JD Prut, VP of Marketing, DMV Media, Inc
Since more and more people apply on a daily basis, it is tough to approximate the percentage of drivers who will get accepted. But I can say that not everyone will meet the requirements and fall under the preferred criteria. We accept applications from all over the country and virtually anyone can apply. There are a few restrictions however, such as having a clean driving record, driving the minimum amount of miles (as promised in the application), and parking in an outdoor location where the ad can be seen by passing vehicles and pedestrians. Sometimes we also require our drivers to carry a GPS tracking device in their vehicle, so the driver has to keep an open mind for our campaign requirements.
The criteria for selection all depends on the request from the advertiser. Generally, we recruit drivers who live and/or drive in highly populated areas where the advertisement would receive the most exposure. We also look for drivers who live enthusiastic lives – go to malls, beaches, concerts, sporting events, movies, and so forth. The whole idea behind our selection process is to provide our advertisers with a driver who will take their ad to highly populated locations – and the more highly populated locations the better. So if we were to choose between a driver from the middle of the Arizona desert, and a driver from New York City, just based on the location factor the New Yorker would most likely win the job.
Alvin Clay, AdSmart Outdoor Advertising
Well as more and more people apply the greater the interest in the medium becomes for the advertisers. As time goes on it will become easier for applicants to finally see a free wrapped car or get paid for wrapping their own because more advertisers will be interested. There is a catch-22 though. The percentages of people who get cars will probably stay the same throughout the whole process. As more drivers sign up the more advertisers want to give away cars, and as more cars are given away the more drivers we get.
Chris Dyson, Founder, Ads On Wheels
We have had 10's of thousands of people visit our website in the last few months. We are continually building our database. It is a concept that has really been accepted and welcomed by consumers and the general public. As the medium,and use of the medium, grows wait times will significantly decrease. We feel, as well as our driver applicants, that this advertising medium will explode and that we will become a house hold name. We look forward to an explosive growth and hope that our applicants will be as excited as we are.
Keith Powers, Co-Founder, FreeCar.com
Not really. Some of the initial press will calm down after a couple of years but the effectiveness of the medium as a whole will continue. Actually the more vehicles there are the more of a community will develope between the participants and competition with advertisers to create compelling creative.