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Now You See It; Now You Don't |
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Let's just suppose that an executive from a major carburetor company wants to give Rusty Wallace some free carbs to run on his NASCAR race car. And further more, they want Rusty to paste the company's decals on the race car so the company can get some promotional value in exchange for the free carbs. Good freakin' luck. In the first place, only NASCAR can approve of what carbs are “permitted” to be on the car, and the same goes for the decals. No amount of money paid to Rusty will get a decal on that car unless it's first approved by NASCAR. There is a good reason for this. NASCAR does not want manufacturers of race car parts working exclusive “deals” with individual teams. But more importantly, NASCAR refuses to permit “decal rights” on any car unless that company is on the hook to NASCAR. It's NASCAR's show and they want to make sure that no one gets any promotional value unless it's first approved by NASCAR (meaning paid for). Now, let's take a look at Sportsman Drag Racing. Sportsman Drag Racing organizations usually don't have 150,000 spectators in the stands (at $80 plus per head), million-dollar sponsors or a multi-million-dollar TV deal to feather the nest. Sportsman Drag Racing depends on sponsors to pick up much of the overhead. And in general, these sponsors are not paying millions to be part of the program. Without these smaller, individual companies, there would be no Sportsman Drag Racing series as we know it. Of course, these companies are not providing sponsorship funding out of the goodness of their hearts. They want something in return, namely name recognition and promotion. These sponsors want you, the spectators, to know that they are contributing to the program. They want you to see the banners with their name on it, and their logos on the website and their decals on the cars. In the past, most Sportsman Drag Racing organizations have allowed any decals on a race car that the car owner wishes to stick on. This little privilege may be going away, and here is why. Suppose that a company (Acme Fluffers for instance) is making and selling “racing fluffers” and is a serious sponsor for an organization. Acme contributes good money to the organization, supporting it financially, which allows the organization to support the racers with larger payouts. In return, Acme wants to get their name on the cars, and all of the promotional value that goes with that. Now suppose that the Acme's biggest competitor in the “racing fluffer” business (Secondrate Fluffers) gives away a few fluffers to some of the competitors. These racers are more than happy to get a free fluffer and would be more than happy to display Secondrate's decals, to help promote Secondrate's business. Maybe it's worth it for Secondrate to give away a few fluffers, in order to promote and increase sales on additional fluffers. All well and good. But what about Acme Fluffers, who is sponsoring the event? Acme is contributing money to the program and yet Secondrate, a non-contributor to the program, is getting promotional value. The spectators in the stands see the decals associated with Secondrate Fluffers. Secondrate's decals are every bit as large as Acme's. In effect, Secondrate is getting the privilege of being able to promote their fluffers, to the crowd, and has paid nothing to earn that right. The fans and spectators in the stands are there because a specific Sportsman Drag Racing organization is putting on the event. Any company that wants to take advantage of product promotion to these people, a focused performance audience, should be prepared to pay for that opportunity. The non-contributing, non-sponsoring companies have been getting a free ride, and that free ride is about to be over. I personally know of several Sportsman Drag Racing organizations that are making plans for 2005 as to how to handle this “free promotion” for non-sponsors. It's actually quite logical, and here is how it would work. Company “A” is a series sponsor, at some level. Company “B” and company “C” are direct competitors and have decided, for whatever reason, to not get involved as sponsors with the racing organization. In this scenario, Company “B” and “C” logos or promotional decals would not be allowed on any of the vehicles entered in the event. The racers would have a choice. Peel off the decals or put the car back in the trailer. Now, some may see this as unfair to those racers. This is understandable. But racers are smart. They know that in order to have a series to race in, the series needs sponsors and the sponsors must get their money's worth of promotion. Promoting for a company that is not helping to promote the series is counter productive for the racers. Sometimes it may take the racers themselves to remind these non-contributing companies how important it is to be part of a series. None of these non-contributing companies could exist without advertising in the performance magazines. These magazine ads are not free; they have to pay for them. No payment, no ads. Promotion costs money. It's a part of being in business, a part of the “cost of sales” on the balance sheet. Once again, promotion costs money. It's not free. It has to be paid for. When you pay, you play. George Klass |