Business Marketing

Linden Griffin, president of Griffin Pest Control, Kalamazoo, Mich., has for more than 10 years used a variety of advertising vehicles to promote his business: television, radio, billboards and direct mail. But this spring, he added another "vehicle" to his advertising mix: a metro bus.

When, earlier this year, Griffin saw that his college alma mater, Western Michigan University, had seemingly painted its advertising message on the sides of a giant metro bus in Grand Rapids, he suspected the idea would be perfect for his business. So he too "rented" the sides of a Grand Rapids Area Transportation Authority (GRATA) bus on which to display an advertisement for Griffin Pest Control.

Taking the bus was a good decision: Since employing the giant, portable graphic to promote his business, Griffin has seen a marked increase in calls and business. "The bus has been the only differentiation in the Grand Rapids market between last year and this year," Griffin said. "We feel it has produced a 16% increase in sales dollars."

A MOVING BILLBOARD. The giant bus graphic is not a detailed painting, but in fact a set of giant vinyl decals that will adhere to just about any object. And to Griffin, an experienced advertiser, the idea was fresh, dramatic, and an appropriate "vehicle" for marketing his business. Furthermore the large Grand Rapids market, with its population of 750,000, is an area Griffin had specifically targeted for growth.

"We wanted to increase our presence in the Grand Rapids market and we felt that bus advertising would meet that need," Griffin said. "And we thought the bus was a dominant idea that hadn’t been tried by anyone." Griffin Pest Control, headquartered in Kalamazoo, Mich., currently operates service branches in Grand Rapids, Holland, Grand Haven and Battle Creek, and serves all of southwest Michigan. The company employs about 60 and serves both residential and commercial customers.

To make the most of the bus wrap graphic, Griffin sought the assistance and direction of his advertising agency, Maxwell Advertising, Kalamazoo. Cynthia Wrazien-Hirt, senior vice president and account director for Maxwell agreed the bus wrap graphic was a good idea for Griffin, especially considering the company’s existing advertising strategy.

"We were looking for an addition to our mix and wanted something that would have a presence for a long period of time," Wrazien-Hirt said. "This really filled the bill for several of those requirements." And because the giant bus wrap graphic is somewhat like a "traveling billboard," it must carry a simple yet high-impact message. "It’s larger than life, and a very quick image," Wrazien-Hirt said. "Just as with outdoor advertising, you don’t have a lot of time to get your message across."

In keeping with this philosophy, Griffin and his agency came up with a very quick-hitting image that also conveys an important message in split seconds: A giant carpenter ant on a white background on one side, and a giant cockroach on the other. Nothing else appears on the graphic, except of course Griffin’s corporate logo, along with the simple words, "Get ’em."

Coming up with the simple yet effective idea, Griffin says, simply involved a little brainstorming. "We had preliminary drawings of a lot of different insects," Griffin recalled, "All we ended up with was the large insects and the company’s name and logo."

JUST IN TIME FOR PESTS. The graphic-wrapped bus made its debut on May 1, in order to coincide with the busy season for which Griffin prepares in late spring. And the pests selected, the roach and ant, Griffin says, are quickly recognizable and synonymous to most customers with pests in general.

"Roaches, ants and termites are probably our Number One pests," Griffin pointed out, "and I’m not so sure the public can differentiate the insects. I think with the bus graphic, what they see is a big bug and Griffin Pest Control. And that’s the kind of name recognition you want to achieve."

For the greatest exposure among Grand Rapids residents, GRATA switches the bus among the various Grand Rapids routes. And to tip-off consumers and help promote Griffin’s bus advertisement ahead of time, about 10 "teaser" billboards were used around the Grand Rapids area to help raise awareness of the impending bus "invasion." "The message here was to get people watching for the bus," explained Wrazien-Hirt. The Griffin Pest Control name was not mentioned on the billboards, in an effort to add suspense, Wrazien-Hirt said, while still alluding to an "invasion" of sorts.

Since its debut, response to the bus from residents around Grand Rapids has been strong, especially considering the fact that the message is posted on a single bus, said Jeff Spencer, branch manager for Griffin’s Grand Rapids office.

"Bus advertising is definitely an eye-catcher, it’s memorable, and it’s unique," said Spencer. "We’ve got many billboards around town and no one ever comments to me on our billboards. We have one bus and I hear comments all the time." The comments, Spencer said, come not only from people out on the street, but also from members of professional groups with whom Spencer is associated.

Furthermore, the bus graphic has increased the company’s market exposure to the urban population that more typically utilizes public transportation. "We’re doing a lot of business in the inner city area," Spencer said, "and that has increased due to the bus and due to the increased sales efforts in the inner city." Residents have even nicknamed the bus, Spencer said. It’s sometimes referred to as "the roach coach," or "the bug bus."

PRODUCTION. The bus graphic was produced by SuperGraphics, Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., one of the few companies worldwide involved in producing vinyl decals for advertising purposes. The ad itself was designed by Maxwell Advertising, using a special template on computer disk provided by SuperGraphics. Using this disk, along with its specialized production equipment, SuperGraphics turned the computer graphic into a larger-than-life bumper sticker.

"It’s basically like a turbo-drive color copier," said Lance Lougee, national bus graphic account manager for SuperGraphics, of the production equipment used. Lougee describes the decal as "digitally prepared contact paper," which isn’t far from the truth. The graphic design itself is composed of several rolls of vinyl, which are unrolled and applied to the sides of the bus with an adhesive backing. The vinyl is transparent on one side so riders can easily see out of the windows, and it’s easily removable with heat.

In a typical application, Lougee said, both sides of the bus, as well as the front and back, are covered with the wrap, including windows and doors. In major metropolitan areas, such as New York or Los Angeles, a graphic is also applied to the roof of the bus. The application process, which takes about two days, is a detailed production carried out by one of several teams located throughout the country.

For ease of application and removal, most of the sheets are created in 4-foot-by-6-foot sizes. The vinyl wrap is then applied by one of several teams which travel to each site. Lougee refers to these professionals as "the modern equivalent of wood craftsmen."

"There are less qualified SuperGraphics installers than there are astronauts," Lougee says. Even so, the use of the vinyl wrap for advertising purposes is growing in popularity. SuperGraphics has created wraps for more than 2,000 buses in its four-year history. Among its other satisfied customers: Orkin Pest Control, Southwest Airlines, Honda, and a number of movie promoters.

According to Lougee, the vinyl wrap can be applied to just about anything that sits still. For example, for the 1997 Goodwill Games in New York, SuperGraphics wrapped the entire 8th and 9th Floors of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. Other miscellaneous items that have borne wraps include zambonis, vans, trolleys, shuttles and cars.

A GOOD INVESTMENT. While the vinyl wrap may be more convenient and cost-effective than painting an entire metro bus, utilizing a giant bus wrap decal is by no means cheap. The largest part of the expense arises from the design, production and initial application of the graphic, which, at around $12,000 is about two to three times the cost of creating the average billboard. And as with billboards, there is also a monthly fee for renting the GRATA space. In Griffin’s case, it’s about $1,500. Over and above its regular usage, the bus can also be rented for about $70 an hour to be used for local parades or festivals.

Griffin admits the initial investment of a bus wrap graphic is high, but points out the expense is balanced by the longevity of the advertising message: The decal lasts for two years or longer, and Griffin plans to keep the wrapped bus in operation for at least 18 months. What’s more, the results so far have been excellent.

"It’s given us tremendous recognition in that market," said Griffin. "It has met our expectations in terms of increasing our presence." Furthermore, Griffin has received many phone calls in response to the bus wrap advertising, including one from a competitor who was especially impressed.

Where advertising is concerned, Griffin believes the professional touch is a necessity, and has retained the services of an advertising agency for more than 20 years. "Just as we hope the public utilizes our professional services, we feel we should utilize an ad agency for professional services," he said. Griffin also notes that while specific advertising response may be difficult to measure, its overall effectiveness can’t be disputed. "We can only look at our rates of internal growth in volume and profitability to assess advertising’s effects," said Griffin. "We think it works and that pest control companies should promote themselves regardless of their size, in whatever way they can."

And if, for instance, that includes using the local regional transport service to convey a message, then so be it. For Griffin, taking the bus has been an adventure in success.

The author is associate editor of PCT.