Quote:
Originally Posted by Sodemo
I always hated smoking and I never once smoked a cigarette because I saw one advertised on a car. With that in mind I never fully understood the demonisation of tobacco advertising, I just dont believe the people see it plastered on a car and then start lighting up. Its a lifestyle choice, not something you decide to start because you like Williams or want to start supporting McLaren by smoking West.
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I think that the overall tobacco product (as opposed to specific advertisements) was the 'demon' in that respect. The advertising may not have encouraged people to participate, but more to steer their choice over which product to consume if they were in that market.
Which - getting back to the BTCC topic - is where a lot of BTCC sponsorship sits nowadays.
Duo have been one of the most prominent names in BTCC recently - but how many spectators have gone out and hired/purchased Duo Plant because they saw the name on the side of the car? In reality, what they are aiming for are those people already in the market for Plant, and their involvement with top level Motorsport gives the impression that they are a trusted and high-level company to do business with, and also gives them an opportunity to host and entertain partners of theirs.
The same is true of Dudman and the involvement with BTC Racing. I'm not going to rush out and buy acres of concrete or aggregate because I have seen the Dudman logo on a BTC car. But what I might do - if I am in a position to require aggregate - is to contact Dudman in the first instance as I already know their name. If my involvement with Dudman is extensive enough, I might find myself track side with the team at some point.
This is exactly the reason I spent the day with Team Dynamics at a Race Meeting a number of years ago - my work had resulted in a close involvement with one of Team Dynamics' backers at the time. This led to an invite to spend the day with the team behind the scenes and in the garages. However if anyone saw the car on track that day, they would struggle to spot the company logo we were involved with, but it was still sufficient to generate business for them.