News

Wraps leverage ATM advertising potential

July 13, 2004

Television, radio and print media have established systems for gauging the size of their audiences. At first, ATM advertising didn't, which made it difficult to establish meaningful rate cards. While most deployers tried to sell ad agencies on a combination of transaction volumes and foot traffic at ATM sites, some agencies questioned whether passersby really noticed ATMs.

Now there seems little doubt of the high visibility of wraps - sheets of vinyl applied to ATM toppers; the machines themselves; or even kiosks or enclosures.

ATM owners appear to be taking a new look at wraps - not as a revenue generator, but as a way of increasing exposure and perhaps attracting people to the machines.

"You take a self-service machine which has had a limited ability to be used as a branding vehicle, and you make it a real attention-getter," said Al Tiley, chief executive of Companion Systems, which has installed wraps for a number of clients including JP Morgan Chase and Visa International.

Tiley said that virtually any piece of photo-ready art can be turned into a durable wrap for a cost ranging from "a few hundred dollars" for a topper to $3,000 for an entire drive-up ATM enclosure. While the price may seem high at the upper end of the range, Tiley said it's less expensive than hiring painters to produce comparable graphics.

That's a wrap

For Penn State Federal Credit Union, Companion produced an enclosure covered in a wrap that makes the kiosk resemble a bucolic field of flowers because the machine is located at a complex that frequently hosts agricultural events.

Visa International's Nancy Neuer said Visa used 15 ATM wraps featuring images of athletes at the 2002 Salt Lake (Utah) Winter Olympic Games, including two on mobile ATM vans.

Though the cost ranged up to $1,500, she said they were "a key component in delivering a 'wow' factor for the Visa brand while complementing the Salt Lake Organizing Committee's look of the Games."

Brian Hartline, president and chief executive of Nova Savings Bank, said the bank hoped to help instill customer loyalty with two ATM wraps it rolled out late last year.

"I think they give us a little edge," he said. "We wanted to catch the attention of potential users and create a loyalty factor with Villanova students and with Philadelphians. We're a local bank, and we like to emphasize that in our marketing."

Hartline said the wraps were worth their cost of $500 to $700 each.

Diebold Direct's accessory product manager, Steve Korte, says wraps give banks a visibility boost with customers.

"So many financial institutions still view their ATMs as gray boxes which bear no resemblance to the rest of their identity," he said. "So those using wraps are going to stand out that much more."