months, which will give you enough time to hire the staff, iron out the schedule, and build the logistics simultaneously — the three topics we’ll cover next month.

Until then, keep on truckin’.

Wheeling & Dealing

The customized 18-wheel tractor-trailer, the Grand Poobah of mobile marketing, has evolved into a veritable traveling Hollywood sound stage. Want one? Here’s ballpark pricing on costs:
THE BASIC a standard trailer: $150,000.
THE DELUXE features an expandable unit on one side that becomes a seven-by-20-foot room: $250,000.
THE SUPREME both sides offer expanding rooms: $350,000.
THE DOUBLE-DECKER boasts the two expandables plus a second level: $500,000.

And keep that wallet open — you’re just getting started. Add another $100,000 for the cab, around $17,000 for an electrical generator, $5,000 to $35,000 for the exterior design, and $75 to $350 per square foot to outfit the interior (which ranges from 408 to 1,400 square feet).

Then plan on spending $3,500 to $6,500 a week for transportation and driver expenses during the campaign, says Harry Kurtz, president of Mobility Resource Associates.