Sponsorship Opportunity

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DaveK
You did realize 2/3rds of your team wasn't a subaru, right? Youse a math guy, right?

I haven't figured out the secrets of having someone write me a check, but I do know if you find the right shops and there are good tie-ins, getting sizeable discounts can be done with some good results and willingness to promote those companies, and entering "interesting" events doesn't hurt too.

Is it a better return to go get a 2nd job...probably...and at least that $$ would be considered a sure thing.

Yeah. Really we were more looking to have him look at it and give some feedback. He did look at it which was more than I expected.

I was thinking about this over the weekend Dave and in particular in reference to you. Do you think as race cars become aged they lose relevance to sponsors and thus ability to obtain sponsorship?
It is definitely a better return to get a second job. A night job as a busser at a sushi restaurant netted me around $15k in 2006, nearly all of which went into car parts. Of course, I had NO time to work on the car during that period but I did build up a healthy collection of parts. Being single helped...
Now I am more focused on living minimally and spending less money and focusing on local events. My goal for the year is at least one hill climb in the Merkur, likely the Sept event due to the baby coming in June and the thesis needing completion by August.

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Grant Hughes

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NoCoast
Yeah. Really we were more looking to have him look at it and give some feedback. He did look at it which was more than I expected.

Scott's an awesome guy!

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NoCoast
I was thinking about this over the weekend Dave and in particular in reference to you. Do you think as race cars become aged they lose relevance to sponsors and thus ability to obtain sponsorship?

It depends on what your sponsors goals are, and at the end of the day, that's what's driving sponsorship arrangements. In the case of my Evo I can say for sure that some companies are not as interested as they once were (due to their product mix), where others now have an interest because of connections I've made over the years.

That said, there's multiple ways to skin a cat, and that a new competitive car isn't the end all be all. Caswell has learned to take a beat car with no chance of winning anything and been able to put off going back to a "real" job for quite a while.

Me...I have a nice fast car and not enough vacation time or money to campaign it with any regularity and do it justice. Attempting to change that with the lower expenses of the BMW...but not quite there yet due to it being a new platform. Wanna sponsor me?

Dave

I think a big problem is that (around here) a lot of shops think "sponsorship" means "give me all of your advertising cash!"

Considering how much radio ads cost per month (INSANE), having some guy that races a car trumpet how awesome you are to the local car community for $500/race isn't that bad. If somebody was giving me $500 a race right now, with my additional discretionary income, that'd be a new set (4) gravel tires every event. Not only would that significantly help my pace (or anyones), but $500 pays (pretty close) the entry fee to any regional around here if tires weren't needed.

I also have worked out a decent system to give at least 3 ride alongs per test day (3 test days this year I think?) which would be a good sell to potential sponsors. I mean, like I said, $500 is piss-all for money, and I can say that with a straight face while being poor. Get three sponsors for $500/race, well hot damn $1500 per event ain't that bad even if you are one of those crazy people that is somehow spending $5k per event. What would they get in return? Ride-alongs, the car at their business, plus the word of mouth spreading (including social media), etc. If these are car related companies, the sustained word of mouth push is a big thing. Plus (again) in my case, two of the events are nationals, get them to come down and watch. Worth $500 every 2 months, so $250 every month? I'd think so.

*This part is just moreso off the cuff rambling thinking*
People get paid minimum wage ($9.30/h) to stand on a corner and spin Little Ceaser's Pizza signs for weeks on end. That seems less cost effective than say, $250/race, get them to throw a couple pizzas per event your way, and you rant and rave to everyone about how awesome the pizza is, maybe hand out a couple of slices, whatever.

Devils advocate hat on:

Guy twirling sign does ~50 hours of work for that same amount of $$ you're asking for, and he's out on a busy street with thousands (the real kind not the thousands from rookie ford guys) of eyes on him. The business can also see easily how much of an impact there is with his presence...i.e. they can come up with a ROI.

You playing around in the woods is great and all, but at most events, its not much more than 100 people or so at a spectator area, and those same people transit to some other stage. Proving ROI is damn near impossible...unless you decide to promise the world to someone, and in that case, you'll be mocked mercilessly and have a sponsor for one race or one year or whatever your contract term is. Being realistic with what you can provide (and doing so) is the key to long term relationships.

I think the interesting bit from your post is looking at the ridealong thing as a possible benefit for those folks tossing out some money. In fact its one thing I've been toying around with adding to some of my proposals for local businesses. Of course it might just turn out to be a fancy carnival ride for one event, or the guy could get hooked and start building his own car. LOL

Dave

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HiTempguy
If these are car related companies, the sustained word of mouth push is a big thing. Plus (again) in my case, two of the events are nationals, get them to come down and watch. Worth $500 every 2 months, so $250 every month? I'd think so.

Yuck. $5 Hot N Ready Pizzas suck.

I don't remember what that original proposal actually was looking for, but it was around $10k for the year if I recall for all three cars. Most of the focus was on the ROI that would come from allowing the company X number of days to display the race car at their place of business, entry into local car shows, and lastly the competition exposure.

When you look at a Group F driver in Finland's website you can always find a page with their sponsors. It always amazed me how MOST of the sponsors are NOT car related. I think these are more the level of sponsorship you are talking about but the events are more local and the drivers often likely have a relationship with the company. I guarantee if we had a rallysprint series based around my hometown or even just in the state of Wyoming I could get some decent sponsorship through my connections, friends, and relatives. The key to that is local and supporting local communities.

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Grant Hughes

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NoCoast

The key to that is local and supporting local communities.

Exactly!

And also, that is kind of why I specifically brought up Little Ceaser's, those hot and ready's are terrible, but to some hungover dude, they are the best thing in the world.

Why would the car only be an advertising entity when you are at a rally? That is silly talk. Dominos could pay some kid 9.50 an hour to twirl a sign, Or they could throw $500 your way to display the car outside the store on kids night. Give away posters of the car and provide an advertising service.

Offer levels sponsorship packages, include a ridealong for an additional funds. Offer to provide assistance for a radio spot allowing customers a chance to win a ridealong from their local les scwab, or gas station chain or whatever at the test day. Rent it to your local dealership as a display if you have a pretty car.

Most of your advertising power comes from when you are not on stage. Why should the car just sit there? Go sell it.

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DaveK
Devils advocate hat on:

Guy twirling sign does ~50 hours of work for that same amount of $$ you're asking for, and he's out on a busy street with thousands (the real kind not the thousands from rookie ford guys) of eyes on him. The business can also see easily how much of an impact there is with his presence...i.e. they can come up with a ROI.

You playing around in the woods is great and all, but at most events, its not much more than 100 people or so at a spectator area, and those same people transit to some other stage. Proving ROI is damn near impossible...unless you decide to promise the world to someone, and in that case, you'll be mocked mercilessly and have a sponsor for one race or one year or whatever your contract term is. Being realistic with what you can provide (and doing so) is the key to long term relationships.

I think the interesting bit from your post is looking at the ridealong thing as a possible benefit for those folks tossing out some money. In fact its one thing I've been toying around with adding to some of my proposals for local businesses. Of course it might just turn out to be a fancy carnival ride for one event, or the guy could get hooked and start building his own car. LOL

Dave

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DaveK
Devils advocate hat on:

Guy twirling sign does ~50 hours of work for that same amount of $$ you're asking for, and he's out on a busy street with thousands (the real kind not the thousands from rookie ford guys) of eyes on him. The business can also see easily how much of an impact there is with his presence...i.e. they can come up with a ROI.

You playing around in the woods is great and all, but at most events, its not much more than 100 people or so at a spectator area, and those same people transit to some other stage. Proving ROI is damn near impossible...unless you decide to promise the world to someone, and in that case, you'll be mocked mercilessly and have a sponsor for one race or one year or whatever your contract term is. Being realistic with what you can provide (and doing so) is the key to long term relationships.

I think the interesting bit from your post is looking at the ridealong thing as a possible benefit for those folks tossing out some money. In fact its one thing I've been toying around with adding to some of my proposals for local businesses. Of course it might just turn out to be a fancy carnival ride for one event, or the guy could get hooked and start building his own car. LOL

Dave

I did ride alongs at the local Subaru dealership in conjunction with the traveling pastrana rally car just before the last rally Colorado. I honestly gave over 100 rides through 3 turns and a hairpin ( cause handbrakes impress the ladies). It brought out a local tv station and the newspaper along with the cops on one occasion (an old lady called in a high speed chase because of the tire squaling). It was woth it enough for the dealership that they bought us a new set of michelins, paid our entry to rally Colorado a few weeks later, and entry for pikes peak the following year.

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FunctionAuto
I did ride alongs at the local Subaru dealership in conjunction with the traveling pastrana rally car just before the last rally Colorado. I honestly gave over 100 rides through 3 turns and a hairpin ( cause handbrakes impress the ladies). It brought out a local tv station and the newspaper along with the cops on one occasion (an old lady called in a high speed chase because of the tire squaling). It was woth it enough for the dealership that they bought us a new set of michelins, paid our entry to rally Colorado a few weeks later, and entry for pikes peak the following year.

Didn't you or your codriver work for the dealership? I tried reaching out to Mitsu dealerships in Denver (the one in the springs went out of business), and they had zero interest in any of that. Probably because at the corporate level they don't care about rally at all. +1 for Subaru!

Shit, seems I've been going about this all wrong. I've bent over backwards to build a damn fast car that holds records at more than half of the hillclimbs in Colorado (mostly a wank fest I'll agree other than PP), and attended some car shows (even one in California b/c ACP wrecked his car at PP), doing fun ridealong days at CORE, and come up with parts deals (which require an infusion of cash) but no $$.

What I'm reading here is that the best way to attract sponsorship for Pikes Peak is to play around in a parking lot, burn up tires, impress the ladies, almost get arrested, and then skip the race. F@K$, your method sounds like much more fun (other than that last part).

Dave

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DaveK
Proving ROI is damn near impossible...unless you decide to promise the world to someone, and in that case, you'll be mocked mercilessly and have a sponsor for one race or one year or whatever your contract term is. Being realistic with what you can provide (and doing so) is the key to long term relationships.

This is what happened to ACP and the NOS deal. The marketing guy for NOS at the time is a friend of mine and original owner/creator is also close acquaintance. And the exact words out of their mouth about when I asked what happened to the deal was: "He just acted like it was a full professional operation and it was just a garage deal and it was just 120k out the door with nothing more than just livery on the car".

They did get a pretty impressive front flip out of it though.

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DaveK
Didn't you or your codriver work for the dealership? I tried reaching out to Mitsu dealerships in Denver (the one in the springs went out of business), and they had zero interest in any of that. Probably because at the corporate level they don't care about rally at all. +1 for Subaru!

Shit, seems I've been going about this all wrong. I've bent over backwards to build a damn fast car that holds records at more than half of the hillclimbs in Colorado (mostly a wank fest I'll agree other than PP), and attended some car shows (even one in California b/c ACP wrecked his car at PP), doing fun ridealong days at CORE, and come up with parts deals (which require an infusion of cash) but no $$.

What I'm reading here is that the best way to attract sponsorship for Pikes Peak is to play around in a parking lot, burn up tires, impress the ladies, almost get arrested, and then skip the race. F@K$, your method sounds like much more fun (other than that last part).

Dave

I was a tech and he was a service writer at the time yes. Oh and there was thick sarcasm on the ladies part. Gave many rides to local dirt track guys who couldn't believe the car would slide without staggered tires...

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Cosworth
There's always an option to retract the entry because of an unfinished car. Although I can see him going there with a car half finished missing skid plate and the likes, just to be bragging to all his mates feeling and 7 foot tall. We all know what will happen right after the start crew says 'go'.

Well, unless he's telling lies, his parents found a wad of cash to get his car prepped.

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Ebay link
We bought a brand new Ford Fiesta and we're currently in the process of getting it built at Team O'neil for our debut at Rally-America's STPR in Wellsboro, PA on June 1st.

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Cosworth

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DaveK
Proving ROI is damn near impossible...unless you decide to promise the world to someone, and in that case, you'll be mocked mercilessly and have a sponsor for one race or one year or whatever your contract term is. Being realistic with what you can provide (and doing so) is the key to long term relationships.

This is what happened to ACP and the NOS deal. The marketing guy for NOS at the time is a friend of mine and original owner/creator is also close acquaintance. And the exact words out of their mouth about when I asked what happened to the deal was: "He just acted like it was a full professional operation and it was just a garage deal and it was just 120k out the door with nothing more than just livery on the car".

I don't know if ACP dealt with the same folks over there, but we were involved with them for 2 years with PPIHC as our only "sponsored" event. I tried so many things and just felt like an abject failure for not being able to grow it beyond the one race.

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FunctionAuto
I was a tech and he was a service writer at the time yes. Oh and there was thick sarcasm on the ladies part. Gave many rides to local dirt track guys who couldn't believe the car would slide without staggered tires...

Sweet, I almost hung myself last night...stepping back from the ledge now.

Dave

what the hell does a ledge have to do with hanging yourself? Just kick the chair out from underneath yourself with a rope tied to the rafters...