Front cover image: Crown Paints getting it right. A look at recently branded Mercedes Vito panel vans.
Keep in touch
www.mediafleet.co.uk info@mediafleet.co.uk T: +44 (0)1993 772525
CONTENTS 04
Introduction from Barnaby Barney welcomes you to this edition of Inside Track
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The Power of Colour! - Crown Paints getting it right. Rob takes a look at the use of colour in advertising and branding.
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Mediafleet - ‘Popping Up’ Everywhere Barney describes what’s involved when the customer asks you to fit vehicle graphics out in the field.
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Mears Group PLC - Utilising the full Mediafleet ‘scope of service’ Mears is one of the UK’s leading housing and care providers and has engaged with Mediafleet to brand 1,000 new vehicles joining the fleet!
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Innovative Zipcar Mediafleet has been supporting the Zipcar branding programme for over nine years now and it is certainly true that the past offers a useful guide in project planning.
INTRODUCTION FROM BARNABY Is that ‘normality’ I see on the horizon? Well, maybe not the ‘norm’ we used to know but at least there seems to be some positive changes happening. At Mediafleet, we are very busy, and our attention has been on making sure we deliver against our schedules. This is proving to be a challenge as supply chain and logistics have certainly been affected by the pandemic. Talking to other organisations they agree that project planning is a ‘fluid’ environment. There’s no doubt that the global challenges facing the motor manufacturers will start to add an extra dimension to schedule management, but the changeable environment of 2021 will perhaps test the organisational skills of businesses in the supply chain and allow the most dynamic and efficient to shine. However, we mustn’t complain about being busy and we are very fortunate to have a healthy pipeline of projects. I’m immensely grateful to our loyal customers, and with some exciting new contract wins Mediafleet certainly has its work cut out in the weeks and months ahead. It’s important at times like
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this to recognise that customers trust us to deliver, and so this is exactly what we will be doing throughout Spring and Summer 2021. We’re delighted of course to bring you the second edition of Inside Track, and hope you enjoy the issue.
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The Power of Colour. Crown Paints – Demonstrating the benefits in the use of colour in vehicle branding
A
dvertising has evolved over time with an exponential leap in complexity since
the advent of the digital age. But the basic rules governing successful promotion have not changed – although sometimes ignored. I was having a conversation with my colleague and Mediafleet’s managing director, Barnaby Smith, when he mentioned that Mediafleet is increasingly being asked for advice on ‘branding design’ and in particular, the ‘use of colour’. This just happened to coincide with Crown Paints engaging, once again, with Mediafleet to brand forty new additions to the Crown Paints fleet. The Mercedes Vito vans are currently in the process of being adorned with the new designs which are striking and memorable mainly because of the effective use of colour.
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80%
Research has demonstrated that the use of colour ca increase your audience’s recall of your brand by up to
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%
an 80%
Is the use of colour really that important?
D
esigners and marketers have always known that the use of colour is a powerful
tool when attempting to convey a message to your target audience. Clearly, text will give the reader the relevant and important content, but colour delivers something which is arguably more important. It ‘plays’ with the audience psyche to deliver a ‘feeling’ about what they are seeing, Plus, colour is a mechanism which provides powerful recall. James Parry, head of design at Mediafleet said, “With regard to vehicle branding, we know that there is a simple innate process that takes place when a person views a vehicle on the road. Initially, the ‘eye’ will notice the colour, this is followed by a ‘recall’ process, followed by a ‘check’ process. So, if the vehicle is perhaps light blue in colour, the mind may associate that immediately with say, ‘British Gas’. The conscious mind then ‘checks’ to see if the assumption is right by checking the logo or the text. If you see a red can of drink, your mind will immediately think of Coco Cola and the conscious mind checks the logo to make sure your assumption is correct. Even if the colours are not on a product or building and are in total isolation, the mind will assume which brand it represents. In a recent survey, 67% of people recognised the blue and yellow pantones of the Ikea branding without any associated text or imagery.” 9
Colour and Emotion How Colours Can Speak for You. The use of colour can also say a great deal about the type of organisation you are and the message you want to deliver – without the use of any text. The emotional impact of colour is a technique designers have used since colour advertising was possible. Great design work for brand creation is not based on what looks good, but the feeling the brand evokes. For example, the Crown Paints vehicles are predominantly black in colour. Black is used by companies that wish to promote a certain sophistication and works particularly well with upmarket products. It evokes prestige, timelessness, seriousness and value. to be renewed this year. There is the excellent use of yellow and orange. Yellow conjures up thoughts of the sun and therefore of hope and optimism, and combined with the orange, delivers a feeling of excitement. Blue is probably the most commonly used colour in branding and for good reason. This gives people confidence by relaxing them as it probably reminds them subconsciously of the sky and the sea. It is used to depict trustworthiness and dependability. Barnaby commented, “What I really like about the Crown Paints branding is how the graphics depict the ‘crown’ in the logo, but also a paint splash. That combined with the use of colour makes for a memorable brand.”
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We’re Here to Help M
ediafleet
is
a
vehicle
branding
specialist employing serious designers
and marketers to make sure your brand is effective in promoting your company awareness and the messages you want to deliver. Regardless of your market area, we are happy to advise and work with you to maximise the effectiveness of your vehicle branding – all in line with your brand strategy. We live in the digital age where many marketers thought that the subsequent marketing opportunities would be the ‘nail in the coffin’ for traditional media. This is not the case. Traditional media such as ‘out of home’ advertising (including vehicle media) is playing an equally important role in delivering your brand values and marketing messages.
Mediafleet would like to thank Crown Paints for allowing us to use their vehicle branding as the topic for this article. crownpaints.co.uk
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MEDIAFLEET POPPING UP EVERYWHERE Barney describes what’s involved when the customer asks you to fit vehicle graphics out in the field!
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M
ediafleet has recently rebranded over
was the key to the successful fulfilment
200 vehicles for a major UK utility
of this particular project. Carole and
provider. Unfortunately, due to corporate
Emily, in operations, using their unrivalled
policy (which we fully understand) I am
organisational ability to create a build
not allowed to name the client. I can,
schedule involving over 200 drivers, across
however, bring you the details.
10 locations that neither the customer or Mediafleet owned.
Now
I
know
what
you’re
thinking…
branding 200+ Ford Transit Customs is nothing special; and you’re right. If these
Here’s what they did (the short version...)
were new vehicles, presented to us at dealerships, converter premises or even
A Regional application schedule was then
our own workshops, then clearly, it’s a
devised.
simple task.
• The team looked first of all at the fleet lists and divided this up into strategic
These vehicles, however, were working, in-fleeted vans that required the removal
locations. • New,
‘pop-up’
suitable
workshop
of old livery, and the application of the
locations near to these locations were
new
then identified and short-term rental
Mediafleet
graphics…at
manufactured
locations
vehicle
requested
by
the customer, across the UK…and with minimum
disruption
to
the
normal
working day!
agreements ratified. • With fleet
the team,
aid
of
drivers
the
customer’s
were
booked
appointments at certain locations at specific times. The manner by which
How We Did It!
this was organised replicated the way the driver would normally be allocated
Back in September last year, I wrote an
a ‘job’ in his/her normal working day.
article on achieving operational excellence
This meant there was nothing unusual
(if you missed it, you can catch up here…
for the driver. They just needed to turn
the long winter nights will fly by! Hanging
up at an allocated time and leave when
My Hat On ‘Operational Excellence’ by
the job was done; all within the service
Looking in the Mirror! | LinkedIn)
levels set by the customer. • Each vehicle was allocated ‘half-day’
In
the
article
I
said,
“Operational
excellence, in my opinion, is achieved by all operational staff signing up to the concept of wanting to go the extra mile. All team members must come to work every day with the desire to get a ‘pat on the back from a customer’” …and that
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for the rebrand, minimising vehicle downtime.
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Operational Success! The in-fleet re-brand was completed on time and to the complete satisfaction of the customer. This is always the goal regardless of the complexities of the task in hand.
I look forward to the next challenge with eager anticipation. Special thanks go to Carole and Emily in operations and of course, to our amazing, hardworking, and immensely talented, inhouse fitting team.
Put us to the Test If you have a branding project that you think is ‘tricky’ or even beyond the realms of possibility, just give us a call. You’ll be surprised at what can be accomplished when the Mediafleet team get involved.
Keep in touch
www.mediafleet.co.uk info@mediafleet.co.uk T: +44 (0)1993 772525 19
THE MEARS GROU UTILISING THE FUL ‘SCOPE OF SERVIC
Mears is one of the UK’s leading housing and care providers and has e with Mediafleet to brand 1,000 new vehicles joining the fleet! 20
UP PLC LL MEDIAFLEET CE’
engaged
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“One of my greatest joys is helping organisations of all sizes with their vehicle branding, and it is marvellous to watch many of these companies grow into major UK organisations. As the CEO of Mears says on the website, 30 years ago Mears was one man, and one van. Today it employs 6,500 people, with 1000 new vehicles joining the fleet over the coming months” Barnaby Smith, managing director of Mediafleet.
M
ediafleet offers a holistic vehicle
Unrivalled
brand
Capacity and Capability
management
solution
Production
and
Fitting
meaning all aspects of vehicle branding are managed in-house. The Mears project
Mediafleet’s production is ‘state of the
utilises all these services from the artwork
art’ and copes easily with large projects
creation through to the application of the
such as this. However, it is in the area of
graphics – on a large scale!
‘graphics application’ where Mediafleet really excels. Mediafleet directly employ
The vehicles are leased from Zenith and
a team of fifteen in-house fitters so there
are being delivered to the Mediafleet
is no reliance on the sub-contractor
production
in
network. Barnaby said, “Employing our
Oxfordshire from the Peugeot/Citroen
own team of applicators means we can
dealership – Robins & Day. Barnaby said,
project plan more easily as we control
“We have geared the Witney site to cope
everyone’s schedule, plus, as the team
with large projects such as this and we
are highly trained, the quality of the fit
can accommodate over 300 vehicles at
is unsurpassed. This allows us to deliver
any one time. We have spacious fitting
on time, every time to our exacting
facilities so the graphics can be applied
standards.”
facility
at
Witney
in controlled conditions. Plus, we employ a vehicle logistics manager to organise
The Peugeot and Citroen vehicles are
and manage the distribution of vehicles
being branded with a mix of designs
on site.”
depending upon the final destination of the vehicle within the Mears group.
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“The past year or so has been a difficult time for many businesses but I am very pleased to report that we have kept Mediafleet’s main customer contract activity on track. The team has worked hard to achieve this, coping with regular changes in working practises to protect our customers and our own team. I would like to thank all our customers, old and new, and the team for all their hard work.” Barnaby Smith, managing director of Mediafleet.
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A THRIVING
9 YEAR
PARTNERSHIP
Mediafleet has been supporting the Zipcar branding programme for over nine years now and it is certainly true that the past offers a useful guide in project planning. 25
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Innovative Zipcar continues to push MediaFleet to deliver best practice
M
ediafleet has been supporting the Zipcar branding programme for over
nine years now and it is certainly true that the past offers a useful guide in project planning. Regardless of the market in which a company operates, for any company to succeed it must successfully deliver against the customer’s expectations.
For
Mediafleet,
‘project
planning and delivery’ is a key differentiator and a critical success factor for the business. Earlier this year, Zipcar once again engaged with Mediafleet to brand the latest tranche of vehicles joining the fleet. The nature of the Zipcar in-fleeting programme presents some interesting challenges that require project planning excellence – and nine years of experience.
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9 YE
Mediafleet has been supporting the Zipcar branding p over nine years now and it is certainly true that the pas guide in project planning
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Barnaby
Smith,
managing
director
of
Mediafleet explains, “Once we have received details of the latest fleet roll-out objectives from the Zipcar team, the project planning sessions are concerned with delivering tangible outputs; initially, the ‘What and How’ of the project. The ‘What’ focusses on the project objectives – the vehicle numbers, locations, and the time frames involved. Any discussion after we have gained this understanding is concerned with ‘How’ we will deliver these Zipcar objectives. These ‘How’ considerations are principally concerned with identifying and ensuring the necessary resource is in place to deliver the objectives. This ultimately progresses to planning discussions concerning the ‘Who’ and the ‘When’. Knowing what is required, who is to perform certain tasks, how they are to be performed, and when the events should be scheduled, allows my managers to organise and convey these activities to the team in an efficient manner.”
EARS The latest Zipcar in-fleeting programme was the usual complex mix of various vehicle
types branded differently according to the
role of the vehicle. For example, the van fleet branding is different to that adorning cars – and the cars differ according to whether they are ‘Round Trip’ vehicles or ‘Flex’ vehicles.
programme for st offers a useful
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Zipcar source vehicles from different manufacturers meaning that vehicle branding locations vary – some vehicles being branded at ‘port of entry’ while others are shipped to Mediafleet’s facility at Witney. Barnaby said, “Once the vehicles are available, Zipcar
expect
a
logistically
crisp
in-fleeting
programme and there is little room for error. High volumes of different vehicle types at different locations that are to be delivered to multiple Zipcar sites around the whole of the London area – all against very tight deadlines. It’s a useful that we know what to expect!”
“Definitely a remarkable company
when it comes to quality and quantity at very tight deadlines – A thriving nine year partnership with Mediafleet!” Bhavnha Kanaram, infleet & defleet manager at Zipcar
Barnaby commented, “At Mediafleet, we are very proud to be associated with the success of the Zipcar brand. Zipcar is the world’s leading car sharing club providing on-demand access to cars by the minute, hour or the day in cities around the world. I am looking forward to the next nine years and the challenges that supporting this progressive brand entails.”
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