Wrapify

Wrapify operates a vehicle-wrap advertising platform that pairs out-of-home (OOH) media on cars driven by rideshare, delivery and commuter drivers with digital measurement and targeting. Brands and agencies book national, regional or local campaigns, refine the campaign geofence by demographic, psychographic and account-based targeting criteria, and Wrapify handles driver onboarding, creative and production, and installation through a nationwide certified installer network. Drivers sign up through the Wrapify mobile app, choose the advertiser and the extent of the wrap (full, partial or panel) and are paid based on tracked mileage, with campaign terms described as ranging from three months to a year and biweekly payouts subject to daily mileage caps.

The platform's second component is measurement and re-engagement. Wrapify markets patented OOH impressions-tracking technology with an online dashboard covering impressions, mileage, heat maps and daily routes; attribution of wrapped-vehicle exposure to website visits, online conversion, in-app events (via app postbacks) and retail foot traffic, comparing an exposed audience to a control group in the same campaign area; and "physical retargeting," which serves programmatic display, mobile, native, video, connected TV and streaming audio ads to devices captured as exposed to Wrapify vehicles. A "SWARM" feature sends fleets of campaign vehicles to specific road segments, event centers or corporate campuses at set times, also used to capture device IDs for retargeting and attribution.

In a press release reported by trade titles Signs of the Times and Big Picture, Denver-based Wrapmate announced it had completed a majority investment in Wrapify; the combined operations, technologies and buying power were said to support a network of nearly 2,000 car wrap installers using 3M film.

Founding story

Founder and CEO James Heller, an entrepreneur from his teenage years, built a digital marketing and IT consulting company and then held marketing roles in cloud computing and a global digital marketing post at Ingram Micro before leaving to start Wrapify. The idea came while he was planning a large San Diego-area tech event and found a shortage of available outdoor media in the geographies he wanted to reach; he funded discovery and due diligence personally and concluded the timing was right given the rise of the sharing economy. In 2015 he put his personal funds toward launching the company, co-founding it with Tim Flack, previously a principal engineer at GoPro.

Business model

Wrapify sells campaigns to brands and agencies on its ad platform and pays participating drivers for displaying wraps on their personal vehicles, tracking mileage through its app. Revenue-generating services span the media itself plus measurement, attribution reporting and programmatic retargeting of the audience exposed to campaign vehicles.

Advertisers and agencies pay for OOH campaigns on wrapped vehicles bundled with measurement, attribution and retargeting; pricing is quoted on request. Drivers receive per-mile compensation with capped daily mileage and biweekly payouts.

Traction

Company materials cite a driver network of 400,000+ (also stated as 420,000+ on its brands page); earlier reporting cited 200,000+ U.S. drivers in 2020 and 40,000 drivers on the platform or awaiting campaigns in early 2017, when cumulative booked revenue since inception was reported at $2.7 million. Published campaign results include a 102%+ increase in online conversion rate for Zoom, a 1,005% game-day foot-traffic lift for the San Diego Padres, a 20% online conversion rate boost for Alaska Airlines and a 2,500% tap room foot-traffic lift for Ballast Point. The iOS driver app holds a 3.7 rating across about 1,400 ratings.

Latest developments

Wrapmate, a Denver-based vehicle wrap company, announced it had completed a majority investment in Wrapify, combining the two companies' operations, technologies and buying power to support a network of nearly 2,000 car wrap installers offering wraps produced on 3M film.