Wrapped with a bow
In an age where image is everything, businesses, cities, and brands are all looking at different ways to stand out.
With almost everyone having a portable camera in their pocket, capturing a snap of a piece of signage or advertising can massively help a company in creating a buzz around a product or project.
Building wraps have become just one way for advertisers, creatives, companies, and even local authorities to spread their messages. Also known as trompe-l’œil (an artistic term that refers to an optical illusion using 3D space), building wraps can be used to cover areas like historic buildings, large skyscrapers, and construction sites.
New printing technology along with creative ideas and designs have made it so this large and enticing form of print is bigger and more inventive than ever. So, what should sign and print companies consider when moving into this area of signage, and what can clients expect from these large- scale projects?
Go big or go out-of-home
Building wraps can come in a variety of different styles, whether it be replicating the buildings they are covering, showcasing vivid pieces of artwork, or advertising brands and products.
Embrace Building Wraps has worked on many impressive projects like this vinyl wrap for Capstan House in East London
A prime example of the power of building wraps was last year when Channel 4 incorporated a prime advertising location in Glasgow into its advertising campaign for hit television show The Great British Bake Off.
A building in Argyle Street was transformed into a 78ft-tall layer cake complemented by a giant 23ft fork along with a number of interactive experiences held around the premier of series 12 of the baking show.
The building wrap was just one media stunt alongside out-of-home (OOH) and digital out-of-home (DOOH) posters and billboards, as well as TV and mobile adverts. The entire campaign embraced the idea of big bakes taking the place of everyday city sights.
The project was created as a collaboration between Channel 4 Marketing, 4Creative, OMD UK, and Talon Outdoor. The detailed wrap was printed with detailed layers of fruit and cream, topped with 3D icing at the top of the building.
The project demonstrated the combination of different advertising and signage mediums as well as how clients will look to embrace as many types of advertising locations as possible. With this in mind, designers and sign-makers would be well-placed to showcase their capabilities across a range of these mediums.
At the time of release, marketing director at Channel 4, Amber Kirby, said: “People love indulging in the Bake Off escapism every year, it’s just so gloriously fun. This campaign imagines how cake can make life just that little bit sweeter; transforming the mundane, the every day, and the sometimes serious, into something that just makes you smile.”
A large-format company such as MacroArt, which has 30 years of experience in the industry, has been involved in a variety of projects that have required the high quality and variety required to impress clients and consumers.
Working with premium locations such as Harrods, Bose, and Drayton Manor (Peppa Pig World being a particular highlight), the company has provided a range of solutions and big projects.
Account director at the company, Mike Hamling, comments: “In the world of advertising and brand awareness, size is so often important.
“Building wraps create a huge canvas to display advertisers’ content or branding. Their sheer scale alone adds impact and reach to any campaign message, making for a highly impactful way of making your brand stand out from the crowd.”
Building wraps create a huge canvas to display advertisers’ content or branding. Their sheer scale alone adds impact and reach to any campaign message”
Speaking on the efficiency and benefits of building wraps, Hamling says: “They can, with effective planning, be created and installed rapidly, and the modularity of their installation also allows for their easy replacement, providing brands and advertisers with the opportunity to maintain the freshness of their message.”
Managing director and founder of Embrace Building Wraps, Greg Forster, agrees that building wraps are a highly effective way for clients to get a message seen by vast quantities of people.
Forster explains: “Giant building wraps keep our clients’ marketing messages in front of potential customers 24/7, or in a growing number of cases to keep the neighbours on side when we are designing and installing tromp l’oeil or one-to-one replicas of the building façades.”
The value of building wraps cannot be understated, but what are some of the ways they can be used and pitched, especially against other alternatives?
It’s all about the visuals
Building wraps have become an effective way as previously stated to cover or hide unsightly views. Hoarding boards and building covers have gradually evolved into this unique advertising opportunity that can bring colour, life, or a sense of normality to a location.
When creating or looking to undertake this type of work, it’s important to respect both approaches and to understand the differences offered by more elaborate or bespoke companies that deal in flashy visuals and experiential situations.
Forster says: “We are specialists and deliver niche, visually impactful solutions. On-site, we either conceal, disguise, or advertise our clients’ projects. The majority of our work is large-scale projects, whether it be wrapping scaffolding, site accommodation, or face fixing to a building in advance of demolition.
“Building sites and building renovations never look their best whilst works are being undertaken. This is why printed graphics applied over scaffold and over clad to site perimeter hoardings help minimise the surrounding environmental impact and keep out unwanted attention as well as fulfilling health, safety, and security obligations.”
While options exist within digital or architectural spaces, building wraps provide a number of unique selling points due to their longevity and adaptiveness.
Embrace Building Wraps often has to work from heights to install prints for companies like Sky and John Lewis
“With some projects being installed for a number of years, the print and manufacture process we deploy ensures the longevity of print quality; some remain in situ for up to five years,” says Forster, adding: “Should the client wish to refresh the message then sections or all the installation can be changed to update any new sales messages.”
Also speaking about the selling points of building wraps, Hamling comments: “From a practical perspective, building wraps are often a win-win. Scaffolding needed for property development and renovation work must be made safe for the workforce by way of providing debris netting and a safe working environment.
“Building wraps can serve a dual purpose of installing this safety provision, whilst at the same time creating a huge canvas to display arresting branding or campaign messages.”
MacroArt’s work with a location like Harrods is a prime example of how a well-known location can either be transformed or kept partially intact by the effectiveness of a building wrap.
Premium locations like Harrods often look to replicate the façade of their building when undergoing renovations
“The sheer scale of these installations is a highly impactful way of making your brand stand out and can deliver a highly visual focal point and temporary landmark in the community,” says Hamling, adding: “Buildings can be partially, or even fully wrapped and there is a range of methodologies that can be used to provide the best solution for each project. However, each building has its unique requirements. MacroArt’s expert surveyors can consult with clients throughout the process to develop a solution that exactly meets both their vision and budgetary considerations.”
Building your way up
When it comes to producing building wraps, a lot of factors have to be considered. Opposed to other print or sign projects, installation, and a company’s capabilities are key.
Producing such large prints and products requires expert machinery and installers and designers who will be able to work from large heights, and understand the precision needed for complex buildings and designs.
Embrace Building Wraps describes itself as a “one-stop shop” for large projects in the building wrap space. Forster says: “Over the last decade we have delivered many of the UK’s largest, high profile, and complex printed building, scaffold, and self-adhesive wraps. We even hold the world record for the world’s largest printed scaffold wrap.
“We service the length and breadth of the country and are approved subcontractors to the majority of the top tier main contractors such as BAM, Multiplex, McLaren, Sir Robert McAlpine, and Skanska to name just a few. We work with demolition experts, fit-out specialists, property developers, leading retail, and sports brands.”
The experience from Forster and Embrace demonstrates the connections and breadth of knowledge needed to work your way up.
Similarly, MacroArt has seen a number of advantages to its quality and range of solutions. Hamling explains: “As a business, we have striven to create an ethos that supports the growing demand from innovative brands and agencies, across a multitude of new and existing sectors. Our vision is simple – to see the impact of our work every day, everywhere.”
MacroArt is based in Cambridgeshire in a 44,000sq ft production hub. Mike Hamling has worked for the company for over five years
Hamling adds that MacroArt’s work in live events and entertainment has led to its success: “It is pleasing to see our growth in an increasingly extensive array of sectors, including exhibitions, visitor attractions and live events, bespoke heritage projects, sporting events and venues, plus an expanding retail, property, and interiors portfolio.
“Our involvement in the provision of building wraps has remained strong, as clients in many sectors discover the huge opportunities to deliver arresting and impactful messages through this format.”
But when it comes to entering this competitive space both MacroArt and Embrace warn of the work ahead of a business entering this sector. While some print and sign solutions can be a natural addition to a company’s portfolio, building wraps require a great deal of time and patience.
Hamling explains: “For businesses considering entering this sector, my advice is that they should not underestimate the commitment in time, effort, and investment in providing the infrastructure required to deliver an effective building wrap service.
“The costs of putting in place new equipment with capabilities and printing widths wide enough to be effective, procuring vast amounts of additional production space, as well as staff with the necessary skills, can amount to several hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Creating building wraps requires vast amounts of materials and banners to cover large surface areas
“In addition, as time-served professionals in this field, it is sometimes easy to forget the host of smaller adaptations that we have made as we developed our expertise in this sector (such as the installation of rubberised flooring to protect the printed material during manufacture), all of which add to the overall cost of set up.”
Over the years MacroArt has seen many businesses team up with the company in order to benefit from its knowledge and equipment. As the threat of energy costs and recessions loom over UK businesses, it would be wise for companies to consider how best to execute this type of work.
Forster agrees, saying: “In this sector it is about the time it takes to establish yourself, gaining the experience and having the skillsets in place installing and maintaining projects that are effectively giant sails.
“Time from initial sales enquiry to project delivery can take months and even years, so do not expect to make a swift return. Once the project is secured then this is where account management skills come into play. We need to manage a lot of people’s expectations in the chain.”
Embrace Building Wraps has worked on a number of large and impressive projects like the aforementioned record-breaking building wrap on Birmingham’s Selfridges & Co, along with the recent award-winning Commonwealth Games wrap.
Large building projects in cities like Birmingham and London often need the help of businesses like MacroArt to cover construction with vivid visuals
Embrace understands that clients, client cost agents, planning consultants, architects, creative agencies, engineers, and main contractors, can all be hurdles, and people/teams you will have to liaise with along the way.
“Let us not forget mother nature,” adds Forster. “Weather tends to have a say in when we can work not only in the windy winter, but also our sizzling summers which can cause extreme delays on-site.”
Due to the challenges and aspects a business should consider, Forster advises companies to make sure they are ready to prove they are up for the job. “Dealing with the clients we work with requires our business to obtain and retain a whole variety of certifications and accreditation, which can be a full-time job in itself. At the last count, we had 30 policy documents.”
Forster concludes: “Health and safety is paramount in our business. So, if we are to keep the public, our clients, and our people safe then it’s an invaluable investment in time,” adding: “Let us not forget investing in everyone’s future, namely the environment and climate change.
O Factoid: TS62 is a recognised certification which means the printed product has been confirmed as safe to externally cover a building or scaffolding
O
“We are a climate-positive workforce and have been for the past two years, each year we plant a minimum of 2,600 trees across four Embrace Building Wrap Forests in Mozambique, Madagascar, Nicaragua, and here in the UK. We invest monthly in a variety of projects across the globe to offset our CO2e, as well as investing in planting more trees and offset- ting CO2e when we install every project. In the last 24 months, we have offset 166.07 tonnes of CO2e and planted 9,317 trees in our various forests. I will also ensure by the end of this year we will have reached our target to offset 200 tonnes of CO2e and planted our 10,000th tree.”
The cherry on top
As evident from the advice given by Embrace and MacroArt, there are many elements to consider when delving into the world of building wraps.
Weather, cost, and reputation are some of the key considerations when undertaking large projects like those mentioned above.
As climate change has an effect on our weather conditions, plus the effect of soaring energy and material costs, businesses have more challenges than before to navigate.
Companies would be wise to collaborate as much as possible and undertake projects or avenues that are viable and within the capabilities of the business.
Either way, considering the advertising potential of building wraps, as well as their use in construction, historic buildings, and events, building wraps are certainly here to stay.
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