Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I proposed this topic last year and got some good ?s and responses both via forum and via email.  Thought I'd put it out there again.

I'm the Marketing Director for a company who is a Major Sponsor of our local dirt track and a Top Tier Sponsor of a Regional Sprint Car Driver who hits Lernerville, WoO and All Star Shows throughout PA and Ohio. 

So, ask me ?s - both race teams seeking advice (on how to garner more marketing, etc.) and fans who may wonder about the sponsor-driver or sponsor-track partnership.

Thought it'd be an interesting topic...or not, the responses will let me know. 

I'll start.  What are you looking for in terms of a return on the sponsorship investment and how do you measure that?

Nuckels not sure if it was you or someone else that said Holtgraver was out of the 70 thought he was going to announce plans a few weeks ago he would be a great choice for the Highlans car for Pa. races ,know he still had his own car last year could fill in with that other dates.

This answer is gonna be different for each and every partnership.  Some entities simply want to see their logo on the car. Period.  Those people are not effectively utilizing the partnership.  Notice I said "partnership."  To make it a successful venture for our (or any brand) it has to be viewed as a partnership, not simply a "sponsorship" (I know I used "sponsor" in the title). 

I'm looking for just as much exposure and "activation" off the track as I am on.  Logo on the car is great, now let's make sure we post a picture of the car with the logo visible at each and every race on the driver's (and our) established social media. We utilize a hashtag with each and every picture like this on social media.  We run contests through social media and at the track.  That builds activation on and off the track - in the stands and on social media - a HIGHLY effective tool with little hurdle to entry and no fiscal commitment outside of time.  Appearances with the car whether it be at our facility for our employees or at a partner store of ours or at the track when we have events is a plus.  That way we're bringing in our employees as well as our retail partners into the fold.  We also utilize in-store signs with the driver.  We even filmed a TV commercial a few years ago with our driver.  All things to make it a success. 

Meaurability is always the challenge.  If you're a smart marketer you can "feel" the return - you can see it through social media analytics.  Are your "racing related posts" garnering good metrics on social media?  That's a tool to use.  If you're a, say restaurant, give coupons (with a specific code) to the driver and have them available at the hauler and at appearances.  Easy to measure if those are being used.  We listen to feedback from consumers (surveys), our retail partners, and by being active at the track.  

Does that help?   

Wasn't me, but I know Danny and am a big fan (he went to same HS as some relatives).  Good kid.  He does have his own car he could always fall back on.  Not sure he could run the whole All Star deal with his own stuff.  He does seem to run well in Central PA...wonder if Highlands ever considered him.   

I never would have walked into Ollie's Bargain Outlet if they didn't sponsor sprint cars....cool store!

One thing I have always wondered is how do companies rationalize putting thousands of dollars into sponsoring a racecar on the local/regional scene with such a niche target market/audience. I understand the partnership thing and fully agree with that but how would you get a group of people to agree with putting their name on a race car versus doing other forms of marketing/advertising? I am thankful for all of the companies that sponsor cars but sometimes I think they are taking just as big of a risk as the owners are with their money.

What reasons would you tell other companies as to why sponsoring in the dirt track market is practical versus spending their money elsewhere?

What you say is correct but the practicality comes in because of the power of the target market/audience. Niche in this sense is a selling point. We're talking about an active and engaged audience, niche or not. NFL, NHL, MLB fans are passive. What I mean is its easy to be a fan of those sports. The barriers to entry are small. Have cable? Easy to be a fan. This makes us passive because it's so easy to flip on the TV and watch a game. Dirt track fans are fully engaged. You have to actively pursue the sport. This makes you an active participant in the sport, something marketers crave. Google "NASCAR brand loyalty" or "NASCAR brand recall." You'll find studies done that show that NASCAR fans are wholly more brand loyal then any other fans of any sport, by a lot. They can also recall what specific brand sponsors Nascar. This can be used in a sense at the dirt track level. A strong niche audience that is brand loyal, active and engaged (and makes an effort to support sponsors of their fav niche sport) is a win for marketers. Plus the cost comparison and ROI vs other sports marketing is a bonus. Example: the money we pay for our partnership of a regional driver for which we're the primary sponsor wouldn't get us an ad in the program of an NHL team. It wouldnt be even close to getting us any successful radio campaign, etc. 

Also use the accessibility as a plus too. Drivers are ambassadors for your brand. What other sport can the audience interact with the athlete at the most basic human level. This sells your brand because the driver is an extension of that. 

With that its probably the least risky venture we do. Brand loyal audience, strong brand supporters, low cost comparison to other sports and advertising and the potential for on and off the track engagement. We can directly engage our target at the track and on social media. That's a challenge with other forms of advertising. 

Nice! That's because dirt track fans are brand loyal and strong supporters of brands that support their niche sport. We're an active and engaged audience. Something marketers crave. 

I had problems a few years back when Randy Hannigan ran the Penthouse car and Mark Martin ran the Viagra car.  

Hahahahaha.

So what's the question?

I have no questions because someone already asked the same basic question I was going to but I'd just like to take the opportunity to thank you for supporting our sport. Much appreciated.

Do you as a car and track sponsor think the over saturation of "special" races is forcing the fans and drivers to pick and choose between supporting the "specials" or the weekly shows? Do you think this is hurting the tracks in the long run? Do you think this is the main factor fan and driver attendance is suffering for both "specials" and regular shows?

Some of those questions are probably better answered by drivers and tracks.  As a sponsor, my view is this: Weekly/regular shows are like cooking with salt and pepper.  You always use salt and pepper, it's your standard go to.  "Specials" are like throwing in a dash of cayenne or other spice.  What I mean is I see the specials as a good thing because they typically have increased coverage, increased "buzz" and the opportunity to engage our audience is higher because of the increased exposure.  For example, during the WoO Silver Cup at Lernerville we utilized the increased "buzz" to have our driver "take over" over IG account.  It was a fun way to engage with our audience in a different way.  We also did an appearance w/ our sponsored driver at one of our retail partners near the track during lunchtime on the day of the event, bringing in buzz to a retail partner and consumers in a different outlet.  It was a homerun.  I feel the same as a track sponsor.  Increased excitement with specials, but our weekly shows is where we're able to "build" our brand with our audience.  So each have their positives.  Now if your talking about conflicting schedules, I could see that, but with the track we sponsor and the driver we sponsor, their hasn't been a ton of "conflicts" for choosing between shows so I cannot specifically speak to that per se.    

How would a race team go about seeking sponsorship? Obviously you reach out, but what information is a potential sponsor looking for to determine if it is a good decision to sponsor a race team?

I think you mentioned some of the things to pitch....actively engaged audience, brand loyalty, lower cost when compared to other marketing avenues....Demographics, attendance numbers, potential numbers of people who will see your company name during a season? 

There's going to be two kinds of approaches.  Start with the "low-hanging fruit."  What I mean is start with business that you KNOW are aware of dirt track/sprint car racing and the demographic of consumer who attends races.  Speed Shops, Outdoor/hunting stores near tracks. Look at who sponsors the track and call them.  This is easier because you don't have to present an "education" side to it, meaning you don't have to educate them on the sport, demographics, brand awareness, etc.  They already know these things.  You just have to sell yourself.  And don't focus solely on wins. Sell them on the engagement with fans, your social media presence, your professional "team" and how you can be a partner, an extension of their brand.  The on and OFF the track direct engagement with the audience is what seperates this sport form others or from a radio campaign, a print campaign, etc.  The brand has direct access to the demographic/target audience in person and through social media.  That's powerful. 

The other side is businesses who either have no clue about dirt track/sprint car racing or very limited knowledge.  This is where I'd suggest using Nascar as a jumping off point because chances are they at least are aware of Nascar. Present them some data (again google it) on what Nascar fans are and then drum that down to the local, grassroots level.  Demographics are easy - blue collar, young families, like hunting, working on cars, eating together as a family, conservative...I could go on and on.  If you can obtain attendance numbers from your track, do it and present those.  But again, sell them on you as a package on and off the track.  Yeah X number of people will see your car every week.  How about doing scheduled social media posts on both Facebook and Twitter and IG. Also provide unique opportunities.  "Do you know that families with children can literally come sit in my car and shake my hand..."  If your seeking sponsorship from a local group of restaurants or an independent restaurant, have coupons in the hauler ready to give to families.  That's a unique and measurable metric.  Same can be done with local grocers or a local meat shop or a local outdoor footwear store or hunting store or coffee shop...

Here's a secret too, you're going to reach out to 100 companies and maybe 1 will respond.  That's okay. Keep doing it.  Mix the low-hanging fruit with "shoot for the stars" companies and some in between.  You'll find most success with a combo of low hanging fruit and middle of the road sponsorship then one, giant huge corporate sponsor (though that'd be a sweet get).  Present some $ figures as well in a presentation so they have at least an idea of "where to start" (marketers like that), but don't give it all away.  Sell them on the "custom package" deal.  Yeah a logo on the wing costs $1,000.  But let's do the logo on the wing, social media incorporation, coupons handing out, contests, appearances, hauler logo, hat in Victory Lane, etc., etc. and package it as a $5,000 deal (again don't present this "custom package" price in your presentation. Listen to them and get bakc with a figure).  Listen to their goals, if you get that far.  If it's simply we want our logo in front of fans, okay, or we want to engage this audience. Invite them to a race.  Literally buy them tickets to a race for them and their family (see if your track will give you a few comp tickets) and invite them down to the pits to see your operation (especially if they have kids).  Get them there and they'll be sold.   

Does this help?  

Yes, very very helpful. Thank you! Good stuff.

No worries, glad it help. Let me know of any more ?s. Glad to help.

Good one!