Roadvert has launched a calculator to help local authorities judge how much revenue they can achieve by carrying third-party advertisements on their vehicle fleets. 

The online calculator enables councils to predict the audience profile for vehicles operating in a specified geographic area. 

If, for instance, a potential advertiser wanted to reach 30-40 year olds, the council can demonstrate how long an on-vehicle campaign should run in a particular area in order to maximise reach.  

For the first time ever it gives councils a way of measuring the worth of the advertising space on their vehicles – making it a tool that is set to transform the marketplace by enticing more councils to take part. 

Roadvert’s CEO Lawrence Craig, said: “Many councils are sitting on a valuable asset – in terms of the advertising potential of their vehicle fleet – which may not have been fully realised in the past. Our system will help them unlock that value.  

“It’s a very exciting development which Roadvert has worked towards for a long time. This breakthrough enables councils to show potential customers just how cost-effective on-vehicle advertising is when compared to the more traditional direct mail campaigns. 

“A direct mail shot to 342,000 households, for example, will cost more than £31,000 if delivered on its own, but will be read properly by only 23 per cent of the people who receive it. Most leaflets are thrown away within days. 

“For a fraction of that cost advertisers can get their message across on vehicles that are seen by a wide cross-section of the public, however up until now it has been difficult to demonstrate the full potential. 

“I believe our online ‘value your vehicle’ system will be particularly attractive to local authorities who are looking to cut costs and generate revenue in these times of austerity. 

“It will allow them to demonstrate to potential customers just how many people their advertisement will reach – segmented by location nationally, regionally or by local authority in the UK, and by age profile.” 

The online calculator uses an interactive map which is linked to banks of data about the age profile of the people who are likely to be using the roads in that particular location at different times of the day. 

Potential advertisers can be shown a variety of scenarios. For example, if they want to reach over 50s living in Hertfordshire, and have the budget to hire advertising space on six vans, it will tell them how long the campaign has to be before they reach a set percentage of that target audience, say 95%. 

Equally, it can show how many vehicles will be needed if the campaign is time-limited. Alternatively, for a fixed number of vehicles and length of campaign, it will reveal what percentage of the target audience is likely to be reached. All of that is vital information for advertisers. 

Roadvert can now offer both the predictive audience software – which it will license to customers – coupled with the Spedian ultra-fast application of reusable vehicle graphics that cause no damage to a vehicle’s body paintwork when removed. 

Together it is an unparalleled package that allows councils to maximise the earning potential of their fleets. The predictive software enables councils to offer carefully targeted advertising programmes while the Spedian system enables advertisers to change their key messages frequently to maximise impact. The result is highly focused, highly flexible, access to an underused advertising channel. 

Spedian's SuperLite System weighs only 340g for a 3.5m box van. No bolts, rivets, screws or aluminium or plastic frame required to fix the advertising panel to the vehicle. 

Campaigns can be regularly changed and panels can be stored to be used again. 

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