DOUBLING VAN ADVERTISING VALUE.
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A Means by Which the Motorvan User Can Virtually Secure the Publicity Value of Two Vehicles in One.
1 N THE course of several articles which have appeared in our pages recently, we have made it quite clear that the only way to realize the maximum publicity value from a motorvan in these enlightened days, when most enterprising traders are users of motor vehicles, is by adopting a striking or original note in the design of the body.
There are hundreds of vehicles on the road at the present time which, to all intents and purppes, outwardly resemble one another very closely, and their sameness virtually destroys some of their potential advertising value, especially if the machines are in regular use in towns and cities where the motor vehicle as a modern, indispensable and reliable form of locomotion long ago ceased to attract the attention of the average passer-by.
There is no gainsaying the fact that many motor vehicles are of drab and mediocre appearance, and users of such maehines should awaken to the fact that by employing vehicles of this description they are wasting a potential business asset and perhaps losing goodwill. It is quite impossible to state in terms of pounds, shillings and pence the actual value of the average motorvan as an advertising medium (it varies according to the nature of the business and the class of goods which are sold, for these latter may not lend themselves to original or ornate treatment of the bodywork of the vehicles employed in the business), and it is perhaps for this reason that so many users have neglected to bestow their attention upon a subject which, if properly handled, should, by means of mobile advertising, provide a wider scope for their activities.
• Originality is the keynote of modern advertising, be it in the form of a fixed hoarding or a travelling sign, and in this respect we would commend to the attention of those who tiay heed to the value of motorvan publicity the illustrations which we publish on this page, showing a handsome box van body built on a 30-cwt. Unic chassis by the Central Aircraft Co., Palmerston Works, 179, High Road, Kilburn, London, N.W. 6, to the order of Sinelairs' Laundries, Ltd., of Wood Green, London, N. 22. Apart from its advertising merits, the body is particularly interesting as showing the marked advance which is being made in bodywork used on motorvana in the laundry trade. In place of the very dilapidated-looking van which is not infrequently seen on tho road? the enterprising launderer is now putting into service vehicles fitted with really high-class coach bodies. A distinctive point to note in the body which we illustrate is the fact that each side is painted and lettered in a different style, one side showing, as it does, the striking colours of the Sinclair tartan, whilst the other has plain painting and lettering. This arrangement, in effect, gives the user the benefit of a double advertisement.
Apart from its graceful lines and its advertising value, the body has been specially built for laundry work. For example, the inside dimensions have been so proportioned as to allow the body to accommodate the maximum number of standard hampers and baskets which are used iii the trade. The advantage thus obtained in economical loading is apparent when compared with the haphazard and wasteful loading method which is unavoidable where the " any-size " body is fitted. The obtrusion of the wheel arches into the body interior invariably entails a waste of space, but in Messrs. Sinclairs' van the wheel arches have been squared off to obviate this difficulty. The body interior is also provided with detachable shelves and trays for the accommodation of small parcels.
Special attention has been paid by the bodybuilders to the driver's cab, which is exceptionally roomy and comfortable, and provides ample protection from the elements. Lockers are arranged on each side of the driver's seat, and a useful receptacle is also incorporated in the roof of the cab. A close-hoarded partition is fixed behind the driver's seat, which has a. sliding door partly glazed and wired.
A capacious box is fitted under the body which is intended to be used for the accommodation of tools, tins of petrol and similes. smithies. The rear of the van. is provided with a drop-down tailboard and back curtains with extra largo wings, which serve to give complete protection to the contents of the body from inclement weather conditions.
The laundry trade is, perhaps, dependent to a greater extent than most trades upon its road publicity, and Messrs. Sinclairs' are to be congratulated upon their original efforts to command the attention of the passer-by. The Central Aircraft Co.,. who have paid special attention to the requirements of launderers, are also to be complimented upon the manner in which they have given definite shape to the company's ideas.
Although the vehicle has only been on the road a few weeks, we are given to understand by the users that it has already produced a considerable number of new customers, who have been attracted by the neat and striking appearance of the machine—a fact which proves the undoubted pulling power of a well-groomed motorvan_