Page 41 - Innovation Delaware 2019

CARVERTISE: SMOOTH
WHY DELAWARE?
the project has the potential to place Delaware in the forefront of American port and shipping technology. He also notes the development of “Amazon-like” warehouse projects across the county
to provide much-needed storage and shipping capability.
As Meyer puts it: “The question we have to keep asking ourselves is, ‘How can we place ourselves in the forefront of technology?’”
You’ve probably seen them: a fleet of converted Mini Coopers with a giant version of a Red Bull can floating atop the car’s rear windscreen.
“When I was a business student at the University of Delaware and taking core courses in marketing, I thought one of the tackiest ways to advertise was the Red Bull car,” says Mac Nagaswami. “[But] then I thought, ‘That’s pure genius! Why aren’t more people doing it?’
So, I started poking around, and that started everything,” Nagaswami says. “The UD Horn Entrepreneurship program was very helpful in finding out how I was going to pursue my idea. And [Delaware Technology Park President] Mike Bowman was fantastic” in provid- ing advice on funding. The basic goal of the Horn program is to help launch and fund innovative business ideas brought forth by Delaware students and alumni.
Today, Nagaswami’s idea — to create a company that does nothing but outfit cars to serve as mobile advertising bill- boards — has morphed into Carvertise, a Wilmington-based company with 16 employees and a fleet of thousands of in- dependent drivers and their cars, spread across 30 states.
With the help of the Delaware Small Business Development Center — which Bowman also heads — Nagaswami
was able to tap into a network of angel investors and launch his company in 2012. “We were cash positive in about two years,” he says, “and we have been progressively growing in size.”
“The advantage of being in Delaware is being a part of a business community
that will do everything in their power to help you succeed,” he adds.
Unlike the Red Bull car — which required considerable physical modifica- tion of the car fleet — Carvertise simply wraps an existing car with commercial advertising. The company’s website un- folds the three-step logic behind the idea — people who own cars also essentially own their own company. Moreover, they like making extra cash while they drive, and they enjoy being part of a larger community.
“The majority of Americans drive every day, moving past an audience of thousands of people,” the website notes.
“This is marketing exposure that has value to brands. Why shouldn’t there be a means for drivers to earn extra money for putting an ad on their car? It just made sense.”
But what about working out the details of going from concept to reali- zation? Carvertise eventually was able to work out all the logistics. The target driver is someone who has a reasonably new car kept in excellent condition and who normally drives a lot. The drivers’ info is put into a database that Carv- ertise draws upon whenever a client is ready to start a campaign, and certain potential drivers or their cars may be
ACCELERATION
CARVERTISE
MAC NAGASWAMI
INNOVATION DELAWARE 39