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Fireball22's Blogs
| Mar 31, 2008 |
Doing Something Original
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| Mar 03, 2008 |
Historic Stock Car racing VS the "Golden Age"
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| Feb 18, 2008 |
NASCAR Golden Age Society
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| Jan 23, 2008 |
Sponsors, sponsers, and $pon$or$
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| Jan 13, 2008 |
So, just how many sites are you guys on?
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| Jan 09, 2008 |
Park and Fly?
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| Dec 30, 2007 |
Whoa! They woke up!
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| Nov 26, 2007 |
NASCAR's COT has made me an FOY
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| Nov 19, 2007 |
Carster: Asleep at the Switch?
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| Oct 25, 2007 |
Who are those guys?
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| Oct 24, 2007 |
Well, here I am! Now what...?
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Sponsors, sponsers, and $pon$or$
Wednesday Jan 23, 2008 09:53:00 PM
I enjoy checking out the many sweet rides on the many car sites that I visit on the 'net. There's pride of ownership, attention to detail, and craftsmanship that, in some cases, borders on Art. And then there are the rides that run the gamut from plain-Jane to outright rustbucket, yet are just as loved by their owners.
And then there are the "wannabe" great rides; flights of fancy that haven't yet reached their potential. Ah! But the owner is trying to solve that problem... by simply posting a single line at the bottom of the long list of upgrades they want to add to their ride: "im lookin for sponsers"
Far too many sponsorship hopefuls live in the far-off fantasy world where some company or promoter is going to fall over themselves to hand over money or parts so the car owner can fulfill his dreams, while the only effort the owner has to make in return is slapping one of the sponsor's decals on the car.
Well, guys... it's time to open your eyes to the world of Sponsorship! And I'm not blogging this to beat up on sponsor-seeking hopefuls and dreamers. I'm actually trying to help... so at least finish reading before you flame on the old guy. Fair 'nuff?
First of all, be honest with yourselves and get real. Sponsors are not in the business of fulfilling YOUR dreams. Sponsorship is a business association that is intended to create further business for the sponsoring company. Unless you have something significant to bring to the table, then you need to buy your parts just like everyone else. And more often than not, this requires that you go out and earn the money necessary to buy those desired parts. At retail prices, no less!
In racing (real racing, not the stoplight-to-stoplight stupidity that tries to pass for racing), sponsorship is NOT built upon a need of a race team to have the funds to race. It is driven by a need of a business to promote and advertise in order to grow and prosper. The race team is just a "vehicle" to that end. The sponsor is trying to get the biggest bang for his buck, so he needs to be tied to a winner, or at the very least be tied to a driver and/or team that can regularly challenge for the win. The more a race team can draw attention to their sponsor through their performance, the more money they can demand and expect from that sponsor or potential sponsors. Another key to this concept is if the team or driver creates more POSITIVE attention for the sponsor. Negative publicity can easily equal cancellation of sponsorship.
And it works much the same way in the Car Show world. Sponsorship is a PARTNERSHIP. What can YOU provide the sponsor for his money or product that he can't get from someone else, or by simply advertising in a trade magazine or exhibitor's booth? If a sponsor has a choice between the guy who only talks about what he could do if he had sponsorship and the guy who busted his ass to build a car that is drawing lots of attention in shows and publications and can only do better with some deserved $$... who do you think the sponsor is going to go with?
By the way, "winning" an illegal street race with your sponsor's performance parts is not a good advertising method for your sponsor. It is a method of creating potential LIABILITY for that sponsor. And businesses do not like the thought of liabilities.
Owners of historic race cars have learned this. There have been a few companies that have sought to have their insignia removed from cars that were once sponsored by their company, not seeing the old insignia on the car as free advertising, but as a potential legal liability should one of their formerly sponsored cars drift off a track and into a crowd. This, even though we're racing in sanctioned events on purpose-built race tracks with all the proper safety equipment and emergency services. (Laugh at the absurdity of the thought, but I guarantee there are thousands of ambulance-chasing lawyers that would kill for a chance to pursue that kind of far-fetched opportunity.)
Bottom line: If you're really looking for sponsors, then YOU NEED TO LOOK. You can't sit on your butt playing the latest incarnation of "Need for Speed" on your X-Box and expect sponsors to beat down your door with cash in hand. A potential sponsor needs to know how you're going to make their sponsorship dollars work in the SPONSOR'S favor. You need to basically develop a business plan and present it to a company in a way that makes them bypass their own skepticism and gives them confidence that YOU are the best means to their advertising ends.
Oh, a simple grasp of basic English and a little use of Spell Check wouldn't hurt, either. Most business people will respond better to "I'm looking for sponsors" than "im lookin for sponsers".
That's just my 2 cents. Your mileage may vary.
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Comments
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Posted By: LedZeppelin
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2008/02/13 01:51:11 AM |
| Time to change the tires again, freshen up the old air cleaner and blow it out the back end. Any new shiny pennies to show us? |
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