Wrap advertising is the marketing practice of completely or partially covering (wrapping) a vehicle in an advertisement or livery

Livery

A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...

, thus turning it into a mobile billboard

Billboard (advertising)

A billboard is a large outdoor advertising structure , typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers...

. This can be achieved by simply painting

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 the vehicle surface, but it is becoming more common today to use large vinyl

Vinyl

A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...

 sheets as decal

Decal

A decal or transfer is a plastic, cloth, paper or ceramic substrate that has printed on it a pattern or image that can be moved to another surface upon contact, usually with the aid of heat or water. The word is short for decalcomania...

s. These can be removed with relative ease, making it much less expensive to change from one advertisement to another. Vehicles with large, flat surfaces, such as bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es and light-rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

 carriages, are fairly easy to work with, though smaller car

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s with curved surfaces can also be wrapped in this manner. features photo examples of vehicle wraps.

Attributes

Recent advancements in vinyl development have led to new types of vinyls specifically for doing wraps, such as vinyls that feature air channels to prevent bubbles, and microscopic glass beads that prevent the adhesive from taking hold until squeegeed down. This feature allows the material to be lifted and reapplied as needed during the wrapping process, without compromising the longevity of the wrap. Vinyl is heated with a heat gun or torch to mold around objects.
Decals can be made to cover side and rear window

Window

A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...

s on a vehicle, though for obvious safety reasons, the front windows used by the driver are not covered. The decals on side windows are typically perforated

Perforation

A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes are called a perforation...

 so that it is still possible for passengers to look outside. A wrap must often be divided into a number of smaller pieces to appropriately cover any movable panels on the vehicle, such as the fuel

Fuel

Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...

 tank cover, trunk (boot)

Trunk (automobile)

The trunk or boot of an automobile or car is the vehicle's main storage, luggage, or cargo compartment. Trunk is used in North American English and Jamaican English; boot is used elsewhere in the English speaking world. Trunk is also primarily used in many non-English speaking regions, such as...

 openings, and other door

Door

A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside of a space....

s.

Wrapping is also sometimes used instead of paint as a less-permanent way of applying its operator’s standard livery than paint. This has become particularly common in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 where, since the privatisation of British Rail

Privatisation of British Rail

The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...

, it has become quite frequent for trains to be transferred from one company to another and thus require many changes of livery. Wrapping is also used for vehicle customizing and mobile advertising. Race cars opt for vehicle wraps in that it is lighter than paint.

Effectiveness

Industry analysts, researchers and trade representatives have researched the effectiveness of mobile billboards. Outdoor Advertising Magazine said that outdoor mobile media billboards have a 97% recall rate, and 99% of survey respondents thought mobile advertising is more effective than traditional outdoor advertising. 3M

3M

3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....

 and the American Trucking Associations

American Trucking Associations

The American Trucking Associations , founded in 1933, is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of other trucking groups, industry-related conferences, and its 50 affiliated state trucking associations, ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering...

 noted 91% of the target noticed the text and graphics on truck advertising, and the Traffic Audit Bureau noted that on local routes monthly impressions ranged from one to four millions hits. Product Acceptance and Research said 94% of respondents recalled seeing the Mobile Billboard, with 80% recalling the specific advertisement; the billboards resulted in a sales increase of 107%.

Issues

Visibility is reduced. However, perforated vinyl film comes in various sizes in the perforations. Larger perforations increase visibility.” A 70/30 pattern allows for 20% more picture. Visibility is a concern for vehicle wraps. Vehicle windshields and side windows should never be covered. State and county laws have particular regulations about this.

The vinyl may wrinkle or separate from the glass on curved windows because the polyester laminates are designed for flat windows.

Washing windows with solvent glass cleaner (e.g. with Windex) prior to application is not recommended. Windex or other similar window cleaning agents contain silicone and leave behind a residue similar to wax and vinyl adhesives will not stick to wax. Solvent can affect the adhesive on perforated vinyl film causing it to not adhere properly to the glass. This can cause distortion in the image.

If using window cleaners with silicone, it is highly recommended to use 99 percent isopropyl alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol is a common name for a chemical compound with the molecular formula C3H8O. It is a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor...

 to remove these residues.

The efficiency of wrapping smaller, angular cars such as Boxsters has not been proven.

Legality

Some municipalities have strict laws against mobile advertisements. New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

is a notable example, in which any sort of motorized advertisement is outlawed. Mobile billboards have been accused of congesting already congested streets, since they seek areas with high populations. In areas such as these, non-motorized but mobile advertisements (i.e. adbikes) can often be used as a substitute.

Industry

There are a variety of businesses, large and small, that provide vehicle wraps. Some are pure play vehicle wrap companies while others are more general sign and graphics providers.

Getting paid to drive

There are even a number of business in some countries that claim to pay everyday drivers to put a vehicle wrap advertisement on their car and to drive a certain distance each month.