Every radio station needs new revenue and CBS isn’t the kind of company to sign a deal with a here-today gone-tomorrow start-up. So we reached out to CBS DC Market Manager Steve Swensen to ask him to hook us up with Wrapify CEO James Heller to get more detail on how other radio stations can get in on the new product and make some money.
Radio Ink: How long have you been in business and how did you get it started?
James Heller: Two years almost to the day! We launched the platform in July of 2015 and our first full year of business was 2016. It started as a bootstrapped start-up, we then got into Jason Calacanis’ LAUNCH Incubator and raised $3M in seed shortly thereafter.
Radio Ink: Did you come up with the idea or is this a competitive field you are in?
James Heller: I actually needed the service and thought it already existed. I spent my own time effort and money to see if there could be a viable business and then I quit my cushy Fortune 100 job to start Wrapify. A handful of people tried to do similar things in the past, but we are the first technology platform that leverages the sharing economy to pay regular people to advertise on their car.
Radio Ink: What cities are you now in and what are your expansion plans?
James Heller: We are currently live in 27 US cities and have over 40,000 drivers on the platform. Our goal in 2017 is to be live in the top 50 DMAs and breach $10M in revenue.
Radio Ink: How is business going now?
James Heller: Fantastic! The year started off with a bang. I was the featured honoree in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 for the Marketing & Advertising category and we signed Microsoft on a campaign for MileIQ. Revenue is ramping nicely and the sales department is buzzing.
Radio Ink: How exactly do you calculate how drivers get paid?
James Heller: Drivers drive with the Wrapify App and we use the data it collects to price each mile dynamically based on time of day, traffic flow, and a few other metrics. Our average drivers make between $300 and $400 a month and get paid on a per mile basis.
Radio Ink: Are there a lot of government restrictions?
James Heller: Nope.
Radio Ink: It looks like you landed quite a few national advertisers. How did you do that?
James Heller: The product speaks for itself. The data we provide in OOH in general surpasses anything else we have seen in the industry. Real-time access to impressions in an online dashboard. Seems simple, but nobody has done it yet and advertisers keep coming back for more. Also, our CPMs are extremely competitive. Most of our campaigns see sub $2.00 CPMs.
Radio Ink: How can radio stations make money if they call you?
James Heller: Radio sellers will have Wrapify in their repertoire of advertising products to sell brands and agencies. Wrapify is going to offer radio clients a chance to marry a visual impression to an auditory one, a multiplatform scenario that’s never existed before in that market — or any other. Imagine tooling around the highway or up the parkway and seeing a wrapped car with messaging that reiterates the brand you just heard about on the radio. That’s gold.
Radio Ink: Once radio managers read your story they are going to ring your phone off the hook. Are you ready for that?
James Heller: Hell yes. Bring it!
Reach out to the company by e-mail at [email protected] and check out the company at www.wrapify.com
