I got an e-mail from Steve at Steve’s Biz Blog wondering about the best placement (to maximize impressions) for a promotional bumper sticker on a car. It seems a colleague involved in a political campaign had gone to a workshop and been told that the best location for a political sticker was the front, driver’s side bumper. Both Steve and I strongly disagree.
As I mentioned before in a post about bumper stickers getting votes, research and data on sticker and graphic exposure on vehicles is difficult to find. There are just too many variables to accurately quantify the number of impressions for a moving promotional sticker. Besides location on the vehicle; sticker size and design, vehicle type, driving style, roads traveled, places parked, other stickers on the car… all are going to play a role in the visibility, legibility and exposure of a bumper stickers.
Common sense would tell us that the best location on a vehicle for a graphic or custom bumper stickers is where the most eyeballs are apt to be naturally looking for the longest spans of time. In my opinion, the back of the vehicle as close to the average sight line of other drivers and pedestrians is going to be the optimum location. When a vehicle is parked, passed, followed, stopped at light, etc. the visibility is always better from the rear.
The best location for a custom promotional sticker on a car to maximize visibility is the top of back window on the driver’s side.
Results will vary. I welcome other’s comments, experience and research data on this sticky issue. Is it legal or acceptable to put a bumper sticker on the back window of a car? Yes, just make sure it is applied close to the edge, doesn’t interfere with visibility in rear view mirror, and is not in the swiping area of a rear windshield wiper (that will damage the sticker over time.)
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7 Responses
Why not below the license plate, right in the middle?
That’s a good spot – a bumper sticker on the actual bumper! Especially effective if it’s an old school (larger) bumper sticker and there aren’t any other stickers back there diluting attention.
So in the middle of rear window is a bad spot?
Bad spot due to driver visibility and windshield wiper damage (if there is one on back window).
I have 2 white decals that go your normal horizontal but one is larger than the other. Same text but im not sure where to put it. I see the comments say drivers side in the rear windshield but which one should I put and where should I place the other decal? First proper decals btw so tips would be cool.
These days people tend to want to be a bit more subtle with their presentation. If it is anywhere on the back of the car and there are no other stickers it will work fine. Don’t forget to keep it away from any rear wiper blade as that will reduce the life of the sticker. Tough to recommend which size should be where not knowing how big the two stickers are.
I think almost anywhere on the rear drivers side works. When you are behind someone it's right in front of you, and when your in the passing lane you and you passenger still get to see the sticker or decal.