After ban on billboards, adverts find a way to move

WrapKar is enabling advertisers and vehicle owners/drivers to make money

KARACHI: With the ban on billboard advertising in place, a group of four NED University graduates has found a way to ensure the promotion of businesses does not take a hit.

In fact, their startup, WrapKar, is doing one better — the advertisements are moving and reach more people than stationary billboards would, also giving an opportunity to regular folks to make money as well.

The advertisements are placed on cars and around 300 drivers/owners of these vehicles, as well as seven to eight companies in the food and fashion industries, are engaged with the startup.



“We have successfully run our pilot project with PakWheels’ advertisements displayed on three cars through October-November 2016,” said Mubashir Sakhi, a co-founder of WrapKar.

The three cars covered a combined distance of 2,962 kilometers on Karachi roads. The advertisement does not only deliver results to the ad campaigners, but also gives monetary benefits to drivers and/or owners of cars.

The car owners earn in the range of Rs5,000-18,000 a month.

The startup was launched with the idea of sharing advertisement-generated revenues among many instead of a few. Secondly, it wants to earn money without making a huge investment.

The basic conditions of displaying an advertisement are that each car should cover a minimum of 35 kilometers a day and should be in good condition.

In addition, the cars should be on the road during peak traffic hours – a condition easy to meet in urban areas – for a maximum amount of time.

The startup monitors car mileage and location through a mobile phone app.



“We monitor the car’s mileage, location, and time of driving with the help of the app and the sensor,” he said.

“Advertisements would achieve the desired results as long as the cars cover the required mileage,” he said.

The four co-founders of the startup graduated from NED University in December 2015 and came with the idea to NEST I/O – a technology incubator – in August 2016 and graduated from there in December 2016.

The writer is a staff correspondent 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2017.

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