Take the Next Train to Hawaii

You get on a subway train or a bus to get from point A to point B. But in some cities, once you pay your fare and get on board, you begin a trip far different from your intended destination. Inside the car or bus you’re surrounded by entire walls and partitions depicting another world far away. One with cactus and deserts, or palm trees and pineapples. 

If you were riding the subway in New York City, you might be bombarded by images of Arizona, an advertising campaign that covers the interior of subway cars with images to help the rider imagine herself in the beauty of the Southwest.  Hot, arid deserts and stark landscapes, far away from the grime, crime and cold weather of New York City in the wintertime.

An article in the New York Times, “Welcome to Scottsdale, Now Watch The Doors,” examines the sales and marketing technique of full-body wrap, the process of wrapping the outside and/or inside of transportation vehicles like buses and high-speed rail and subway cars in vinyl advertising that envelopes the entire vehicle or transforms inner space into a wrap-around sales experience.

People are so busy, they may not take the time to read an advertisement in a newspaper or online. In fact, with all the pop-up ads annoying you while you’re searching for some information online, people automatically delete or close them without noticing the message or product. With “surround” marketing, riders do what they do usually do while commuting. They sit and stare, read and watch for their station. They are also looking around, and this type of sales is passive yet invites the rider to step into a different environment and experience the feel and mood for the duration of their commute. 

The Metropolitan Transit Authority introduced the “full-body wrap in 2008. Before that, it was mainly used on buses, where the entire vehicle was wrapped in a vinyl skin, turning it into a three-dimensional billboard on wheels. Trains have been used to promote sports teams, television shows and other exotic destinations. A rider can experience Arizona on one train, transfer to a different line and be transported to Florida or the tropical islands of Hawaii.

This type of marketing isn’t cheap. But the sales prospects make it worth the investment. According to Caroline Stoeckel, VP of Marketing for the Scottsdale Visitor and Convention Bureau, New York is Scottsdale’s #1 feeder for visitors during the winter season. With hotel rates at their highest during that season, even a modest increase in the number of visitors, she reports, can make the campaign worth the investment.

Not everyone who experiences the not-so-subtle sales pitch is driven to pack a bag and head for the desert. Surrounding a vehicle is easier than capturing the short attention span of weary subway commuters long enough to envision themselves anywhere other than riding their regular train at the end of another day. The hope is the larger than life images wrapping up the sides and over the top of a subway car or bus is enough to plant an image into the subconscious mind, ready to spring back when it’s time to plan the next vacation. Instead of buying a ticket for the Express train, they’ll take the next flight to a sit sip a margarita under a real palm tree and listen to a real Mariachi band, just like the one on the subway back home.  

Photo Source: Morguefile