Can communities help fund our stars of tomorrow?
I was recently offered the opportunity to work with a young and talented British Racing Driver. This young man’s goal for this, the 2010 season, is to dominate and win the MSA British Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain. I was approached by him to discuss ways of generating sponsorship. This isn’t F1, but it is on the ladder to F1. This young man of 19 years old is exactly where Jenson Button was 11 years ago, and he is following in his footsteps.
Last season his racing was affected by the fall-out of the recession. His sponsorship deals were either with-drawn or budgets were sliced, and as a result he was only able to race for part of the season. His achievements during this part- season were however, truly outstanding. I have the statistics to prove it!
In such a high profile sport money is the key to unlocking the door. No money equals no racing, but how tragic this is when the talent is out there. Money cannot buy talent, but if you have talent, you need money. These young and talented drivers need us to help build their brand through our on-going support.
Now my business is marketing, but I see here an immediate need for change on how sponsorship is generated. I do not see traditional marketing as being a route of success, especially at this sort of level of the sport. Admittedly, once racing in F1 he may see a number of corporates showing an interest! But there is a need to change, to think outside the box and to look at the bigger picture here.
Sponsorship can be interpreted in different ways. For example, if we sponsor little Johnny to swim 10 lengths of the pool in aid of some fund raiser we wouldn’t look to get any ROI for our sponsorship money – which in effect is a donation. We do this because the cause is far more important to us than our expectations from the deed. The cause and the sponsored person’s determination are what we focus on. On the other side of the coin we have corporate sponsorship that expects a great deal in return for an investment.
We have all seen or are aware of the ‘Secret Millionaires’ on TV. My approach is not one of ‘altruism’ however– even ‘donations’ give us a warm fuzzy feeling inside, therefore what we get back in return is the pleasure from helping. What I want to do is make this young driver the ‘peoples driver’ by generating ground swell, attracting a huge following that will form a community of fans which in itself will be of huge value to many big corporates, especially those seeing the value of Social Media platforms for advertising and reaching the masses
At what point does Sponsorship require an ROI? At what level of investment? Are there people out there willing to help and assist young talent, to provide ‘benevolent’ sponsorship and let the ROI grow organically along with this young man’s achievements (of which they will be a huge part). The PR value of which could potentially be enormous!
I am looking to form a community, totally, 100% around Motorsport. In its many guises, how many fans must there be of Motorsport and its myriad feeder industries? This community will have one thing in common however – to no longer allow the corporates to dictate to us who will get a chance to shine, and if they get that opportunity at all. We need to put things on a really level playing field and change the future. We can do this, we can change things......
We all know of Will Young – the peoples Pop Idol – and we have seen the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Joss Stone etc emerge from the likes of My Space. Social Media is producing the stars of tomorrow through groundswell. Record companies are looking to the fans to see who they support and are signing acts and bands up on this basis. The days of them controlling what we hear are over. Let’s do the same for Motorsport
By taking the corporate aspect away from sponsorship, allowing the commerce of it all to grow organically as nature intended, and adding instead a mutual understanding of helping others,– this would be a passionate movement that could collaborate in order to follow, fund and join in this illustrious sport.
We are forming communities, sharing beliefs, passions, goals and much, much more on a daily basis. We are in a new age of technology and are expanding on the volume of conversation and engagement. We have Social Media, and with it we can influence and be instrumental in so much around us, we can join together, we have a voice.
I am wondering how many of you feel as strongly as I do about this amazing ability we have to make things happen.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I would equally appreciate any comments you would like to make. I am interested in learning of your view points
If any of you feel inspired by this, if you have a desire be part of this new and vibrant community with a mutual and worthy mission, that shares a passion for fast cars, motor racing and ‘tomorrow’s stars’ . If you want to show support and follow the ‘peoples racing driver’ you can do this in the following ways:
Email me: Lesley@oneplusonemarketing.com
Call me: 01274 606919/07883843559
Connect with me at: Ecademy and LinkedIn
Whilst you are at it, why not join Josh on Twitter: @joshbensongv ........
...and me @1plus1marketing.......thank you in advance for your support!
Vist Josh's site : JoshBensonGV
Lesley Aveyard
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