Corporate plates helping Texas debt

Travis Smith

The Signal

A company advertising its products or services on its own vehicles is nothing new. Vehicles proudly displaying company names are extremely common. So common, that many businesses are turning to the not-so-obvious form of vehicular advertising that the general population is not used to seeing.

During the last several years, some local school district buses have been sporting advertisements on the driver side panel. This is an effort to bring money into the school district while advertising the name of local businesses.

“For $700 over a three-month period, we were able to put our name out to people that may or may not have known about us in the Pearland area,” said Brandon Miller, Poseidon Pools, Ltd. risk management coordinator.

Poseidon Pools, Ltd. purchased advertising space on a Pearland Independent School District bus in an effort to promote itself to teenage lifeguards.

“We had more success recruiting teens in the Pearland area than we had ever had in years past,” Miller said.

With the apparent success from this form of advertising, many states are taking a cue from the school districts and looking toward private enterprises for advertising opportunities that can generate revenue.

The Texas state legislature decided in November 2009 to turn to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles for some assistance. The idea of corporate-sponsored license plates was developed.

Although Forbes has Texas ranked as the fourth best state in regards to facing its debt, Texas became the first state to take a shot at this new, venturous idea of corporate license plates.

The Texas DMV authorized My Plates, a company based in Nacogdoches, to sell corporate license plates.

“Plates that advertise a person’s favorite sports team or college have been around for years, but less that 1 percent of Texans chose anything other than the standard state-issued plates,” said Kim Drummond, spokeswoman for My Plates.

These plates work the same as any other custom license plate a person might see. A car with a University of Texas logo on it sparks thoughts of burnt orange and longhorns into heads; a license plate featuring a blue star makes a person think of the Dallas Cowboys. Using that logic, a red, white and blue balloon on a license plate can remind a person of Re/Max real estate.

That thought is exactly what crossed Re/Max of Texas executives’ minds when they signed to become the first company in Texas to advertise their business on state-approved plates.

“This was a new, fresh and innovative way to show off our brand, and it was not very expensive,” said Charles El-Moussa, Re/Max of Texas COO and general counsel.

El-Moussa said Re/Max’s “hot-air balloon” logo is one of the top 10 most recognizable logos in the world, behind Nike, McDonalds and BMW. By putting their logo on custom license plates, El-Moussa said this “was the best type of moving billboard out there.”

Re/Max of Texas has roughly 5,000 agents statewide, of these, 300 to 400 agents have these custom license plates.

El-Moussa said one of the biggest reasons that more agents have not already switched is because the state will not give financial credit for previously purchased custom plates. However, he does feel that as Re/Max agents approach renewal time, they will make the switch, as nearly all their agents are “full-time professionals who proudly support their company.”

Drummond said the initial start-up cost for a company to create corporate plates is $5,000. A person can purchase corporate plates for one year for $195, five years for $495, or 10 years for $595. Most specialty plates cost $30 annually with a $40 charge for a personalized phrase. For each corporate plate sold, roughly 35 percent of that cost goes into a statewide fund benefiting all Texans.

“You should evaluate the opportunity and if you are large enough, and have the employees and staff that will support it, it is a great form of advertising,” El-Moussa said.