THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX FOR SPONSORSHIPS
By: Kevin Ramsell (www.kevinramsell.com)
The gas prices are up, the housing market is down, and overall many will say that the economy stinks. So naturally, many will start to worry about what will happen with the local racing scene. If a team cannot get that primary sponsor, they don’t feel positive that they can run the entire season. Now is the time to get creative.
When I mean creative, I am not talking about how to design your car, but creative in the way of marketing your car and team to get some of that sponsorship dollar to start flowing in.
Steve Dickson, the 2007 Madison International Speedway Bandit Champion, is moving up to compete in the Sportsman division this season. Recently, I got an e-mail from Steve where he announced his “Friends and Family” Plan. No, Steve is not selling cellular phone service, but advertising space on the hood of his car.
Dickson credits the late Al Papini III for this idea. Papini did this when he was racing back in the 1980’s. Dickson said that it worked for him and he feels that it still works for today.
Through his website at www.banditracer.com, he set up a PayPal account to where friends and family can choose to give to his racing program and pay online. He set up three different plans; Gold, Silver, and Bronze. (Oh yeah, the summer Olympics begin on 8/8/08.)
The Gold plan is a one-time payment of $1,000 and he has five memberships available at this level. For $1,000, you get a team hat, jacket, and a t-shirt along with your logo or message on the hood of the car and tickets to five events, of your choice, during the season.
His Silver plan is a one-time donation of $500.00 and he has ten memberships for this level. You get a hat and t-shirt, logo or name or message on the hood and tickets to two events of your choice.
And his Bronze package is only $100.00 with 20 memberships available. Here you get a hat or a t-shirt, name or logo on the hood and a ticket to a fan appreciation event later in the year.
If Dickson would get every membership sold, he would bring in a total of $12,000.00 to help get him through the racing season.
One Super Late Model driver told me that if ran a SLM Series event (ASAMT, CRA, WCS, ASALMS, etc.) they said that their average expense per event is around $1,000. This type of sponsorship plan that Dickson has in place, could help a Super Late Model team almost run an entire season if their other expenses (chassis, motor, body) are already taken care of.
The bottom line is this, sometimes its best to get a lot of small amounts then just get that one big amount. Yes, there may be some expenses in so far as what you include in the package (I.E. t-shirts, hats, jackets, race tickets, etc.) but those could be lessened if someone who produces those products wants to do something in trade or at a discounted price. Also, it doesn’t hurt to ask the track you race at on a weekly basis, if they are willing to sell you some tickets at a reduced price.
The worse answer you will get on asking is no. But, you will not know for sure unless you ask. If you run your race team on the assumption that everyone will say no, you will not be successful. Some may say yes, and that is simply money in the bank.
Also, take into consideration that the race fans would feel a sense of pride and honor when they can be a part of your race team. Look at Dickson’s Bronze package. A race fan can have their name on the car for $100. That fan will bring his family and friends to the track and at the end of the night they come to your pits and show their friends that his name is really on the car.
Oh yeah…friends and family is anyone. Friends are made at the racetrack and families are always growing.
Will this plan bring a rush of money to Dickson? “As I suspected, response has had peaks and valleys. Money is tight right now but I have been able to get a radio sponsor, a tire sponsor, parts and cash. All of them are people who truly love short track racing and are doing their part to support it,” Dickson stated. “I have one family that pooled their money to become a Gold sponsor. Once people start to get tax rebates and the weather warms, I expect another surge. The other beauty of this plan is I can still sell it to a fan that comes into the pits after the races in July and there is still value to them and our team.”
Sometimes you just have to think outside of the box to make something work.
