http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/st...toryid=3170311
On track with a sporting winner
By RAY KERSHLER
May 24, 2005
NO sport eats up sponsorship dollars like motor sport. And no motor sport category in Australia is bigger than V8 Supercars.
As far as sporting sponsorships are concerned, spending your company's money wisely is the trick of the trade. In horse-racing terms, companies have to try to back a winner.
The Sydney-based hydraulic and industrial hose company Pirtek, based at Seven Hills, did just that seven years back when it linked up with Stone Brothers Racing, based in Queensland. Not even in their wildest dreams could they have seen the fortuitous result of a calculated gamble which last year alone provided TV coverage for their company brand estimated to be worth more than $7 million. In their first year Jason Bright and Steve Richards won Bathurst and in 2003, after just two years of V8 racing, Marcos Ambrose emerged from the pack as the V8 Supercar champion, a mantle he has worn for a further two years.
As a result, Pirtek Racing is now as well-known in motorsport as Holden, Ford, Caltex and Castrol. And a company which started in 1980 with just three employees is now a world-wide concern with annual revenues in excess of $750 million.
Pirtek's principal business is industrial and hydraulic hoses and associated on-site services. Not exactly the sexiest game on the park. So awareness of their product and brand was a key part of the company's expansion plans.
After a flirtation with national TV, managing director Glenn Duncan and general manager Stephen Dutton assessed their options in the world of sport sponsorship.
"Initially we didn't want to do a football team because of the different codes in Australia and the need to enter a national programme to support our national network of Pirtek service and supply centres, so we chose Stone Brothers Racing," Mr Dutton said.
"Stone Brothers is based in Queensland but that didn't worry us. The V8 Supercars championship is a national competition and we felt the car would not be representing Queensland, it would be representing our company.
"We did a fair bit of research to find out who follows motor racing and we felt it would be good for our business.
"We have a wide range of customers from the likes of BHP and Komatsu and Visy right down to the the local enthusiast who might build a car at home and need a power steering hose."
Mr Dutton said it had been a great success. "The whole Pirtek network and indeed our customers are now cheering for our car when it is on the track.
"Brand awareness has been significant and that's measured because we know who buys our products.
"Obviously we are on the crest of a wave."
Pirtek became a sponsor of Parramatta this season.