November 8, 2007

Why Not Us…

I have recently become involved with a high profiled Road Race team. Yes these athletes make a boatload of cash, sponsors seem to jump to be a part of their programs, the sport is not dying off, people aren’t freaking out etc… Why Not Us (flat Track)?

I used to blame it on exposure or lack of it, many blame the AMA for lack of it, and many blame Harley Davidson. All of which are misconceptions I believe and here is why.

You know if you were an underwater basket weaver, you could be sponsored with a million dollar contract. The basket weaver is not on TV, the radio or even in a print magazine for exposure but still is making the big bucks … Why not us?

Year after year we go after in the industry sponsorship, which is a big mistake for us. These sponsors are neck high into the sport already. Their budgets are already set on how much they are spending with Flat Track before you even send a resume.

So what should we be doing? Well here is a true story behind one team that made shit happen. They approached a well know Beer company for x amount of dollars. The beer company was interested indeed. The amount of money invested seemed reasonable for an entry level “let’s get involved approach”. The road race teams Spec Bike was displayed at a Supermarket. The beer was positioned around the bike… can you guess what happened? The beer company at the end of the year sold more beer at this supermarket than ever before a rough 800 percent more. What does this all mean? That investing in the sport doesn’t solely rely on media exposure. The team got a big fat raise for 2007, big enough to have a multi rider team (that would be more than two).

So let’s go back to the basket weaver. He/she is on display at Wal-Mart in a container filled with water on a Friday and he/she is weaving away. The product around her is Vitamin Water Drinks. The crowd watches, as the weaver gets intricate with each weave. Will there be more Vitamin water sold that day.. You betcha!

So yes.. Should you send a resume and proposal out to sponsors? But when you go outside the industry you must provide a vehicle to drive in business for the sponsor or at least come up with a plan that you can sell to them. Sony Play station has no idea about flat track or you for that matter. They don’t care that you are driving all over the place and your name gets into Cycle News. They cannot gauge how that is helping their overall sales.

Look at this the next time you look in your newspaper… An advertiser will often put a coupon in an ad.. Do you know why they do it? To see if it’s worth the money to advertise in that newspaper. They can see by how many people use the coupon if it’s well worth the hundreds of dollars to advertise.

You don’t have to have a creative mind to think up something that might get you a better sponsorship deal.. Just go to the supermarket and do your shopping. You as a consumer, do you buy something that is on display with NASCAR? Do you buy chunky soup because of the NFL? Think about it and you will then see why some make the big bucks and some that don’t.

Take care..

Peace and happy marketing!

Jennifer