FreeCar Media Revolutionizes Out-Of-Home Advertising
1 August 2000
Branded Cars Provide Access to Hard-To-Reach Markets
LOS ANGELES - FreeCar Media, creator of a revolutionary new form of out-of-home advertising has media buyers excited, as it announces plans to wrap cars with creatively designed corporate branding messages and logos allowing advertisers access to hard-to-reach markets. FreeCar Media will give selected consumers new "branded" cars, according to Lawrence Butler, chairman and co-founder of FreeCar Media.Advertisers throughout the country will now have a new "out-of-home advertising option" to build a unique one-on-one relationship with millions of consumers, using an innovative and creative outdoor advertising medium that allows them to select drivers whose lifestyles meet their target market demographics, accurately and effectively.
"The outdoor-billboard model that exists today is two-dimensional and stagnant, in that it does not provide advertisers with a value-added relationship with the consumer," said Butler. "This is the exact reason that advertisers and media buyers across the country are excited about our wrapped-car advertising model. We provide true value to the advertiser, in terms of broad reach consumer impressions, the ability to pinpoint desired target consumers, validated measurement and most importantly access to markets that previously were hard-to-reach, sold out or over-saturated. Additionally, advertisers are now able to advertise in geographic areas that previously were off-limits like college campuses and residential neighborhoods."
Statistically, the average person makes more than four trips per day and travels over 40 miles; highways are increasingly crowded and commutes are getting longer. Thus, FreeCar Media reaches captive consumers when their message retention is most favorable, increasing advertiser value. For example, Gatorade might select avid-runners who frequent popular running spots; Charles Schwab, a young executive climbing the corporate ladder to success; and Disney, a family with three children ages five to nine. In addition to targeting where their message is carried, advertisers can track and monitor their message exposure over time with FreeCar Media's patent pending Global Positioning Impression System, which is installed in every wrapped car.
Drivers are strategically selected based upon the marketing needs of the advertiser and the drivers' individual lifestyle demographics, which are received when a driver registers at www.freecar.com. Potential drivers are encouraged to return to the freecar.com Web site to update their information regularly to keep up with new advertisers' demographic requests.
Drivers who receive a brand new FreeCar are eligible to keep the car for a two-year period with the only cost being gas and insurance. At the end of the two-year lease period, the vehicle will be unwrapped and FreeCar Media will offer its driver the opportunity to purchase their unwrapped vehicle or continue to lease it from FreeCar Media at a special rate. Drivers who are selected to wrap their own existing vehicle can receive up to $400 per month for a specified time period. Each driver must have a clean DMV driving record and maintain acceptable insurance coverage.
FreeCar Media management team is lead by Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder Lawrence Butler who is also currently Chairman and CEO of Alpha Technologies Group, Inc., a $75 million publicly traded company. Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder Chris Gaebler helped launch CarsDirect, the leading car retailer on the Internet and Co-Founder and Vice President of Sales Martin Caan is the former President of Kings Road Entertainment a publicly traded film company. Leading international sales is Vice President and Co-Founder Keith Powers who merged his company MyFreeCar.com into FreeCar Media in July.
Based in Los Angeles, FreeCar Media's wrapped vehicles are the newest innovation in alternative out-of-home advertising, providing advertisers an interactive and visual marketing tool with which to reach their audiences. The company offers advertisers the opportunity to wrap their name and logo around a vehicle model of their choice, driven by a driver of their choice. From dot coms and retail chains to major oil companies and brokerage houses, FreeCar Media has a vehicle and driver to match each advertiser's reach and target audience. Existing advertisers include Jamba Juice, Andersen Consulting, More-For-Less and Mobile Engines.