Have Any Of You Tried Motorsports Marketing?

Chuck Courter

1st of all I have found the Contractor Talk Forums to be filled with many useful ideas and interesting discussion. Thanks! I am not an active participant on any forum but will post some of my experience here because of the interest in marketing ideas.

I am located in the South East Denver Metro area and am in home handyman and remodeling business. I do not use any print or yellow page advertising. I did some small newspaper classified ads my first year and since that time my work has fortunately come from word of mouth and repeat customers. Most of the time I am scheduled 1 to 2 months out but from time to time I will as most others experience a slow time.

A couple of months ago I was seeing one of these slow times coming on and at the same time my son Dustin who races karts and cars was looking for ideas to find sponsors for his race team. I asked him that since his mother and I had been his primary sponsors if he would set up his race kart in a parking lot somewhere in my work area and pass out my business cards and flyers. At the same time I figured he would gain some exposure for himself and possibly find a marketing partner that might benefit from his future efforts.

Dustin and I have done a lot of research and know what effect that a major motorsport (bigger cars & major series) marketing campaign can have for a larger company but had not given much if any thought about something a small as kart racing along with a small 2 man company and the possible results. I was in for a real eye opener. Since he did that 1 day (only about 5 hours in front of a Firestone tire store) exhibit I have turned down probably enough work to have kept me busy for 10 months to a year.

Dustin simply had a display that caused curiosity and peopled stopped to see what it was all about. Both kids and adults want to see a race car or in this case a race kart. Granted, Dustin is good at talking to both kids a adults. He handed out my business card along with a flyer to anyone who had an interest in his sponsor. BTW my name is not even on his race kart.

I am not saying that sponsoring a race car is for everyone but I do think that if you can find a race team in your area that is willing to work with you to do some promoting of your business that you will see some very positive benefit. Keep in mind that many local part time racers may not be experienced in finding ways to promote your business.

Many local racers are used to just asking for sponsorship money and really giving nothing in return. That is not what motorsport marketing is all about. They need to be asking you what they can do for you, not what you can do for them. There is a big difference.

Also many are part time hobbyist and for the best results if you try this you should probably look for someone who has more of an occupational interest in motorsports. It is usually the hobbyist type racer who is looking for the handout type sponsorship. You should be looked at by the racer as a marketing partner, not a sponsor.


This is just something that worked for me, your mileage may vary.

Chuck Courter
http://DustinCourter.com

Grumpy

I've not considered motorsport marketing but sponsoring a team of ANY kind weather it be baseball, football, or go-karts is a good idea. It build name recognition and is a good philanthropic activity to let your customers know that you care about your community.

Teetorbilt

Chuck, Thank you for some insight. In the last 10 yrs. I have gravitated away from my gearhead personality, getting too old to get banged up again.
We have a dirt track in Okeechobee, go-cart track in Hobe Sound and Moroso. I love the sports and will look into this further.

Brian Ware

Chuck, I read your question and was pleased to see this question. I'm a owner of a small contracting company in southern California and also own a NHRA funny car I have worked hard at seeking sponsorship and would love to get enough to make racing my full time career but it's hard to get all the time needed to contact all the people who might like to help. I myself would enjoy working with some small companies who would like to advertise in motorsports and might think they can't afford to spend alot of money on advertising much less motorsports advertising. If you hear of any small business's who would like to participate let me know.

Grumpy

Brain can't you hire an agent or conultant to take care of seeking the sponsorship? "Hi I'm with Team Ware we race NHRA funny cars and are seeking sponsorship..."