Terrific new idea for in-car advertising – parking discs offer promotional marketing opportunity to businesses related to the car industry.

Have you ever thought about the number of advertising items there are in your car? Have you got a pen in the glove compartment with the car’s logo on it? Does the tax disc holder show the name of the dealership? How about the name of the car valet company on the air freshener? Did you get the ice scraper as a freebie from a trade show? Is there a sticker on your rear window with your dealer’s details? How about an umbrella, a map, a road atlas or a note pad? The likelihood is that most of these items will carry an advertising message or logo.

A recent survey into in-car advertising and marketing was conducted by sourcing company, p&mm Source-e and the results were published in Promotions Buyer magazine (May 2008). The survey revealed that nearly two thirds of respondents could name a brand or company or organisation featured on promotional merchandise that is kept in their car. The survey also reported that almost 95% of respondents believe that branded promotional merchandise increases a company’s brand awareness. Almost half have purchased from the branded companies. 

This all sounds like great news for advertisers. However, if you are involved in a business where in-car advertising is an area of definite interest then before going head on an buying one of the aforementioned products perhaps you should ask yourself this important question – “How many times a year will my ice scraper be used by the motorist?”

Suddenly it doesn’t seem like such a brilliant idea and yet there must be some way to test out the very encouraging findings of the p&mm Source-e survey. In an ideal situation, your advertising product would be something that the motorist would handle almost every day. It would be even better if the product was easily visible to passers by when the car was parked.

The answer could be a parking disc – a product which can be custom printed to show your advertising message. The parking disc itself is a cardboard sleeve which has a wheel inside. The driver turns the wheel so that it shows the time of arrival at his chosen parking spot and then places it on his or her dashboard for all and sundry to see – particularly the local traffic control officer or car park attendant. Parking Discs are used by local authorities throughout the UK but have yet to be discovered by the advertising industry!

There are millions of motorists in the UK who reside in towns where a parking disc scheme is in operation. Each day millions of motorists handle a parking disc at least twice and so each day that parking disc is seen by that motorist at least twice and potentially by everyone who walks past his or her car! That’s a lot more than a map, an ice scraper, a pen, a sun shield, a tax disc holder or any other form of in-car advertising!

Think of the opportunities for a whole array of industries allied to the car industry… insurance companies, breakdown services, motoring organization, petrol and diesel suppliers, windscreen replacement, car dealerships, tyre companies… parking discs can offer an inexpensive way of ensuring that your giveaway gets noticed more than any other form of in-car promotional merchandise!