(L to R) 3M’s trade marketing manager, Richard Davies and its digital marketing executive, Paul Kitchen


In a press conference at its headquarters in Bracknell, diversified technology company 3M has revealed its intention of becoming a major ‘pop brand’ for vehicle personalisation consumers.

The company has long been building its market share in the UK through its 3M wrapper certification programme and focusing on a core group of high quality vinyl products that push the technology’s boundaries.

Its latest initiative has seen it re-launch its Nascar ‘Wrap and Win’ competition for the second successive year, giving any members of the sign trade that purchase its products the chance to win a trip to the sports 2013 Sprint Cup Series Race in Las Vegas, Nevada. Each month of the competition, one company is also in with the chance of winning £100 worth of 3M product vouchers.

The company’s digital marketing executive, Paul Kitchen, explained 3M’s strategy: “Vehicle wrapping is part of the much wider personalisation bubble and mega trend going on around the world. People want everything from iPhones to laptops personalised and getting a vehicle wrapped is another part of expressing individual personality and giving an outlet to your creative thoughts and feelings.”

This approach is indeed an interesting one, as 3M are not just content with reaching out to sign-makers and vehicle wrapper customers with its products, but are actually trying to drive consumer demand to them directly—targeting an age demographic of 18 to 45-year-olds.

According to 3M’s trade marketing manager, Richard Davies, their goal is to make consumers ask for a ‘3M wrap’ and identify with the company in the same way they would with branding on sports goods and fashion labels.

Part of this strategy is its association with Nascar, as 3M sponsor the Roushe Fenway racing team and championship contender Greg Biffle. It also has a growing relationship with cult soft drink multinational Monster Energy, with its sponsored drivers now using 3M’s flagship IJ380 vinyl to wrap their race machines.

The result of this push, according to 3M, is that petrol heads across the UK are tapping into the fashion for personalised vehicle wraps with a 3M badge sitting alongside other car modification and racing brands on their bodywork.

Davies was questioned by SignLink as to whether the higher price tag for 3M products in comparison to competing brands was a disadvantage—considering even the least expensive vinyls last five years and so extend beyond the life of most design requirements.  

“People want to be associated with a brand. It is about educating the consumer both directly and through our customers to illustrate how our products perform better and just how creative they can get with them in comparison,” explained Davies.

Kitchen added on this point: “If a company does not use the right films then it can get into real trouble. Our products work perfectly for their intended purpose, with cheaper variants we have heard horror stories of vinyl failure that ruins the value of a vehicle. One of the worst I have heard is when one of our approved wrappers was brought a vehicle where the vinyl had cracked in application, the gaps had then been painted over to hide them, ruining the paint work once removed.”

3M has also sought to drive consumers direct to its approved wrapping network through the Wrap Your Curves website, a social media and information hub for the medium, and also its wider social media presence.

Asked if there was a danger this approach would alienate other sign-trade customers, Davies replied: “We did consider this may have been a side effect, but it hasn’t happened. Our network has grown to an ideal size now and tend to be either 100 percent wrappers or it makes up a big part of their business. Those companies were wrapping makes up a small part of their company tend to buy our products as projects require and so do not need custom being driven to them in any case to fulfil a dedicated and full-time service.”

3M also revealed to the press that it is launching an extended range of colour changing options, as Kitchen says demand for this product area is one of the ‘hottest trends in the market at the moment’.