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| Our company car with magnets installed. |
Let me begin by
saying that I have been in the magnetic sign industry for many years. I would
consider myself to be very knowledgeable as to what new technologies and trends
that take place within the magnetic sign industry, as well as having a pulse to
the changes that have occurred over the years. There are a few negative rumors
circulating regarding our industry that I have found frustrating, to say the
least. The countless hours I have spent, recently addressing unfounded concerns
from my customers are becoming somewhat overwhelming. I would like to outline
and discuss these rumors and common misconceptions circulating around about
magnetic advertising signs in order to inform my customers, as well as other
small business owners that have been swayed from considering vehicle magnets. I
will be doing this in a series of posts, but to start off, I will go a little
into how we got started and include a short story about a conversation I had with a past client.
Recently I had the pleasure of speaking
to one of my customers who purchased signs from us many years ago when we were
just getting our magnetic sign business off the ground. I had left a prominent
Art Director position in Indianapolis Bloomington , Indiana Victoria
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| Re installing our magnetic signs after cleaning. |
The previously
mentioned customer had purchased magnets for their whole fleet of trucks about
a week after I had left my position. This particular client was one of my first
big orders, and I was so pleased to hear upon receipt of their order that they
absolutely loved their magnetic car signs. All of a sudden I was hooked on
getting this type of feedback. Around 5 years later, he decided that it was
time to replace his signs, and as I had learned later, one of his associates
had suggested a different company who was locally owned. He agreed to look into
it, and ended up going with adhesive vinyl graphics that were installed at the
local shop instead of the magnetic signs. He told me the shop owner convinced
him to go with vinyl graphics over the removable magnetic signs for his fleet,
and that was his first mistake. According to him, the artwork used on his
vehicles "came out great", the trucks looked just the way he wanted.
He said it ended up being more costly after installation, but all in all he was
happy. It was 2 years later that he had decided to do some re-branding and
realized why magnets were the better option for his business. He had a graphic
artist come up with a new logo and tag line for his business. He also began
offering new services, and did away with some of the outdated services he had
performed in the past. He went back to the sign shop that had originally
installed his vinyl graphics for an estimate for the new ones. After the
removal of the existing graphics and installation of the new, his costs were
much higher than the first time he had the vinyl installed of the old logo. The
client also included a promotion on the new vinyl graphic installation that he
thought he would run for a few years. Again, he was satisfied with the vinyl
graphics the second time. It wasn’t until fuel prices went up considerably,
that he had to do away with the promotion. He went back to have the promotional
part of the vinyl removed. When removed, the paint below the adhesive lettering
had stayed in perfection condition, the rest of the vehicle had begun to
oxidize and where the letters used to be, stood out on the vehicle like a sore
thumb. This left him in between a rock and a hard spot. It was nearing the time
that he would purchase new vehicles, to trade them in or sell them outright,
would be more difficult due to the burned ghost image the vinyl had created by
using vinyl lettering on his trucks. He went ahead and purchased blank magnetic
sheets from the same local shop to cover the ghosted image of his old promotion
until he was ready to buy the new trucks. The blank magnets he purchased were
different, not made in the USA
When purchasing magnetic signs, please
make sure you are fully educated on the quality of the sheeting, the print
production method, and the company you are purchasing them from.
The first thing to look for is magnetic sheeting with a 030 mil thickness. Thicker, is not better with
magnetic sheeting. The thicker magnet does not have as many magnetic poles per
square inch as the 030 mil, yet it has to hold more weight to the vehicle. The
chances of losing a sign are greater with the thicker sheeting. In addition,
the thicker sheeting has more wind resistance than the thinner sheeting. You
will also want to steer clear of anything less than 030 sheeting, as it does
not have enough of a pull rating to keep the signs from flying away. Magnetic
signs can be printed in a number of ways. Most companies will use a digital
printer, screen printer, or die cut adhesive vinyl to create your signs from. If
ordering digitally printed signs, be sure to ask if the company uses UV inks,
and a UV laminate. Screen printed signs are great for short term use, as they
tend to fade quickly. Adhesive vinyl signs are made from die cut outdoor vinyl
that is applied to the magnetic sheeting. There are many types of vinyl that
shops can choose from. You will want to make sure that the vinyl is high
quality enough to last 5-7 years outdoors. Always check into your sign company
prior to making a purchase. Ask for references from previous clients, look them
up online at www.bbb.org. Look up their years in business
and when possible speak to their clients about their experiences. (review sites
are easily manipulated, we suggest contact one of their customers directly) The
only reason your magnetic signs would not last 3-5 years outdoors would be do
to failure to follow the care and cleaning instructions that should be included
in every magnetic signs order you place regardless of vendor. You should never
put your signs on and forget about them. The do require some care, but it’s
easy and we have discussed this in an earlier blog post under Care and Cleaning.
