Sponsorship continued,

It appears that my short series on sponsorship was very popular, thank you all for reading, and for your feedback.

A popular statement these days amongst racers is how difficult it is to secure sponsorship. I’m likely going to ruffle some feathers here, but the truth is you guys have made it difficult on yourselves, and everyone who is trying to secure sponsorship. You have made it difficult because many, and I will venture to say most, motorsports sponsorship programs fail to provide the required return on investment for the sponsor. The fact that you own a race car does not give you any of the skills required to put together an effective sponsorship program, and it shows. Let me tell you something you do not want to hear, that spot on the side of your car that you are trying to “sell” to a sponsor to put his name on is worth a whole lot less than you think it is.

There was a time, many years ago, when having a sponsor’s name on the side of a car was of value to the sponsor. Fans, and spectators and the general public took notice of the name, and were influenced in their purchasing decisions by the presence of that name on the side of a car. Unfortunately that is not the case in today’s market. In today’s market the fans, and spectators, and the general public are inundated with so much advertising and so many brands being flashed in front of them that they have become blind to them. For a motorsports sponsorship to work, to provide a return on investment for the sponsor, you have to offer much more than simple signage space on the side of the car.

Ok, that is not totally true, there are a few sponsors out there that will quantify their ROI as the pleasure they receive from seeing their name on the side of the race car, or for the good feeling they receive by helping the racer to succeed, but those sponsors are few and far between. In today’s business climate businesses are forced to ensure a return on every dollar invested. Budgets are squeezed tighter and tighter every year.

How then does a racer provide a ROI for the sponsorship dollars invested? It is actually pretty simple, the first thing you need to do is know what the return is that the sponsor is looking for from their sponsorship. How do you find out? Ask them.

Ask your sponsor, or potential sponsor what they hope to achieve through this sponsorship. What are their marketing objectives, future plans for expansion, new products in the pipeline? Do they want to sell more product, or boost productivity from their staff? Maybe they are hoping to land a new contract, or break into a new market? You need to know these things before you can possibly begin to provide a solution through sponsorship. The only way you will truly know the answers is to ask. Do not assume you know their business objectives, you cannot answer these questions by researching the company on the internet, you can certainly find out background info, but the only way to get the answers you require to put together a proper sponsorship plan is to ask the questions directly.

Alaska

We had an absolutely wonderful time on our trip to Alaska!

The track is spectacular. Have a look at this wonderful video put together by Randy Smith, thank you Randy. The mountain at the end of the track is the first feature that cannot be missed, but one also has to appreciate the setting in general in amongst the trees.

During my road trip to and from Alaska, with my daughter Casey, I finally got to see my first ever moose, we had to drive 2300 kms before I finally saw one, but after that I saw five or six, even a cow with her baby. The wildlife was everywhere, cariboo, porcupines, elk, deer, black and brown bears, no grizzlies.

Check out Randy’s video to see my parachute come out at about half track and get burnt off, never a good thing. But no problem, there was plenty of shutdown area and I was able to get the car stopped just fine. A big thank you to the safety crew for following me down though. Those guys do a great job and it is always comforting knowing they are there waiting for me in the event of a problem.