Vehicle branding can be more than ‘business card’ marketing

December 2, 2025

Rob Rudd looks at how neuroscience in
vehicle graphics can help improve the
effectiveness of your vehicle branding.

Let’s be honest, in the B2B market, the vast majority of vehicle branding we see on the roads is nothing more than a business card on the side of a van or lorry. In the B2C market, vehicle graphics can be more interesting in an attempt to grab a consumer’s attention. But regardless of the media , what are all marketers trying to achieve with above the line type activity? The answer is to ‘generate more sales leads.’

A basic understanding of how our brain interprets advertising and branding will help improve your efficiency in generating more leads and this includes vehicle graphics.

I was watching an episode of ‘Breaking Bad’ the other evening (I know I’m late with this…) and a character was asking the main character, who is a scientist, why the flavours of his clam chowder reminded him of his childhood. Walter, the main character, explained the ‘hippocampus’ in the brain is sent information from food sensors and it’s the hippocampus that processes these signals in relation to memory and emotion…and that’s why certain tastes and smells remind us of things in the past. And that got me thinking about marketing and its emotional effect

This sounds complicated but there are only two types of adverts you will ever see.

The first works because it is based on feeding the brain with enough information to make a conscious rational decision. These are called ‘Logical Persuasion’ adverts or LP ads. An example might be the Quooker advert. This is the tap that does everything, and the advert accurately describes what the tap can do; chilled water, fizzy water, boiling water, anti-burn features, easy to install etc. Another might be a car advert where they talk about performance figures or outstanding features. These fact-based ads that are appealing to the conscious decision-making processes of the mind.

The second type of advert bypasses rational decision making pretty much altogether and appeals to the aspirational desires most of us have. These are called ‘Non-Rational Influence’ or ‘NI’ ads. An example might be a beer advert where there is a close up of the beer glass with the condensation beading and running down the side of the glass. (I’m feeling thirsty just writing this!). Or maybe it’s an advert for a car but this time we see the car being driven on a beautiful country road by an attractive woman or handsome chap. These adverts evoke an emotional response.

So, have a guess which type of advert is the most successful.

The answer is the NI advert*. It’s the perfume advert with the attractive woman in glamorous surroundings. That’s why these adverts work. It’s why fragrance companies spend a fortune promoting a product which exists to make you smell nice, that you can’t actually smell via the TV. There is method in their madness!

  • *Dr. Ian Cook, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behaviour at UCLA.

What can we learn from this science as far vehicle branding is concerned?

My advice is simple…every time you consider a marketing promotion designed to enhance your brand and value proposition you should consider neuroscience!

When you consider that almost 50% of the human brain is designed to deal with visual processing it makes sense to make an effort with your customer facing initiatives. The more you task the brain with interesting visual stimuli, the more embroiled the person will become with your initiative. Repeated interesting messaging with a consistent brand image breeds familiarity which is why it’s so important for brands to have consistent, interesting brand messaging.

If we were to consider the B2B and the B2C markets individually, this would be a very long blog indeed, so to simplify, I am going to speak in broad terms. It’s easy enough to apply the rules to your own campaign.

Emotion Works!

Combining your marketing message with your brand and emotion means that you are appealing to the subconscious mind of your customers…and that’s a good thing. If you want to make your customers feel good, then appeal to the typical images that cheer us up. Beer is good for me! But maybe a puppy golden retriever using your product will be good for most people. If you want to instil anger, then a sad image of someone or something NOT using your product maybe the route to take. Bear in mind the crisis and aid adverts on TV.

It’s time to think creatively. Work out how to appeal to customer preferences, emotions, and moods in your neuroscience marketing campaigns. Research your audience in detail and find out what’s appealing to them. The LCV’s you have are tremendous platforms to deliver these messages – they really are mobile billboards so treat them a s such.

Why Does Emotion Work in marketing!

The answer is ‘Dopamine’. Familiar and consistent imagery stimulates Dopamine, and this makes us feel happy. That happiness then aligns with your brand and so through association, your brand becomes welcoming, memorable and comfortable.

Keep It Simple!

Vehicle marketing is different to other forms of OOH advertising. You must assume that your audience will not have much time to assimilate information…so keep it simple. Imagery is a great way to do this as are bullet points and simple colours fonts and limited text.

Be Different!

Churning out the same as everyone else is not going to make you stand out from the crowd, so be different. Once again imagery is a great way to utilise the space on your vehicles, and as we now know, the right type of imagery can be incredibly effective.

This image on the Milk & More vehicles makes me feel hungry!

Colour psychology

I’ve touched on this in an earlier article where colour plays an important part in delivering your marketing messages and the feel you want to portray. Colour can be a powerful tool in your branding decisions. Countless companies have used colour really effectively. The Crown Paints vehicles are really striking and eye catching. Makes me want to decorate my house!

Let’s call it ‘Neuromarketing’. You heard the term here first!

At Mediafleet, we have a dedicated resource for creating impactful vehicle branding using the tools I’ve described above. For your next campaign consider the research and conclusions from scientific study regarding neuromarketing.

Use this simple graphic. If your product and/or service has a technical ‘bent’ then you may wish to appeal to the left-hand side of the brain in the image above. ‘Logical Persuasion’ may be the best option. But if you can add to the campaign ‘Non-Rational Influence’ type marketing using imagery, colours and fonts, then this may well improve your hit rate. But don’t take my word for it, why not use a different response mechanism in your marketing so you can track the effectiveness?

Let me know how you get on!

Feeling good?

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