Yes folks, pictures do speak a thousand words. Some need no words to express what is taking place in the photograph. I bet a few pop into your mind right now, especially photographs of historic events. But what about graphics? Can a picture or clever logo be enough to tell a story and attract interest for business owners like HVACR contractors? Can we wet a customer’s curiosity by a simple line drawing or cartoon character?

It is an interesting question and one that has already garnered a lot of mixed responses to an online survey sponsored by The NEWS. You can participate in the survey by clicking on “Survey Says” in the left column.

From the results I have seen so far, survey participants are pretty divided on the subject of the power of graphics. The survey shows two service vans with different graphics: one with a clever eye-catching cartoon and the other with a basic logo and company information. Participants are asked to put themselves in their customer’s shoes and decide which company a customer would call, based on the graphic.

We didn’t use the most extreme graphics, which some HVACR contractors have used. The answers might be too obvious if we did. I know of one contractor who uses a very colorful orange-and-black combination with a tiger on his service vans. The tiger’s eyes are made of reflective material which appear to be “real” when a headlight hits the graphic. Another contractor paints his van two different colors on each side to give the illusion that there are several vehicles in his fleet that people “see all over town” when in fact he only has a few trucks.

But is eye-catching preferred over informational? Can a simple white van with lettering be enough to get a customer to call? You tell us.