Your services are great, but was curious if Zip Car has any thoughts of removing the logos off the cars in NYC for security purposes? I think in Florida, the car rental agencies have banned car rental agencies from marketing on their cars due to people breaking into them... curious, I think it could avoid potential problems for Zip Car -W

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2004

Answers

The security systems incorporated into every ZipCar are substantially effective theft deterents. The Zipcar markings are also helpful to members in locating the car in a crowded parking lot, as are the unique name tags inside the windows.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2004

I guess your missing my point and concern... the cars have two distinct logos/markings, a zipcar logo on the passenger door and writings on the back of the vechicle.

This is great free marketing for Zip Car, but from a renters point of view, it can attract unwanted attention of a "rented vehicle."

Also, why would we need the markings to locate a car in a crowded parking lot???? In New York standard procedure to get a car is to contact the garage 1/2hr to 1 hour prior to pickup and if the car doesn't have a mechanism to swipe your card its obviously not a Zip Car.

Lastly, I think the logo on the passenger side door is ok, but I think the writings on the back of the car should be removed for cars in New York.

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2004

Hey William i hear ya concerns and trust me man this whole log issue is really making me not want to rent from this company anymore. I think i canceled my zipcar membership six times because everytime i rent i get disgusted with the whole logo situation. I drive and people stare at me. I have no choice but to rent cars because i travel outside NY and who needs a car in NY with all the transportation around. I rent the BMW allot and i pay allot of money renting the car, i think im entitled to some privacy. William keep fighting hopefully someone will see what we are really trying to say to them.

-- Anonymous, April 14, 2004

We've had this logo discussion before and I've posted before, but I will say again that I absolutely LOVE the logos and do not want them removed. I am not alone in this feeling, either. I understand that some people don't like them, but it is by no means a universal feeling so it is not as if Zipcar is being somehow evil by leaving them on. A good portion of its patrons enjoy the logos.

I also question the security risk of the logos. People who break into rental cars are hoping to find luggage and the large amounts of cash some people (especially businesspeople) carry while traveling. However, Zipcar is not a rental agency. Most of its members are residents of the area and even a car thief probably realizes this - so why is it more likely to be broken into? Besides, the logos attract the attention of passer-by, which is just what a thief does Not want.

There's my 2 cents

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2004

Rachel- Do you reside in Manhattan??

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2004

I don't live in NYC, but think that it's more akin to corporations who get wrappers for the VW Beetles... yeah, advertising, but for example, I don't think that a VW Beetle with Snapple logos all over it is a good car to break into, because it might have something valuable in it.

With the way they have the electronics set up, I think it's pretty tough for someone else to take the car and honestly, I think that if you have "valuables" that you're putting in the car, you need to take precautions yourself and be a smart individual. If you have something you don't want taken, out of sight, out of mind. I'd suggest putting anything you don't want stolen in the trunk if you're leaving the car for any period of time.

Do you have specific concerns? I find it interesting that the logo on the side of the car is fine, but the website on the back of the car is not.

Florida car rentals is an entirely different clientele, it's often families with vacation funds, or foreigners who are on vacation. Those people may be more susceptible to "scams" and being followed, as well as having as much as several weeks worth of items in their car.

I don't love the logos, but take it as part of renting from Zipcar. And if it helps defray the cost, that's fine by me.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2004

I challenge the Zip Car organization to poll its 1,500+ New York City Members ONLY (not Boston or DC, because this issue only pertains to New York City) to their thoughts on the 2 logos placed on the Zip Cars. The passenger side door logo and one on the back of the vechicle. Manhattan is not Boston nor any other city for that matter, the culture is different, not better or worse but just differnt. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by what New York City members think about logos being on the cars if they were given an opportunity. (Maybe your logos enhance business in New York City.... maybe your logos discourage business potential in New York City. Nevertheless its an issue...Wouldn't Zip Car like to know????)

Zip Car's internet based structure should take minimal time and effort to produce a survey..... I look forward to your results.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2004

I live in the Metro DC area and when I first started using Zipcar I was somewhat concerned about the logos. However, as Zipcar became more popular it kinda became the thing to hunt for other Zipcars as I’d always wave at them or they’d wave at me. So the discomfort (which is what I think your real problem with the logo is) has disappeared for me.

You all have to understand that Zipcar is a business. Advertising is very expensive and trusting another company to carry your message is a risk. So any company for which you have dealings with puts it’s logo on its product because 1) Its the cheapest form of advertising they’ll get outside of customer word-or-mouth, and 2) They control how the message is delivered.

Think about it, if those logos were not on the cars how would people know Zipcar even existed outside of traditional advertising? And how many times have you looked at a product someone had that interested you and you asked them about that product?

You must remind yourselves that a Civic is just a Honda unless it has the Zipcar logo on it which then creates curiosity about Zipcar.

Have you ever thought of asking McDonalds, Sony or Ford to remove their logos from any of their products?

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2004

The reason they banned them in florida was because tourists from other countries were getting robbed and killed in carjackings because the lowlife thieves knew the car was a rental and the tourist wouldn't know where the nearest police station is. Zipcar should remove them for the simple fact that a zip member from another city won't know where the nearest police station is. Also it looks really stupid with that big ugly sticker on the side.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2004

The fact of the matter is this - ZipCar is not a car rental company like avis or hertz it's a community based car-share program (basically). The people who use them are not tourists, but concious individuals who don't need to or don't want to have a full time car. Whenever I see one drive down the street I assume it's being driven my a like-minded New Yorker (or Bostonian, or Washingtonite depending upon my whereabouts). If you are so concerned with the fact that you don't own that BMW yourself, rent with a regular car company that has a smaller logo. I am a New Yorker and I do sometimes take a car out of town to a place that has a large parking lot (Six Flags with my little sister) and that bright green image on the door has been like a beacon in the fog. It also sparks a great deal of conversation and other drivers on the road see you as a New Yorker and not some stupid lost tourist... unless of course you're a bad driver.

The logo's are great. They're fun and bright like (most) zipcar members.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2004

I'm a native New Yorker, now living Boston, who loves the logos. Please keep them, Zipcar!

-- Anonymous, May 06, 2004

Bob, I fail to understand why someone would love looking like a fool, because that's how I felt when renting one of the cars with the advertising on the doors....It makes you look cheap and flat out stupid.... If Hertz or Avis dared to this to their customers, they'd be out of business in a New York minute.... I only rent the cars with the small ad on the back of the cars and consider that bad enough....To all you people who love this idea, I may have a job for you as a sandwich board man, that's a person you sometimes see in the streets with large signs behind and in front of themselves...."Real Cool"

-- Anonymous, May 11, 2004

If you have that big of a problem with the logo and "looking cheap" buy your own and deal with all of the hassles and expenses that go with it. You are obviously not the target user of a service like Zipcar. I have no problem with the logo. I CHOOSE not to own a car and to use Zipcar (or other rental services) as needed. The logo often prompts passersby to ask questions which is good. It educates people on another way to get around besides owning a car.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2004

It seems like there are basically two camps.

One set of Zipcar users would prefer to own their own car and perhaps cannot accomodate that expense. For these purely practical reasons they utilize Zipcar. It is simple, reasonable and very understandable. It also explains why one would want to feel in all ways that the Zipcar of the moment was indeed your own. No conversations, no politics, no message, no looks or honks or waves. This is about coming as close to owning a car as possible without actually doing so. Obviously, this group would prefer no logo.

Another group uses Zipcar for both practical and political/ethical/environmental reasons. There are all the practical advantages to ... coming as close to owning a car as possible without actually doing so, but there is more. There is a personal belief in what Zipcar strives for: "reduced congestion, fewer auto emissions, more green space, and a revolution in urban planning" (from Zipcar site). For many people, using Zipcar is a way to support those beliefs as well as spread them.

Often being a Zipcar member is actually about NOT owning a car. It's about proving to ourselves and others that not everyone needs their very own car, that such excess is actually not necessary. Zipcar is proof. The Zipcar logos that I see driving around my city when I get out of work, or go shopping are reminders that it works. They are a reminder that there are other people who don't need their very own car and that there is a community who holds my same values. It is not an embarassment.

But I absolutely realize that there are indeed different perspectives. And I hope that Zipcar stays in touch with the idealistic big picture that they began with as they work to broaden their market.

Respectfully,

Kelly

-- Anonymous, May 23, 2004

Personally I was extraordinarily disapointed with the logo. The logo is a terrible security risk for drivers. Also, it forces the drivers of zipcar to participate in the marketing of the service.

The only reason people like the logos is to be part of a cult like atmosphere so particular to environmentally conscious hypocrites. You need to belong just like religious zealots and psychopaths.

-- Anonymous, May 24, 2004

After keeping a car in Manhattan for nearly 10 years, I just joined Zipcar. However, I was unaware of the logo issues. I fully assumed it would be just like any other car I have ever rented. Although I have not yet reserved a zipcar, if it has a huge logo when I do, I will be cancelling my membership immediately - a great inconvenience since I just sold my car upon joining.

As a marketer by profession, I completely understand the desire to put the word out about a great product/service. As a consumer of such a product/service, I respectfully request that this is kept to a minimum and is tastefully presented.

-- Anonymous, November 22, 2004

There are three camps. Those who justlove the logos, those who hate them, and those who don't care.

Personally, I hate the logos and request that zipcar gets rid of them ASAP!!!

For those people who love them, zipcar can provide a magnet logo in the trunk which the people who love them may attach on the doors and on the back. I saw those magnet logos in some of the cars.

Also, I second the request that zipcar take a poll for NYC users. I bet the people who love the logos will be outnumbered by people who hate them... Come on...let's be serious!!! Why wouldn't Avis or Hertz put logos on their cars if they were such such a benefit for the customers?????

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2005

I live in Boston for while and evry time I take another zipcar I see this huge and ugle sticer on door and site on trunk of the car. It feels luke I work for zipcar and advertase them at no coast to us zipsters. also sevrele cars arent much safe then other cars that "we own"

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2005

If logos make you feel servile, don't wear them. The fact is that Zipcars are highly monitored vehicles which are problematic for any car thief. I would be very surprised to learn that Zipcars were not avoided by the majority of car thieves based on this assumption, if not based on word of mouth. This is why even though Lojack works fine without any labels on the windows, the cars with the labels are much less likely to be broken into in the first place (even stupid thieves don't like getting caught).

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2005