Mediafleet has reported that the massive growth in home shopping during the pandemic has highlighted a noticeable shift in fleet attitudes to commercial vehicle branding. Businesses are increasingly realising that the vans from which their products are delivered are now potentially one of the most visible and effective marketing tools of the customer experience – and are investing more time, effort and resources in ensuring that the vehicle projects the right image, said Barnaby Smith, managing director.

He explained: “The last 18 months have created a situation where a smaller number of people are stepping into retail stores, and instead satisfying their shopping needs from home.

“For companies that place a high degree of importance on their image, this means ensuring that the home shopping experience reinforces their brand values and the delivery vehicle is part of this, along with factors such as the packing materials used and their online presence.

“Delivery from a vehicle that has strong and creative branding is a priority for a growing number of fleets. The last 12 months have been our most successful ever as a company and this trend is one of several that have driven that accomplishment.”

Barnaby added that Mediafleet was increasingly being asked to work closely with the marketing departments of its customers in recognition of this trend.

“This is part of a longer term shift but the days when we were asked to simply find an interesting way of applying a company logo to a vehicle are now part of the past.

“What we are seeing more and more is a recognition that the branding of vehicles is a strong marketing opportunity that can be used to not just build and reinforce image but also to carry sophisticated messages about products and services.

“This is perhaps especially the case for new entrants into the home shopping sector where delivery from a creatively branded vehicle is a genuine differentiator from having your products delivered by just another white van.

“As part of this, we are now very much a design company ourselves as well as a vinyl production ad application specialist and indeed, have just further increased our in-house design capability with additional personnel.”

Barnaby added that this home retail commercial vehicle branding trend was very much part of a general shift towards an increasing degree of professionalism being applied to processes surrounding the onboarding of fleet vans.