by Kristin Swartzlander | Aug 7, 2014 | Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Sponsorship
Everyone wants to know about sponsorship pricing. And the expert response is to base the price on what it’s worth to the sponsor, not how much you want or need. Price should be based on value. But that’s really hard information to put into practice, I know. The truth is that your sponsorship package price is just like Goldilocks and the three bears. It is either: too expensive, too cheap or just right. You rarely hear the it’s-too-cheap response. Most often, you hear ‘it’s too expensive’. The truth is, ‘it’s too expensive’ usually has an underlying meaning and it’s this: the value to us doesn’t match up with the price. Too expensive means something specific to everyone. Too expensive doesn’t always mean someone can’t afford it – sometimes it does, but mostly it doesn’t. Ever bought a $500 sandwich? Probably not. And I bet you have more than $500 in the bank. Just because you have the money doesn’t mean it’s not too expensive. It means you don’t think a sandwich is worth $500. Now, let’s talk about something a little bit more reasonable – a $50 burger. You probably wouldn’t buy a $50 burger 364 days of the year. But let’s say you’re on a date with the girl of your dreams and you really want to impress her. That $50 burger is boasting gourmet cheese, a specialty-blend spice rub, a homemade bun and Kobe beef. With this burger, you can impress her with your knowledge of gourmet food. You can show her you know the value of good quality. You’re not cheap. You’re getting a $50 burger....
by Kristin Swartzlander | Aug 6, 2014 | Racing Social Media
If you’re a sprint car racing fan, there’s no doubt that you’re tuning in to the Knoxville Nationals this week. Below is the annual updated list of Twitter handles that I’ve been doing each year. This list includes drivers on Knoxville’s pre-entry list and their Twitter handles, broken into groups based on their qualifying night as of Tuesday, August 6th. New drivers or drivers that have joined twitter since the 2013 list have been noted in bold. Wednesday Qualifiers (by car number): 0 Bud Kaeding – @bud_kaeding 1 Sammy Swindell – @1sam91 1a Jacob Allen – @JacobAllen1a 1D Justin Henderson – @Henderson_racin 2 Shane Stewart – @ShaneStewart_2 2K Kevin Ingle – none 4J Lee Grosz – @leegrosz 4s Danny Smith – none 4x Dakota Hendrickson – @dakota_joshua o5 Brad Loyet – @LoyetMotorsport 5V Colby Copeland – @ColbyCopeland5v 7 Craig Dollansky – @dollanskyracing 7s Jason Sides – @SidesMotorsport 7TAZ Tasker Phillips – @tazphillips7 7x Critter Malone – none 9 Daryn Pittman – @darynpittman 9w Jac Haudenschild – @Haudenschild_R 11K Kraig Kinser – @kraigkinser11k 11N Randy Hannagan – @hurricanerhr 12 Lynton Jeffrey – @lyntonjeffrey 12P TJ Peterson – none 13 Mark Dobmeier – @dobmeierracing 15 Donny Schatz – none 18T Tony Bruce Jr – @tonybrucejr 19 Bobby Weuve – none 19L Jason Tostenson – none 19P Paige Polyak – @paigepolyak 20 AJ Moeller – none W20 Greg Wilson – @GregWilsonw20 27 Greg Hodnett – @GregHodnett 28 Brian Paulus – @mpaulus28 (PR) 29w Danny Dietrich III – @dannydietrich 31B Christopher Bell – @CBellRacing21 39c Travis Rilat – @TravisRilat29 40 Caleb Helms – @HelmsRacing40 44W Austen Wheatley – @austenwheatley 45 Tim Shaffer –...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jul 31, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
Last night, we were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Lou Blaney Memorial at Sharon Speedway. Having grown up watching Lou and my uncle, Brian Swartzlander, go toe-to-toe for years in our local modified division, I’m happy to be able to be a part of an event that honors him every year. It’s probably not surprising that Lou’s hotshoe sons, Dave and Dale, were able to dominate the field and earned first and second place honors, respectively. Dave started in the third position and it was clear from early on that he had the car to beat. From the moment Dave took the green, and then the lead on lap six, I noticed most fans with their eyes darting back and forth between the brothers’ cars, watching to see what line they would take and what potential struggle lapped traffic would give them. Dale made his way into second place on lap 15 but didn’t give his teammate a challenge. That didn’t stop most from keeping their eyes glued to the pair, following the action and giving a rousing ovation at the finish. Watching that race, and watching the fans’ reaction, it was really clear how much of the excitement of racing is tied to a story. Yes, Dave’s impressive performance would have been entertaining whether or not he was Lou’s son. But the added hook of racing against his brother to win the race held in his father’s honor – for the first time, no less – was enough to keep everyone on their edge of their seats. Talking to drivers and crew in the pits...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jul 25, 2014 | Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship
Since we’re about mid-way through racing season (insert tears here), I thought now would be a good time to talk about something we all should be doing right now: sponsorship activation. But what does that even mean, you ask. I will tell you, obviously, because we are friends and you asked. Sponsorship activation is bringing your marketing partnership to life. Ultimately, the goal of a sponsorship is to achieve specific business goals, whether that’s increasing product sales, getting exposure to another business or businesses, or obtaining community buy-in for a message or project. ‘Activating’ a sponsorship means using the assets you promised to give your marketing partner to achieve those goals. It means taking action. Many companies have been turned off by the notion of racing sponsorship because of the past, when it was business as usual to slap a logo on a car and cash a check. That model rarely, if ever, works anymore – logos don’t move product. And that’s where sponsorship activation comes in. Ways to activate a racing sponsorship: Social media Offers or giveaways of partner products Unique or exclusive content for your marketing partner’s audience Support your marketing partner’s activation efforts (ex. Take photos of their advertising campaigns or PR placements for your social media accounts.) Brainstorm ideas for your marketing partner to activate Truth be told, it’s on both the person being sponsored and the brand sponsoring them to activate a sponsorship. After all, it is a partnership. That’s why it’s also important to explain to a sponsor up front that there are costs that aren’t included in their agreement with you that...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jul 10, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Sponsorship
We established last week in that one reason people accuse others of cheating is because they don’t like to lose. And they really don’t like to lose big. And for some reason, people really, really don’t want to accept that they lost to someone else’s natural advantage. They don’t want to think that someone can be that much smarter than them, in that much better shape than them, or be that much better at driving than them. They love to blame factors that are out of their control, right? The most common two factors: money and cheating. A lot of people like to think that at a base level, everyone is the same. Everyone has the same potential. We get frustrated when we see people in great shape, but deep down we think that we have the same potential. So it’s not cheating. (Insert motivational quote here.) But we don’t all have the same potential in every aspect of our lives. The truth is that most people who are accused of cheating aren’t doing anything illegal. Many of them are ‘cheating’ legally by using an unfair advantage. Illegal cheating is breaking the rules. It’s doing something that you’re not allowed to be doing. An unfair advantage is something that you’re competitors don’t have and can’t easily copy. Because they’re not you. Insider trading is illegal. Using the connections that you have or network you’ve built to get inside information about engine tuning, shock adjustments and a million other things is not illegal – it’s an unfair advantage. Buying components that are outside of the rules is cheating. Spending money...
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