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(November 2008) posted on Tue Nov 11, 2008

Mega-size graphics effectively promote a business or brand.

By Tim Boxeth

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Building wraps and banners make a huge impression on consumers. An increasing number of companies and organizations have turned to these non-traditional forms of promotion and advertising because they break through visual clutter. In fact, it might not be a stretch to say the sky’s the limit.

That’s a wrap

Building wraps represent an excellent form of non-traditional marketing because they add impact and “pop” to marketing campaigns. And, when combined with billboards, vehicle wraps, floor graphics and banners, they’re a valuable component that can help blanket a neighborhood, or even an entire city, with a branding message. Because they’re suitable for all climates and unaffected by wind, building-wrap usage has grown continually. They’re now commonplace from coast to coast.

“New materials that can be applied to marble and brick have created a larger canvas,” Shad Interligi, owner of Real Hit Media (NYC), said. “Now we can take an entire facing and apply graphics. It’s exciting for customers, and it’s a big improvement. Instead of wrapping just the windows, now we can wrap the whole wall.”

Interligi, who sees an explosion in demand for building wraps, said these graphics now represent approximately 30% of his business. According to I.T. Strategies, a consultancy that helps service providers target digital-graphics markets, the outdoor-building-wrap market will grow 15% from 2006 and 2010. And, although the average lifespan for a promotional building wrap lasts approximately 30 to 90 days, media improvements stretch that figure to a year or longer.

New films that bond to rough or textured surfaces, which were introduced recently, have helped spur this growth. The film and adhesives are heat-activated, which allows adhesion to such textured surfaces as concrete, brick and stucco. This film and adhesive breakthrough means graphics can now be applied to a wide variety of building surfaces, which opens new advertising outlets for digital-graphics providers and their customers.

Perforated window films, which contain a clear overlaminate similar to those used to wrap buses and other vehicles, allow building occupants to see through graphic-covered windows. To create a spectacular effect, illuminated opaque or translucent films offer a spectacular nighttime advertising opportunity.

Banner days

Banners can dramatically promote a product or brand, but the project’s size and material’s weight must be considered to determine what’s appropriate. Solid banner material weighs roughly twice as much as a mesh.