The 70,000 Impressions a Day Myth in Car Wrap Advertising
By Utkarsh Jaiswal · · 2 min read
Almost every car wrap article claims 30,000 to 70,000 impressions per vehicle per day. Here's why that number is hard to trust, and what to ask for instead.
Search for car wrap advertising and within a minute you will read that a wrapped vehicle generates 30,000 to 70,000 impressions a day. Some pages say 80,000. The number shows up on wrap shop websites, statistics roundups and marketing blogs, usually with no link, or with a link to another page that also has no link.
We sell ad placements on a car, and a big impressions number would help us sell them. We don't use it. Here is why.
Nobody seems to know where it comes from
We tried tracing the figure back and couldn't find a published, measured study behind it. At least one wrap business that looked into the numbers now tells its customers that daily exposure depends on the route rather than following a single industry number (Chicago Fleet Wraps). That is the honest position: a delivery van crawling through a city centre and a sales rep's car on an empty motorway are not the same ad.
The research that does exist is about out-of-home advertising in general. The best-known example is the Outdoor Advertising Association of America's work with Nielsen, which asked people whether they had noticed out-of-home ads, including ads on vehicles. That is a survey about noticing, not a count of impressions for your car.
Why a single number can't be right
An "impression" on a car means someone was in a position to see it. How many people that is depends on things that change every hour:
- Where the car is. A city centre at 6pm and an empty road at 2am can differ a hundredfold.
- Whether it is moving or parked. A parked car in a busy car park can get more real attention than a moving one on a motorway.
- The size and position of the ad. A full-width hood graphic and a small rear-window sticker are not the same impression.
- Whether anyone actually looked. "Could have seen it" is not the same as "saw it".
What to ask for instead
- Driving evidence. Dated photos or video of the vehicle on the road with your placement visible.
- Route or area. Where it actually drives, even roughly.
- Hours on the road. A daily-driven car is a different product from a weekend car.
- Placement size. In centimetres, so you can judge whether your logo is readable.
- Your own measurement. A vanity URL, a promo code or a branded-search baseline. See our tracking guide.
What we promise instead
On the Harrier.ev rate card we commit to things you can check: the car is driven daily for six months, dated video proof is published throughout, and every placement is listed with its printed size. We don't claim an impressions figure we can't measure. If a seller does, ask them where it came from.
Sources
- Chicago Fleet Wraps — Vehicle Wrap Stats
- LookupAPlate — Vehicle Wrap Advertising Statistics (an example of the figure being repeated)