First Time Motorsport Sponsor – It’s a dilemma
Motorsport sponsorship is proven to work, many championship organisers, competing teams and sponsors are capable of proving that a very significant return on investment can be achieved with major televised race series.
It is relatively easy to demonstrate by measured TV figures that exposure of a brand in the motorsport arena offers up to 13 times equivalent advertising value and over 4 times return on investment, directly contributing to the bottom line and an increase in sales and profit.
We can therefore conclude that there is strong evidence that a sponsorship led marketing campaign will reach out to the market and will increase brand awareness very significantly, and more importantly influence customer action. However, one thing is very clear, if a major brand is looking at a ‘first’ time venture into the world of motorsport then there is indeed a dilemma for them.
The approvals process in many major companies for a sponsorship deal will include the main board of directors signing off ‘the spend’. Picture the Marketing Managers task of ‘selling’ the ‘first’ deal to the main board. A major spend on what is really an unknown.
Yes the investigation work has been completed by the Marketing Manager, they have developed a plan in conjunction with a race team, the artists impression of the car or bike is prepared and all the costings completed. So where is the dilemma?
The dilemma is really quite simple, it is a first time sponsorship, should it be a relatively low cost test exercise or a full scale deal? (Tier 1 sponsorship with title to the team and all the benefits of hospitality and activation that this offers).
The perspective of the sponsorship ‘seller’ is to take the latter option, as this is what will really work best, particularly over a period of 3 to 5 years. It is the highest cost, but it is the way to get the best results.
However the newbie sponsor is likely to want to ‘put their toe in the water’ with the potential for this to be a disappointment, nothing like the expected ROI, and what is worse a sponsor that is unhappy with the result, who then says ‘it did not work so never again!’
How to overcome this dilemma?
Quite simply the sponsor seeker or seller must clearly explain and manage the expectations of the sponsor if they decide that the ‘toe in the water’ approach is what they want. The team must over deliver on the deal, and then disappointment can be avoided.
Want to know more? Talk to them go to… www.motorsportatwork.com
“Motorsport at Work” is run by Sean Driscoll, Sean has many contacts and is well respected in the world of Motorsport
Coming from a commercial background, running the national and international sales teams of significant UK companies, Sean then followed his vocation and became the Sales and Marketing Manager at an FIA approved International motorsport championship.
Having run many national and international sale teams across a wide range of companies, Sean’s real passion was for Motorsport and became sales and marketing manager for an FIA approved international motorsport competition.
Sean saw the opportunity to close the gap between the commercial world of sponsors and the exiting world of motorsport. Since then Sean has worked with many champions and race winners a large commercial sponsors.
Contact Sean to learn more about how motorsport can push your brand and sales forward
e-mail: sean@motorsportatwork.com
