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Old 21 Jul 2002, 20:46 (Ref:339108)   #1
doug
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doug should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
sponsorship!! what I have to do....

I have a question I would love someone to answer, preferbly someone who can explain the in's and out's of the people in marketing. For many a year I have raced without the aid of a major sponsor. In 1999 we took our little team into quite a big series, the Proton Coupe Cup. In 2000 we won this series with three races to go, up against some big teams including Z Speed (Martin Byfords team in Clio's). In 2001 we stepped into the Clio's, and yes they do seem to have a bit of a reputation at the moment, but you can't doubt how big they are. In 2003 if it's not the Clio's it will be the new Seat Championship. BUT WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET SOMEONE IN THIS COUNTRY TO SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS?
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Old 21 Jul 2002, 21:03 (Ref:339130)   #2
AndyF
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AndyF should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridAndyF should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
You have two choices:

1. Write thousands of letters
2. No.1 and Pray.

Sorry I'm not much help, but I'm guessing the market is quite limited, with several thousands of drivers looking for sponsorship!
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Old 21 Jul 2002, 21:30 (Ref:339144)   #3
danieljboys
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danieljboys should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Yep

Agreed with AndyF. Having been there and tried it myself to no avail, except a local Chinese restaurant. And I'm sure the owner only does it because he feels sorry for me!

For inspiration, try reading 'Flat Out, Flat Broke' by Perry McCarthy! As Andy says, too many drivers chasing too little cash :-(
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Old 21 Jul 2002, 21:46 (Ref:339162)   #4
Craig
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Craig has a real shot at the championship!Craig has a real shot at the championship!Craig has a real shot at the championship!Craig has a real shot at the championship!Craig has a real shot at the championship!Craig has a real shot at the championship!
You have to do something different; something to grab the potential sponsors attention. Once you have their attention you can worry about telling them why it's such a good idea for them to give you their hard earned money to go play being a racing driver (this is exactly how they see it...!)

John Batchelor (B&Q) got his first sponsorship deal by painting his racecar in Blackburn Rovers colours, driving it to their ground on a matchday and parking his car in the middle of the main carpark with him locked inside and the team's theme song blaring out at high volume. When security came he refused to move until he got a meeting with the commercial director of the club and he eventually got one. They gave him a small amount of money (basically to get him to move his car...) and they also allowed him to speak to their sponsors, as they were curious as to what the hell that looney was doing outside in the car park... These sponsors, their attention grabbed, saw the potential in his ideas and coughed up enough money for him to run the car for the full season. He won the title that year and that was that... now he owns a succesful touring car team.

So basically, do something a little different. Big companies see hundreds of sponsorship requests each year - you need to grab their attention.
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Old 22 Jul 2002, 01:05 (Ref:339234)   #5
TimD
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TimD should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridTimD should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridTimD should be qualifying in the top 3 on the grid
Also look for "Sponsorship and the World of Motor Racing" by ex-F1 driver Guy Edwards. Has a lot of good stuff on how to make any approach to a potential sponsor look as professional as possible.

His Company, International Sponsorship Management, had/has an address in Monte Carlo, so he must be doing something right....
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Old 22 Jul 2002, 07:24 (Ref:339358)   #6
JR Ewing
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Who some people think they AUTOMATICALLY deserve cash handouts is totally beyond me.
Other people make it happen......
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Old 22 Jul 2002, 08:18 (Ref:339391)   #7
doug
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JR...... I never said I AUTOMATICALLY deserve cash. I have worked very hard to achieve what I have done so far and as a result sacrafised a lot.
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Old 22 Jul 2002, 08:55 (Ref:339407)   #8
JR Ewing
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OK, sorry but some OTHER people definitely think like this.
I guess you need to keep chipping away at it.....
I think you can do Clios for quite little money if you run it all yourself. Rather than try and sell sponsorship, try and sell a drive to a businessman for himself, or his son, etc. Then use the money they are paying to support a two car team as a whole with you in the other seat??
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Old 22 Jul 2002, 08:57 (Ref:339409)   #9
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PS for this idea - think LOCAL as this is your USP why they shouldn't go with someone else when you've given them the idea!
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Old 22 Jul 2002, 18:27 (Ref:339883)   #10
doug
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OK, it's another way to do it. I did run the clio myself but it still cost a lot of pounds!! keep at the lottery I suppose......
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Old 22 Jul 2002, 21:14 (Ref:340074)   #11
Andy Roberts
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Just out of interest doug how much did it cost you to run the clio for the full season??
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Old 22 Jul 2002, 21:24 (Ref:340087)   #12
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Andy well done for your 2nd place at Snett on the weekend!

And sign onto ICQ!!!
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Old 23 Jul 2002, 09:40 (Ref:340426)   #13
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Hi Andy, not including purchase of the car, we spent some where around £40k. As you might know some off them where (and still are) spending twice that. I think you could do it for less, we just had a bad season, being involved with too many other peoples accidents. (and ok a couple of my own). I ended up re-shelling twice, once at the end of the season, but John George re-shelled six times. It's the amount of tyres that the front runners go through, i think their tyre budget would of done my season.
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Old 23 Jul 2002, 19:40 (Ref:341021)   #14
Andy Roberts
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Thanks Rache. If it had stayed dry we would have won for sure but theres always next time.

Thanks for the info Doug. I know what you mean about other peoples tyre budgets
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Old 2 Aug 2002, 20:28 (Ref:348976)   #15
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muggle not should be qualifying in the top 10 on the gridmuggle not should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
1. Provide the potential sponsor with some demographics of the racing series.
2. Always remember that you must be a "representative" of the sponsor.
3. The sponsor is looking for something in return for sponsor $$$$. Preferably increased sales, what can you provide?

I have a lot of stuff that I send to potential sponsors but my info is geared towards a racing series that is televised nationally (U.S.).
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Old 3 Aug 2002, 10:06 (Ref:349233)   #16
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Stacy should be qualifying in the top 10 on the gridStacy should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Re: sponsorship!! what I have to do....

As I'm sure you've discovered there's no easy solution.

However, the best advice I can give you from someone who sits on both sides of the fence - is as with business you find out what the customer wants, and give it to them.

Some will want full hospitality, some will want nothing except your gratitude.

Getting the door open in the first place to find out what they want is probably the hardest part, and that I'm afraid comes forth in two main ways:

1. Hard work and thousands of letters and calls.

2. Networking.

I'm afraid the latter is the most likely to bring results, and I would say 80-90% of sponsorship is through this medium.

For example if I had a contract with a supplier, I could quite easily suggest to him that I would be happy to sign the deal at that price, but he might like to sponsor me for 20k for this season. The reasoning is that if I sponsor myself, the tax man cometh. This way it's all deductable and everyones a winner..

So if you ask me, your best bet is to make a list of everyone you know, find out who they know, and if there are any decision makers make an approach. It's not guaranteed, but it's got to be better than blindly mailing.

Best of luck.

Stacy

p.s Fancy a go in Clio's myself, see how much faster than me these young turks are - could be quite depressing I suppose!
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Old 3 Aug 2002, 10:11 (Ref:349236)   #17
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Stacy should be qualifying in the top 10 on the gridStacy should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Re: Re: sponsorship!! what I have to do....

Forgot to say, I'd try and think laterally too.

For example you will no doubt find it far easier to persuade a local garage owner to supply you oil, fuel etc than money.

A private hotelier around each circuit to provide you a free room, instead of money.

Anyway, I'm sure you see what I mean - determine your regular costs and try and chip them down. It all adds up, and I'd say that Clio's is a good product which would enable someone for small money to get involved at a good level of racing which doesn't happen very often.

That's in your favour.

Stacy
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Old 5 Aug 2002, 10:32 (Ref:350294)   #18
Warwick
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We used Stacys idea to do our national sidecar series

we had a signwriter who did all the decals,
a tyre company who supplied all the rubber plus a huge tent to use at each event,
a motorcyle workshop which did all the work on it,
and a paint/panel shop who painted and repaired the body work.

This saved us literally thousands of dollars and really cost them stuff all,as well as that they were invited to each event where we had the tent set up with seating,plus a few dollars spent on nibbles and drinks,they were also invited to have a go on the chair at track days,and after each event were kept updated on our results.

We also had one major sponsor pay our ferry crossings to compete in our North Island rounds,product is nice,but cash can be used how and when you need it.
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