Here's a simple idea. You sell peanuts, or you market chocolate kisses. Or you've come up with a grand new way to make really creamy milkshakes. You want the world to know about your product. You'd also like to pop their eyes a bit.
    So you put a replica of your great product on a vehicle and drive it all around town. Simple, right?
    These eye-catchers are called brand mobiles, and years ago you could find them cruising country fairs, often transporting giant chiseled peanuts and the like.
   Brand mobiles are suddenly quite hot again and in many ways they epitomize the thinking behind so much of today’s new media: Get the product in close so that the consumer can touch, feel and taste it. 
   Today's brand mobiles are often custom-designed, sculpted cruisers that sport fold-out grills, giant video screens and karaoke machines.
    But how do you move your client’s product from an image on paper to a three-dimensional advertisement on pavement? Read on.
    This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts:

What:
    Multifaceted mobile marketing campaigns built around customized vehicles that portray a company icon or trademark.

Who:
    There are all-inclusive firms that take the advertiser from the initial concept to the streets. Marketing Werks out of Chicago and GMR Marketing out of Milwaukee are two.
    Prototype Source out of Santa Barbara specializes in designing and assembling concept vehicles.

How it works:
    Creative is worked out between the advertiser and turnkey firm, or directly with the vehicle-construction artists. 
    "It’s taking an existing icon and making it bigger than life," says Bruce Brackman, president of Santa Barbara-based Prototype Source.
    "It works a little different on every project, but basically it should be eye-catching, colorful, recognizable."
    Promotional vehicles are the centerpieces of mobile marketing campaigns. They range from full-color vinyl wraps of cars, vans and semis to three-dimensional, custom-designed and sculpted mobile advertisements.
    "Vehicle brand mobiles are a physical extension of that brand. We take on the character of the brand, like Hershey Kisses and Planters' Mr. Peanut, and make it bigger than life," says Marketing Werks’ vice president Scott Moller.
     Putting together a mobile marketing campaign includes developing creative, overseeing construction of the vehicle, putting together tours, hiring and supervising promotional drivers and other staff, setting up sampling and other merchandising, planning special events and media coverage.
    "The object is high-touch impression," says Jeff Corder, director of marketing for Marketing Werks. "We want them to experience the brand in three dimensions like they can’t on TV or in print."
    Mobile marketing can stand alone or be part of a multimedia campaign with print and broadcast tie-ins. Brand mobiles are sometimes used in TV advertising. Examples include Dr. Scholl’s Footmobile and Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile.
    The marketing firms take care of required permits and licensing. Since each state has its own food sampling regulations, GMR plans all of its units to meet the most stringent state codes and this generally covers requirements in all other states.
    The mobile marketing firms oversee production, installation and maintenance of branding vehicles. They also hire, train, oversee and evaluate staff.
    "Our crews are normally with their new touring unit a week or two in advance so they’re involved with the final production," says Bryan Buske, chief operating officer of Milwaukee-based GMR Marketing. "It’s their baby and you see a lot of pride in their work."
    Mobile marketing is used for branding and product launches.
    Tours can be tied to events--ball games, fairs and festivals--or stop-bys at shopping malls, beaches and parks.
    "We tie the tour into the needs analysis we do for every client," Corder says. "We look at the season, climate, markets, miles driven, the client’s market priorities, special events like air shows and ‘Taste of Chicago,’ and we overlay everything on maps and try to make the tours as circuitous as possible."
    Mobile marketing campaigns also create their own events. Ice Mountain Spring Water sets up portable climbing walls for consumers to try. This ties into their theme, "Elevate Your Taste."
    Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse sponsors a two-trailer display about safety that kids can walk through. 
    Major league baseball teams set up batting and pitching cages. A kiss on the Kissmobile and a showerhead on the Schick Shave Shack double as karaoke microphones that visitors can try.
    Many campaigns are designed with give-aways or prizes, in addition to food sampling. Collectable items like toys, t-shirts and postcards that tie into the product are distributed at tour stops.
    Media coverage of promotional events often increases exposure. Willard Scott has used Tonka’s Tough Tour on the "Today Show," and the Hershey’s Kissmobile will make an appearance in Times Square to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
    Campaigns range from a few months to several years. Many are seasonal, following sports and fair circuits. Advertisers often re-wrap their vehicles to introduce new product lines or when running multi-year campaigns.
    Advertisers are usually but not always national brands.

Markets:
    Major and secondary markets are scheduled from coast to coast. 
    "Basically we can go in any direction an advertiser wants," Buske says.
    Some advertisers take a regional focus. For instance, Wisconsin-based Johnsonville Foods built a second unit to visit "quieter" markets. 
     "There’s a regional knowledge of bratwurst. If you can find a Wisconsonite in Dallas he could tell you where to buy brats," Buske says.

Numbers:
    How measured? Like many nontraditional media, mobile marketers use creative ways to measure reach. They might use "the overall impact numbers, the number of people estimated at events, " explains Buske.
    "We can also track a lot on our big units when people come on board to see a display and can tell you how many took a coupon."
    Sampling also provides evidence of reach.
    "Last year we helped Hershey’s launch a new product, Twist-n-Fill," Moller says. "And we basically had to get the product into 1.4 million mouths over three months."

Research:
    What product categories do well? Electronics, packaged goods, food products, soft drinks, alcohol, media, clothing and other retail items.
    "Food is very good," Buske says, "anything to do with sampling."

Demographics:
    Demographics that advertisers seek vary from product to product but can be targeted with mobile marketing.
     "If you want mass appeal go to mass-appeal locations like shopping malls. For young teens go to skating rinks and water parks. For older teens tie in with concerts," Moller says.
    Brand mobiles appeal primarily to women and children, says Prototype’s Brackman.

Making the buy:
Marketing Werks: Factors that affect pricing include whether the brand mobile is wrapped or sculpted, the number of vehicles, the markets, events and premiums (give-aways) and what kind of support media will be placed to oversee the tour. Add in staffing, travel expenses, uniforms, training and "secret shoppers" who visit sites to measure quality control and the cost can be "as little as a golf cart all the way up to a space shuttle," says Corder.
    That translates into $200,000 to $1.5 million.
    Graphic-wrap vehicles run in the $100,000 to $200,000 range, while larger vehicles with intricate designs can run the client a million dollars or more.
    If a sculpted vehicle is part of the plan, lead time for setting up a program and a new brand mobile includes six months of planning, development and construction. 
    If part of the campaign is already in place, the timeframe can be shortened. The Twizzler Twist campaign was up and rolling in 60 days, says Corder.
    "It’s not uncommon for us to be working with a company that’s launching for over a year," Moller says.

GMR Marketing: Factors that affect pricing include the size of the vehicle, whether it’s wrapped or sculpted, the length of the tour, and operational costs that vary with promotions.
    Customized units range from a low end of $250,000 with a "solid seven figures for production and operation for a year," Buske says. 
    After the first year of operation costs can drop considerably because design and production elements are usually a one-time line item.
    Lead time includes one to two months for creative and 60 to 120 days for construction.

Prototype Source: Lead time from initial contact to hitting the road is six months for advertisers that work directly with the brand-mobile manufacturer and handle touring details themselves or contract them out to an agency. Construction accounts for 16 to 20 weeks.
     Prototype Source provides sketches and then a scale model to advertisers for approval before beginning construction.

What’s unique:
    Oscar Mayer’s Wienermobile first hit the pavement in 1936 and since then some version of it has been on the road almost continuously. 
    The first Wienermobile was 13 feet long with open cockpits in the center and rear for the driver and the chef, know as Little Oscar.
   Five new Wienermobiles, complete with sunroofs and sound systems, swept across America in the '50s.
    Nowadays the Wienermobile is 27 feet long and comes complete with state-of-the-art audio and video equipment as well as a hotdog-shaped dashboard and glove box.

Who’s already out on the road?
Hershey’s "Kissmobile," Echrich’s "Fun House," Shoe Carnival’s "Inflatable Theme Park," Schick’s "Shave Shack," Twizzlers Twist-n-Fill’s "Goo Patrol," Oscar Mayer’s "Wienermobile," PGA-DiGiorno’s "Rolling Clubhouse," Tonka’s "Tough Tour," Coleman’s "Out There," Lowe’s "Great Safety Adventure," Planter’s "Mr. Peanut’s Hot Rod," Edy’s Ice Cream, Ice Mountain Spring Water, Kraft, eBay, Starbucks Coffee, Helene Curtis and Miller.

Web site info:
    Marketing Werks at www.marketing-werks.com
    GMR Marketing at www.gmrmarketing.com
    Prototype Source at www.prototypesource.com

-Kathy Prentice writes about out-of-home advertising  for Media Life, penning her stories from the resort town of Traverse City, in the upper reaches of Michigan.

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