Sprague Pest Solutions creates buzz with vanity plates

June 10, 2022

IMAGE: SPRAGUE PEST SOLUTIONS

Tacoma, Wash.-based Sprague Pest Solutions creates buzz for its company with vanity plates for 60 percent of its 300 vehicle fleet.

“It has taken on a life of its own,” said Larry Treleven, vice president of Sprague Pest Solutions and a Pest Management Professional Hall of Famer (Class of 2016). “Not only has it proven to be a unique marketing tool, but it has turned into a source of immense pride for employees.”

The company operates in 10 Western states and has vanity plates for its service vehicles, which range from heavy-duty pickups to compact hybrids, and now a growing number of electric vehicles. The Sprague Pest Solutions vanity plate tradition started as a birthday gift to Bob Trevelen — father of Larry and CEO Alfie Trevelen — from his children in 1972. That was the first year the state of Washington allowed vanity plates to be purchased by vehicle owners. The name on the first plate: BUGMAN.

“After driving around for a few weeks and receiving positive feedback he said, ‘We might be on to something’ and he ordered plates for the company’s three other vehicles,” said Larry Treleven. “He was quite proud of it.”

Today, BUGMAN adorns the service vehicle of Bob Treleven’s grandson, AJ, Sprague’s director of operations.

As Sprague’s service footprint has grown to 19 service centers across the Western U.S., so has the demand for vanity plates and the need to be creative when producing names. There is a friendly competition among employees about their plates, and they often request the plates be transferred when they receive a new service vehicle.

Employees choose from a list of names, and Sprague Pest Solutions submits the paperwork in each state and covers the costs. It is a sizable investment on the company’s part, but one that is well worth it.

“Clients tell us all the time they love the creativity, and, in some cases, they’ll remember the plate easier than the name of the technician,” said Treleven. “It has become a tradition that employees embrace. It is part of our heritage and the secret sauce that makes Sprague unique.”

Sprague Pest Solutions President Ross Treleven, a member of the fourth generation of Trelevens to lead the company, said the decades-long commitment to the plates makes an often-overlooked item stand out.

“People actually do pay attention to the plates, and we receive a lot of positive brand exposure from them,” said Ross Treleven. “People have left me voice mails telling me they saw our BUGS4U vehicle working at an account, and they just wanted to say they thought it was cool.”

How creative are the vanity plate names? Here is a sampling of the current offerings: