By Doc Lehman
In this installment we will look at some of the ‘basics’ that drivers and race teams need to adhere to in seeking, landing and keeping sponsors. For locally based weekly teams the basics are important to your team in securing and keeping sponsors since your sponsors are more likely to be local and regionally based. It’s all about the effort and the perception of effort on your sponsor’s behalf.
Going after sponsorship must be treated seriously and treated exactly as a business is operated. Above all else your approach, whether through your marketing proposals, press releases, newsletters, media kits, websites or any other promotional means, or any in-person contact, must be as professional as possible. Impressions, especially first impressions, are critical.
Meeting A Potential Sponsor - Some Basic Do’s & Don’t’s:
Never attend a meeting with a potential sponsor in a t-shirt or any other ultra-casual attire. If you own a suit, wear it! Any chance you have to meet with a potential sponsor, in any setting that (especially) occurs on their turf (office), have a suit and tie on if at all possible (or an appropriate dress or suit for female drivers/team representatives). It exudes an air of professionalism and respect, and it also signals that you are not some stereotypical half-wit, half-baked, redneck grease monkey with a sixth grade education. Sadly, although in rapidly diminishing numbers, that stereotype still exists among some of the powers-that-be in the business world from Wall Street to Main Street in your town. Do this whether you are meeting for a $150,000 sponsorship with a major company or a $500 sponsorship from the local mom and pop store.
When communicating with a potential sponsor over the telephone be in a quiet area. The last thing you need them to hear in the background are power tools running, screaming children, a barking dog or a spouse reprimanding the children or you.
Keep this in mind when searching for a sponsor, or having a discussion with a potential sponsor: It’s all about what YOU can do for THEM! It’s all about generating traffic to their business and selling product. That is the number one priority and should be the main topic of discussion. This is business, it’s all about business, and the racing is secondary.
With that being said do research into the company that you are targeting. In your cover letter of introduction drop some facts about the company into your letter. If you are able to eventually speak with, or meet with a company representative, start off by congratulating them on their increased market share (if that in fact occurred), tell them something technical about the product they produce, make the impression from the start that you have a valid and knowledgeable interest in their company and ask some inquisitive questions about their operation. This will add to your credibility.
In relation to the above, when meeting with a potential sponsor carry an attitude that you yourself are an employee of the company, that you are a team player and that you are anxious to show them how beneficial and how potent a marketing and promotional tool motorsports can be to not only their bottom-line but to how significant the exposure and impressions are in the motorsports market.
Let them know in no uncertain terms that you will strive to make every effort, and work and cooperate with the company’s marketing and promotional department, to see that every thing possible is done to give the company A RETURN ON THEIR INVESTMENT! And then do it.
Be prepared. Know your research. Memorize your marketing proposal. Be able to anticipate and answer any question with clarity and confidence.
Understand and know what co-op advertising/sponsorship is. Let’s say you approach a local fast food restaurant that is part of a chain. If you race at tracks, for example, within a 150 mile radius of each other and there are 12 of these XYZ fast food restaurants in that radius, it is easier to go the co-op route as each ‘store’ has its own budget for local advertising. It’s easier to get 12 ‘stores’ to each kick in $500 from their advertising budget than one ‘store’ to kick in $6,000 on its own.
There are some basic things you must be prepared to do for a sponsor once you land one and, being that they are ‘basic’, there is no excuse not to follow through with them on a regular basis where required.
You MUST keep the lines of communication open at all times! Whether it’s a simple email Monday morning letting them know how you did (hopefully the employees are curious if they were unable to attend). Regular press releases and newsletters are a must. It keeps them informed of what the team is doing on and OFF the track and makes them feel a part of the team.
In any promotional material, whether it is press releases, newsletters, post cards, trading cards, posters, calendars, whatever it is the sponsor’s logo MUST be predominantly placed and seen. In text never neglect to mention the sponsor. On any wearing apparel the sponsor’s logo must be prominently placed.
If the sponsor has it’s own apparel or is willing to have crew hats and shirts and/or uniforms made up in the company’s colors with logos then make sure the driver and crew/team where them at all events and in all photos and film.
Keep news clippings. Each week or month go through the racing papers and local newspapers and clip out the race results you are featured in and any other articles, interviews or new stories your driver may appear in. Monthly or bi-monthly collect them all, make photo copies, and send them off to all sponsors and potential sponsors so they will see the ‘ink’ you are able to garner. If any columnist writes about your driver/team, clip it and copy it. Do this on a regular basis so they will have a fat file documented on some of the exposure you were able to attain.
Any time the team has promotional items created, whether it is t-shirts, hats, postcards, trading cards, anything at all, make sure the sponsor(s) get copies or samples of each.
If your driver appears on a racing radio show, whether locally or nationally, make sure you have a tape or a CD of the broadcast for your sponsors! (And make sure you hype them in the interview whether you are asked about them or not.)
Offer your driver and team as method to create employee camaraderie, goodwill and a sense of ‘team’. Offer to bring the hauler and racecar in for the employees to view and check out and photograph themselves with. Offer to bring the car to the company picnic, etc?
If your sponsor has an ‘open house’, ‘grand opening’ or ‘anniversary celebration’ offer your driver and racecar for the occasion. It’s a chance to create more exposure for the racing team, the sponsor’s interest in the team, sell team souvenirs and create more general interest in not only the team but dirt racing itself.
When participating in such public ventures as described above get with your local promoter who should be more than happy to supply you with schedules, flyers, brochures and free passes to distribute to curious, non-race fans who express an interest in your type of racing. If they inquiry as to where you race, be prepared to hand them a schedule, flyer, brochure and maybe a pass or two.
The days of cashing a sponsor’s check, painting the name on the quarter panel and going racing are pretty much over. These days sponsors want a return on their investment. If they are going to issue a check to your race team they expect to get that back in terms of sales, referrals and exposure. Many companies expect a $1.50 return on their investment for every $1.00 they spend. But exposure for a company and their products/services is important and often cannot be measured in increased sales per se.
There are many things a race team can do to give sponsors exposure and many of them are relatively inexpensive. Locally based weekly teams can also offer companies substantial exposure in a variety of ways and, if documented through team press releases and/or newsletters that are distributed to the sponsors (and media, etc?) and with advanced announcement, creates an accumulative perception of exposure and impressions for the company.
Some Basic Suggestions for Creating Exposure for Team & Sponsor:
Website. Keep it updated. Make sure sponsor website link is on your website and devoted a page to each ‘major’ sponsor.
Regular press releases and/or newsletters. (See previous installments). Send to sponsors, potential sponsors, media (racing & mainstream), manufacturers, etc? Leave a stack at the local track’s photographer’s stand or the track’s novelty stand.
Do a newsletter, even quarterly and do hard copies for distribution. With computers a professional, informative and well-laid out newsletter can be produced and printed inexpensively at a local quik-print shop. Take a stack of these to sponsors to sit out on their counters for customers and to distribute to company employees.
It can be black & white and one page, one-sided
It can be multiple pages, colored pages, whatever your budget will allow.
One inexpensive method is to print a newsletter out on an 11? x 17? sheet, both sides. Fold in half and you have ‘four pages’ and eliminate stapling/binding.
Public address announcements. They are free! But it should be the team’s responsibility to keep the track announcer(s) informed. At each track you visit you should have an index card made up and written out like a ‘commercial’ about your driver and sponsors so all the announcer has to do when your car is on the track is pick the card up and read. At one track a couple people asked me why a client of Lehman Motorsports Services always go so much ‘play’ by the track announcer and always had his sponsors mentioned. When I mentioned the index card method a light bulb went off. The next week their team had a driver/team/sponsor card written up for the announcer.
Announcers: See above. Also, they can be your best friend on race night, especially if one of your sponsors or a sponsors’ employee(s) show up. Always make sure the announcer has the team/sponsor index card and always make sure he gets a copy of each press release, newsletter and any other promotional item you produce. If one of your sponsors show sup on race night get to the announcer and let him or her know they are there and more often than not the announcer will crank the hype machine up that evening for your sponsor.
Any car show in your area/region, participate. Whether they are race car shows or not, if you can enter, do it. And bring along plenty of your sponsors’ promotional material (flyers, pamphlets, key chains, calendars, whatever) to distribute to the public.
Always set aside, if at all possible, 25% of sponsorship money for promotional use for your team and sponsor. This can be used for occasional trade paper or mainstream newspaper advertising, having souvenir post cards and/or trading (baseball) cards produced and distributed, etc?
Parades: Free advertising, free exposure, free hype for your driver, team and sponsor. Plus impressions: Hundreds and thousands of people seeing the racecar with the sponsorship adornment as it slowly passes by. It may be the first time seeing a racecar up close by many people, and they will remember it. If permissible, have team members in crew uniforms walk with the racecar handing out promotional items to the crowd and candy and/or trading cards to the children.
Fan Appreciation & Kids Night: Most tracks that run weekly have these during the season. Participate! Bring your sponsors out that night to see the goodwill such nights generate. Make sure you have plenty of promotional material from your sponsors to distribute to the fans. Many sponsors will make up can-coolers, Frisbees and other inexpensive items with their company’s advertising message and the team’s name/number emblazoned on the items for distribution on such nights.
Charitable events: Pick a worthwhile community charity and align your team with them, or align your team with a charity your major sponsor may support. Most have fundraisers and often have public fundraising events. Offer your racecar and driver as an attraction. Work with your local promoter to have a special night for your charity that you support at the track to raise money and awareness. Such activity allows your team to be seen as a responsible entity that is supportive of the community that adds luster and credibility to your driver and team. Also, such activity with local charities also often result in local and regional mainstream news coverage.
Product sampling and promotional handout rights at all events your team participates in. You will have to contact the promoter in advance for permission. Have a team representative (dressed neatly) near the front entrance of the grandstands handing out your sponsor’s (or your team’s) promotional items to the race fans as they file in.
All television sports anchors and television sports directors in your region should be on your mailing list to receive your press releases, newsletters, etc? (Working with your local promoter) invite or entice a local television anchor to the track some night and offer to let him take a few laps in your racecar at intermission. Most sports anchors are regional celebrities that the local fans are familiar with so this will be a novelty of sorts. It will give your driver, team and sponsor tremendous coverage as well as the racetrack through the subsequent television exposure. Your sponsors will also be delighted for the television time because every second your racecar is on the screen the company’s logo will be seen. Be sure to hype it a couple weeks in advance at the track as well as with the local print media. When speaking with the sports director or anchor (or television stations promotional department) make sure they understand the exposure and goodwill this would create for the station as well.
Strategy plays a key component in successfully landing a sponsor with your proposed marketing campaign. Are you prepared if a business owner or a marketing or promotional representative asks you what your basic business strategy and intentions are for their company?
A sample response could be:
Goals of the Campaign:
We would like to increase your visibility, attract new customers and increase your customer base.
Products to be Advertised:
We will be advertising your company’s products and/or services through our race car, driver, race team, press releases, newsletters, promotional material, racetrack programs, broadcasts, websites, etc?
Measurements of Success:
We will measure this ad campaign’s success with your company by the number of inquiries received after its launch and the ensuing exposure it generates. This will also include telephone inquires as well as inquiries made in person, by telephone, by email and by surveys.
Evaluation of Effectiveness:
We will be reviewing the campaign’s effectiveness six weeks after the launch. We will work with your company to evaluate its effectiveness based on the number of inquiries received, the amount of media exposure created and any corresponding increase in revenue.
Again, these are all simple, basic items but if followed should see some positive results. It’s all about follow-through and making things happen. And always remember, that first and foremost: WHAT CAN MY RACE TEAM DO FOR THE SPONSOR? Not what can the sponsor do for me. Keep the sponsor (or potential sponsor) as the number one priority.
(C) Doc Lehman/LMS
In this installment we will look at some of the ‘basics’ that drivers and race teams need to adhere to in seeking, landing and keeping sponsors. For locally based weekly teams the basics are important to your team in securing and keeping sponsors since your sponsors are more likely to be local and regionally based. It’s all about the effort and the perception of effort on your sponsor’s behalf.
Going after sponsorship must be treated seriously and treated exactly as a business is operated. Above all else your approach, whether through your marketing proposals, press releases, newsletters, media kits, websites or any other promotional means, or any in-person contact, must be as professional as possible. Impressions, especially first impressions, are critical.
Meeting A Potential Sponsor - Some Basic Do’s & Don’t’s:
Never attend a meeting with a potential sponsor in a t-shirt or any other ultra-casual attire. If you own a suit, wear it! Any chance you have to meet with a potential sponsor, in any setting that (especially) occurs on their turf (office), have a suit and tie on if at all possible (or an appropriate dress or suit for female drivers/team representatives). It exudes an air of professionalism and respect, and it also signals that you are not some stereotypical half-wit, half-baked, redneck grease monkey with a sixth grade education. Sadly, although in rapidly diminishing numbers, that stereotype still exists among some of the powers-that-be in the business world from Wall Street to Main Street in your town. Do this whether you are meeting for a $150,000 sponsorship with a major company or a $500 sponsorship from the local mom and pop store.
When communicating with a potential sponsor over the telephone be in a quiet area. The last thing you need them to hear in the background are power tools running, screaming children, a barking dog or a spouse reprimanding the children or you.
Keep this in mind when searching for a sponsor, or having a discussion with a potential sponsor: It’s all about what YOU can do for THEM! It’s all about generating traffic to their business and selling product. That is the number one priority and should be the main topic of discussion. This is business, it’s all about business, and the racing is secondary.
With that being said do research into the company that you are targeting. In your cover letter of introduction drop some facts about the company into your letter. If you are able to eventually speak with, or meet with a company representative, start off by congratulating them on their increased market share (if that in fact occurred), tell them something technical about the product they produce, make the impression from the start that you have a valid and knowledgeable interest in their company and ask some inquisitive questions about their operation. This will add to your credibility.
In relation to the above, when meeting with a potential sponsor carry an attitude that you yourself are an employee of the company, that you are a team player and that you are anxious to show them how beneficial and how potent a marketing and promotional tool motorsports can be to not only their bottom-line but to how significant the exposure and impressions are in the motorsports market.
Let them know in no uncertain terms that you will strive to make every effort, and work and cooperate with the company’s marketing and promotional department, to see that every thing possible is done to give the company A RETURN ON THEIR INVESTMENT! And then do it.
Be prepared. Know your research. Memorize your marketing proposal. Be able to anticipate and answer any question with clarity and confidence.
Understand and know what co-op advertising/sponsorship is. Let’s say you approach a local fast food restaurant that is part of a chain. If you race at tracks, for example, within a 150 mile radius of each other and there are 12 of these XYZ fast food restaurants in that radius, it is easier to go the co-op route as each ‘store’ has its own budget for local advertising. It’s easier to get 12 ‘stores’ to each kick in $500 from their advertising budget than one ‘store’ to kick in $6,000 on its own.
There are some basic things you must be prepared to do for a sponsor once you land one and, being that they are ‘basic’, there is no excuse not to follow through with them on a regular basis where required.
You MUST keep the lines of communication open at all times! Whether it’s a simple email Monday morning letting them know how you did (hopefully the employees are curious if they were unable to attend). Regular press releases and newsletters are a must. It keeps them informed of what the team is doing on and OFF the track and makes them feel a part of the team.
In any promotional material, whether it is press releases, newsletters, post cards, trading cards, posters, calendars, whatever it is the sponsor’s logo MUST be predominantly placed and seen. In text never neglect to mention the sponsor. On any wearing apparel the sponsor’s logo must be prominently placed.
If the sponsor has it’s own apparel or is willing to have crew hats and shirts and/or uniforms made up in the company’s colors with logos then make sure the driver and crew/team where them at all events and in all photos and film.
Keep news clippings. Each week or month go through the racing papers and local newspapers and clip out the race results you are featured in and any other articles, interviews or new stories your driver may appear in. Monthly or bi-monthly collect them all, make photo copies, and send them off to all sponsors and potential sponsors so they will see the ‘ink’ you are able to garner. If any columnist writes about your driver/team, clip it and copy it. Do this on a regular basis so they will have a fat file documented on some of the exposure you were able to attain.
Any time the team has promotional items created, whether it is t-shirts, hats, postcards, trading cards, anything at all, make sure the sponsor(s) get copies or samples of each.
If your driver appears on a racing radio show, whether locally or nationally, make sure you have a tape or a CD of the broadcast for your sponsors! (And make sure you hype them in the interview whether you are asked about them or not.)
Offer your driver and team as method to create employee camaraderie, goodwill and a sense of ‘team’. Offer to bring the hauler and racecar in for the employees to view and check out and photograph themselves with. Offer to bring the car to the company picnic, etc?
If your sponsor has an ‘open house’, ‘grand opening’ or ‘anniversary celebration’ offer your driver and racecar for the occasion. It’s a chance to create more exposure for the racing team, the sponsor’s interest in the team, sell team souvenirs and create more general interest in not only the team but dirt racing itself.
When participating in such public ventures as described above get with your local promoter who should be more than happy to supply you with schedules, flyers, brochures and free passes to distribute to curious, non-race fans who express an interest in your type of racing. If they inquiry as to where you race, be prepared to hand them a schedule, flyer, brochure and maybe a pass or two.
The days of cashing a sponsor’s check, painting the name on the quarter panel and going racing are pretty much over. These days sponsors want a return on their investment. If they are going to issue a check to your race team they expect to get that back in terms of sales, referrals and exposure. Many companies expect a $1.50 return on their investment for every $1.00 they spend. But exposure for a company and their products/services is important and often cannot be measured in increased sales per se.
There are many things a race team can do to give sponsors exposure and many of them are relatively inexpensive. Locally based weekly teams can also offer companies substantial exposure in a variety of ways and, if documented through team press releases and/or newsletters that are distributed to the sponsors (and media, etc?) and with advanced announcement, creates an accumulative perception of exposure and impressions for the company.
Some Basic Suggestions for Creating Exposure for Team & Sponsor:
Website. Keep it updated. Make sure sponsor website link is on your website and devoted a page to each ‘major’ sponsor.
Regular press releases and/or newsletters. (See previous installments). Send to sponsors, potential sponsors, media (racing & mainstream), manufacturers, etc? Leave a stack at the local track’s photographer’s stand or the track’s novelty stand.
Do a newsletter, even quarterly and do hard copies for distribution. With computers a professional, informative and well-laid out newsletter can be produced and printed inexpensively at a local quik-print shop. Take a stack of these to sponsors to sit out on their counters for customers and to distribute to company employees.
It can be black & white and one page, one-sided
It can be multiple pages, colored pages, whatever your budget will allow.
One inexpensive method is to print a newsletter out on an 11? x 17? sheet, both sides. Fold in half and you have ‘four pages’ and eliminate stapling/binding.
Public address announcements. They are free! But it should be the team’s responsibility to keep the track announcer(s) informed. At each track you visit you should have an index card made up and written out like a ‘commercial’ about your driver and sponsors so all the announcer has to do when your car is on the track is pick the card up and read. At one track a couple people asked me why a client of Lehman Motorsports Services always go so much ‘play’ by the track announcer and always had his sponsors mentioned. When I mentioned the index card method a light bulb went off. The next week their team had a driver/team/sponsor card written up for the announcer.
Announcers: See above. Also, they can be your best friend on race night, especially if one of your sponsors or a sponsors’ employee(s) show up. Always make sure the announcer has the team/sponsor index card and always make sure he gets a copy of each press release, newsletter and any other promotional item you produce. If one of your sponsors show sup on race night get to the announcer and let him or her know they are there and more often than not the announcer will crank the hype machine up that evening for your sponsor.
Any car show in your area/region, participate. Whether they are race car shows or not, if you can enter, do it. And bring along plenty of your sponsors’ promotional material (flyers, pamphlets, key chains, calendars, whatever) to distribute to the public.
Always set aside, if at all possible, 25% of sponsorship money for promotional use for your team and sponsor. This can be used for occasional trade paper or mainstream newspaper advertising, having souvenir post cards and/or trading (baseball) cards produced and distributed, etc?
Parades: Free advertising, free exposure, free hype for your driver, team and sponsor. Plus impressions: Hundreds and thousands of people seeing the racecar with the sponsorship adornment as it slowly passes by. It may be the first time seeing a racecar up close by many people, and they will remember it. If permissible, have team members in crew uniforms walk with the racecar handing out promotional items to the crowd and candy and/or trading cards to the children.
Fan Appreciation & Kids Night: Most tracks that run weekly have these during the season. Participate! Bring your sponsors out that night to see the goodwill such nights generate. Make sure you have plenty of promotional material from your sponsors to distribute to the fans. Many sponsors will make up can-coolers, Frisbees and other inexpensive items with their company’s advertising message and the team’s name/number emblazoned on the items for distribution on such nights.
Charitable events: Pick a worthwhile community charity and align your team with them, or align your team with a charity your major sponsor may support. Most have fundraisers and often have public fundraising events. Offer your racecar and driver as an attraction. Work with your local promoter to have a special night for your charity that you support at the track to raise money and awareness. Such activity allows your team to be seen as a responsible entity that is supportive of the community that adds luster and credibility to your driver and team. Also, such activity with local charities also often result in local and regional mainstream news coverage.
Product sampling and promotional handout rights at all events your team participates in. You will have to contact the promoter in advance for permission. Have a team representative (dressed neatly) near the front entrance of the grandstands handing out your sponsor’s (or your team’s) promotional items to the race fans as they file in.
All television sports anchors and television sports directors in your region should be on your mailing list to receive your press releases, newsletters, etc? (Working with your local promoter) invite or entice a local television anchor to the track some night and offer to let him take a few laps in your racecar at intermission. Most sports anchors are regional celebrities that the local fans are familiar with so this will be a novelty of sorts. It will give your driver, team and sponsor tremendous coverage as well as the racetrack through the subsequent television exposure. Your sponsors will also be delighted for the television time because every second your racecar is on the screen the company’s logo will be seen. Be sure to hype it a couple weeks in advance at the track as well as with the local print media. When speaking with the sports director or anchor (or television stations promotional department) make sure they understand the exposure and goodwill this would create for the station as well.
Strategy plays a key component in successfully landing a sponsor with your proposed marketing campaign. Are you prepared if a business owner or a marketing or promotional representative asks you what your basic business strategy and intentions are for their company?
A sample response could be:
Goals of the Campaign:
We would like to increase your visibility, attract new customers and increase your customer base.
Products to be Advertised:
We will be advertising your company’s products and/or services through our race car, driver, race team, press releases, newsletters, promotional material, racetrack programs, broadcasts, websites, etc?
Measurements of Success:
We will measure this ad campaign’s success with your company by the number of inquiries received after its launch and the ensuing exposure it generates. This will also include telephone inquires as well as inquiries made in person, by telephone, by email and by surveys.
Evaluation of Effectiveness:
We will be reviewing the campaign’s effectiveness six weeks after the launch. We will work with your company to evaluate its effectiveness based on the number of inquiries received, the amount of media exposure created and any corresponding increase in revenue.
Again, these are all simple, basic items but if followed should see some positive results. It’s all about follow-through and making things happen. And always remember, that first and foremost: WHAT CAN MY RACE TEAM DO FOR THE SPONSOR? Not what can the sponsor do for me. Keep the sponsor (or potential sponsor) as the number one priority.
(C) Doc Lehman/LMS
