Photo: Jeff Cunningham, competing
By Tod Trousdell, Fleet Marketing Consultant
July 23, 2025
For this edition of Fleet Pro Focus we catch up with Jeff Cunningham, Senior Director of Business Development for Signature Graphics, a large fleet graphics and branding provider that’s part of the prestigious Omnicom Group of companies. A familiar figure in the fleet world, Jeff can be seen running miles of trails or gliding through the pool while attending conferences like AFLA, which he’s looking forward to doing when the 2025 conference kicks off in Marco Island, FL, in September.
Thanks for joining us, Jeff. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Well, I live in northern Indiana and have been married for 27 years. My wife and I have three children: Lucas is a senior lacrosse player at Wabash College, Libby is a sophomore Nursing Major at Miami of Ohio, and Charlie is a junior football player at Chesterton, IN High School.
In my spare time, I’ve always been a fitness junkie, to some degree. During COVID I discovered Triathlon training and I’ve been hooked since.
What do you think are the most important or pressing issues facing fleet today?
As a brand management / fleet graphics service provider, certainly, our segment of the fleet world has not yet fully recovered from post-COVID raw material supply volatility, and that’s been extremely difficult to navigate.
How would you describe your management style when it comes to working with top fleets?
I try to remain as “even-keel” as possible… but it’s challenging. Big brand refresh projects – many in-service assets, asset styles, in many markets, with time-sensitive completion dates – have become commonplace for Signature. When we succeed, which is often, it’s a very intoxicating feeling. We’re supermen and women!!! And we feel like no project is too large!
On occasions where projects run less smoothly, however, it’s easy to feel deflated and low, personally. My style is to meet that challenge – and each opportunity – with the same high energy and vigor, no matter what.
Please tell us who had the biggest influence on your fleet career.
John Sarkis, retired Senior VP of Fleet Op’s at BrightView. Simply the best leader I’ve ever worked with. John is also a retired military officer and a West Point graduate. He served in Middle East combat theaters. You’d be very lucky to have John Sarkis in your foxhole.
Do you have a personal motto or creed that you live by?
“98 Reps!” was a phrase my high school friends and I maintained while growing up in athletics together and I reflect on the saying and those times, often. For us, it meant multiple things in different situations. The general intent, however, was to always remind each other to be good at whatever we might try and that the only way to be good – at anything – was to work exceptionally hard.
How do you see the industry 5 years from now?
As it relates specifically to the graphics segment of the fleet supply chain, I see – much like many other sectors of the fleet space have experienced – consolidation coming.
Anything more you’d like us to know?
I’m a big proponent of positive disruption. The saying, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” no longer applies to a world where advancements, such as A.I., change best practices at light speed. A reasonable measure of constant reconfiguring of core principles and best practice experimentation is a healthy thing.
“Adapt or die,” as Brad Pitt said in the movie ‘Moneyball’ reflects a mindset that’s almost too slow for today’s business climate. ‘Innovate’ – as opposed to ‘Adapt’ – feels more appropriate for today.
About the author
Tod Trousdell is a 35-year marketing veteran who’s worked on major branding initiatives for companies like Time Warner, Coca Cola, and Wyndham Hotels, as well as more than 20 fleet entities in the last two decades. He and his partner Kathi Roberts have a boutique consulting firm located in Atlanta, GA and he can be reached at [email protected].
