944-spec Series Sponsor decals

[Tim Comeau]

Most of you know I try hard to make our series as good as possible. In terms of on-track experiences, door prizes, sponsorships, dinners, beer, teamwork, I think I've done a good job.

So far, I've had great success in finding supporters/sponsors for our series. When I have, it was done with you(and me) , the racers, in mind. Most of the time, I'm trading advertising space on our cars, for products or services. To get to the point here, at Fontana, I was met with some stiff resistance regarding the location of series sponsor decals or even putting them on the cars period. I really didn't think putting decals on a race car would be such a touchy matter, especially when it gets you something for free. When I sell the idea to a sponsor, it's generally agreed that all the cars in our series will help that sponsor advertise. I'll typically tell them, "I've got this many cars that will be wearing your name." Now, with the resistance I've encountered, I'm having a tough time keeping up my end of the bargain, which is extremely important to me as a professional. Therefore, I'll stop making any further sponsorship deals for now. Honestly, it's no sweat off my back if I stop looking for sponsors completely.

At this point, you guys need to tell me if you're even interested in displaying sponsorship decals at all and receiving the benefits they bring. I understand there are some cars with graphics where we need to make exceptions regarding decal placement.

While all this is very disappointing to me and represents a failure on the way to building the series and attracting more cars and drivers, just let me know what you guys want to do. It's your cars, your series. I'm just a temporary manager trying to build it up quickly.

Tim

[944-Spec#94]

Hey Tim,

Good job on working on sponsor. I for one would welcome sponsor decals on the car. Anyone that is willing to give me something either in terms of freebe's, signficant discounts, contingency, or pure dollars earns the right to advertise on my car.

 

What I do think is important however is to figure things like placement and size vs their support.

 

A 10% discount is not worth as much as $$ or 50% discounts or serious freebe's.

 

I certin levels of support earn things like decal size and placement on the cars. I know some guys already have their own decals for various reasons. I think we need to keep those, but mabe set aside some space for other sponsors.

 

Toyo for example will only honor their contingency $$ if you affix 4 decal of proper size (one on each side of the car). I think it is fair to have that requirement. I'd like to see those 4 decals in similar location to keep things more professional. Right now that spot seems to be on the front fender just above the tires. Good for the sides. Front and back are little more difficult due to less space.

 

I guess we need be open to series sponsor decals.

 

My guess is that unless a group give us big bucks the bumper sticker size decals (one on each side of the car) are probably the best. Best locations are probably on the front fender area. Basicly the area from the number board forward. Lets keep the back end of the car open for personal sponsors/art work. Hood are probably best left open for personal/art work. Window banners? Well That is very prominet spot. Alot of az guys either have nothing or the "944-spec.com" banner. Socal guys have their shops. It my feeling that unless we get a big time deal (btw I am not sure what big time is) we should leave that open for personal/art work.

 

Also I don't feel that Az & So-Cal series sponsors NEED to be the same. There are shops and local support in So-Cal that would be interested there that probably would not be here. The same is true in Az. Now if someone want to sponsor all of 944-spec then fine.

 

If some group decided to be a title sponsor ie the XXXX 944-spec series. Then they would earn decals on all cars. Since toyo is providing contingency dollar for both group the decals should be on the cars.

 

Tim... If you get serious resistance just they the sponsor that what ever freebe/discount they offer is only good for guys running their decal package.

 

[PeanutinCA]

Tim,

at a guess (because I don't give a rats about adding decals), perhaps the resistance is because you didn't ask peoples thoughts or opinions on the deals you made? For example, the 50% on used parts, that's more beneficial to someone building a car than someone with a completed car. Therefore those with completed cars will see less benefit in that deal and therefore most likely be a little more difficult to convince, they don;t have much to gain. It's great the work your doing for the group, perhaps just communicate via email or this board and get people's opinions before finalizing the deal? And on the other side of the deal, with the sponsors, explain that the deal only counts for each "legal" participant (running decals) and that you may only get an 80-90% acceptance rate?

 

That's my thoughts.

 

Dylan.

[Tom #16]

I don't want to put decals on just for looks. But since Tim has worked to get discounts in return, they can go on my car, no problem.

[Spec-944#70]

I like the deals. Especially since they're small decals. If it's a big one then maybe some input would be nice. I want to keep my shop on the banner though. TOYO only wants 4 little decals and look what they give us. If a company wants something bigger it should have a substansial benefit for the whole group. Discounts are nice but cash and goodies for all sound better. I like the raffle type deal so all can benefit, not just the podium guys. And just because you car is done doesn't mean discounts aren't good. Tyler will be needing parts. You can never tell.

Eric

[Tim Comeau]

Ok, we're getting somewhere...........Let's shape what we have and move forward with it.

Benbow and I came up with a good idea for the Toyo decals front and rear. I'm very concious of the fact that we only have so many big places to put big decals, so I'm trying to conserve those. We decided to split the toyo tire decal and put it on the pass. side headlight cover. (See Benbow's car pic on Joe Paluch's website) That keeps the header panel open for something bigger(near the crest). In the rear, we split the decal and stacked it on the far left side. This leaves the majority of the rear panel under the spoiler open for bigger decals, too.

I thought it good to let the SoCal shops have the windshield banner because I wanted them to take interest in the series, too. We need their support. Once their name is on the car, it's a matter of pride to keep it running and looking great! That's good for all of us.

Also, I only negotiated deals for the SoCal Group. I gave decals to the PHX Group guys if they wanted to display them, but of course they weren't obligated to wear them. I did, however, include everybody in the door prize drawings.

I agree with Eric on the parts discount deal. It's not only for new cars. How about another set of wheels? I'd like to carry some spare suspension parts. Things break, too, right? Make sense?

Just giving you some of the "why's."

I still want input from Yousko, Marguglio, Benbow, Grow. I'm not interested in argueing, I just want to make sure this shoe fits everybody. Or almost everybody. How can we sell advertising space on the cars AND keep the drivers happy?

What else, guys? Other thoughts related to decals? Maybe soon we can scrape the 944-spec.com portion of the number plates off and replace it with a $10K per year series sponsor.......................Maybe NEXTEL?

[Spec-944#70]

You go Big Guy!!! Behind you 100%

Eric

PS - I will draw the line at female hygiene products though. No Tampax cars!!!!

[Tim Comeau]

CRAP! I'll return the rattle cans of pink paint today.............

Eric, how about a "Preparation-H yellow" car?

Sponsorship is sponsorship.

[pyousko57]

Tim, tell that decal complainer to take a hike! Hey wait a minute… that complainer b me! Sorry for causing so much grief about this. You are doing a fantastic job at getting sponsorship and getting us deals. I don’t mean to discourage that at all. The main resistance to the decals I have are:

 

1) We should be able to choose where to place the decals. I just don’t think we should be forced to place every decal in the exact same spot on every car. We have several different paint/graphics jobs on cars and they look very different. Why can’t we have the same individuality and place decals where we want them. I probably would put decals in the same spots as others because I don’t have an artistic/creative bone in my body. But I’d like the freedom to put a decal in a different spot if I choose. (and I'll try to put them on straight next time!)

 

2) I think drivers should be able to choose which decals to put on. If a driver doesn’t want to reap the rewards of the sponsorship, then so be it. What if someone has a bad experience with one of the sponsors (I haven’t, just speculating). I don’t think that person wants their decal on their car. I wouldn’t. I know someone who made a great sponsorship deal for their car with a business they worked with. If someone’s able to pull that off, I think they should be able to put that sponsor’s decals on their car (again, I’m sure that’ll never happen to me, but I’d like that freedom if a deal fell into my lap!).

 

These are just my opinions. I’m not trying to start an uprising! I think you are doing a great job with the series and sponsorships. Please keep it up.

 

Pete (decal whiner)

83 spec #57

[Chris Benbow]

Tim,

As you know the decal locations have been a sore point but we've been able to work some compromises that were real good (eg. the toyo on the headlight). At the same time, I would agree with Pete on his first issue and would like the freedom to place the decals where I feel they look best on my car. This might compromise your marketing flexibility somewhat but probably not to a significant degree.That being said, if you come up with some big name sponsor that will be offering some clear benefits for all of us then perhaps we should be more flexible. Perhaps you could let us know if you want to use a certain part of out car for advertisment before you close the deal.

As far as Pete's second suggestion,that may be more difficult to accomodate as you need to guarantee some degree of exposure to get the deal done. If these are big name companies that we will all clearly benefit from then I don't think you'll have the same degree of resistance.

As an example, Autobahn never seems to have the parts that I need and the only part they did sell me didn't work. SSF has given me one oil filter!!!! So I'm not too enthusiastic about these decals especially if they're put in objectionable places. But they're not so it's not a big deal

You asked for my opinion and there it is.

Despite the above, I want you to know that I really appreciate the work you are doing on our behalf and I'm very sympathetic of your efforts to herd this bunch of cats. To get a bunch of egotistical racers to agree on anything is a feat.

[jjgrow]

The resistance you've seen indicates the drivers are not seeing an appropriate value to the sponsorship deal they've been presented with. I think that there needs to be a direct correlation between the sponsor and driver benefit.

 

As was pointed out, if a sponsor only awards something to podium finishers then the non-podium guys will be increasingly feel as though they aren't getting any benefit from the sponsor. Perhaps there's a mix of performance-based awards and participation-based awards. As also was pointed out, there needs to be a correlation between the size/placement of a decal and the sponsor contribution.

 

Honestly, you've got a tough job trying to develop sponsorship for this class. Considering the limited modifications that we can make, there just isn't that much in it for anyone but Toyo. I think we all applaude and appreciate your effort.

[mfoley]

Great job Tim. Keep it up!

 

I'm okay with the decals but would like to decide where they look best on my car. For major sponsors like Toyo, I will go along with the group.

[uberklasse]

As someone new to the series and with a new car I really applaud all of Tim's efforts and he was very cool about helping me with making the decals work with my paint scheme. I am open to any/all sponsors and think putting any major decisions up for a vote might be the way to go.

[Tim Comeau]

Ok drivers,

The consensus is that :

1. drivers choose what sponsorship deals, and their associated decals, they want to participate in.

2. Drivers choose decal location to work with paint/graphics, existing decals. Only "both sides" or "front and rear" will be specified. I will probably choose a standard, but non-mandatory, location in order to use the available space wisely.

What about when a driver offers to put a much smaller version of the decal on, instead of the agreed upon size? Ineligible for that contingency deal? Should we say,"Here's the required size decal in your choice of colors. Wear this one, or don't get this deal.

 

Other points. None of the deals I have made or will be making require a podium finish to take advantage of. My wishes are that they must benefit the class as a whole. So that even "Eric the red" can look forward to winning something and cutting the costs of racing! BTW, the SSF door prizes will be handed out throughout the year. There's a continual benefit there. Only the NASA/Toyo tire deal is podium AND championship dependent.

BTW, Benbow and Yousko, I'll take care of your TOYO TIRES paperwork for Fontana for both Sat. and Sun. Righteous TOYO bucks!

Yousko, I have your bronze medal from Sunday. I'm almost done using it to champfer my new brake pads. You can pick it up anytime.

[jjgrow]

Tim, I would like to suggest that you to continue to consider these things programmatically as its much more efficient and to create some scarcity. I think that you can count on the whole group to participate in a program, especially since you now have some feedback from them.

 

The drivers, by virtue of their resistance, are helping you with the scarcity issue. (Yousko is frankly just a troublemaker, always has been ) No one else is stepping up to the plate, so just keep after it. You'll find the line.

[PeanutinCA]

The drivers, by virtue of their resistance, are helping you with the scarcity issue. (Yousko is frankly just a troublemaker, always has been ) No one else is stepping up to the plate, so just keep after it. You'll find the line.

 

Like right on Jeff, that's righteous dude, like, hanging with the Bro's, you find the line man, in the green room, yeah!

 

You might still come up with a standard location Tim so that say, 80-90% of the cars look uniform. Then the others can fit where they desire.

 

Get it on!

[David J Marguglio]

When was it decided that the cars should look uniform? I am all for sponsorship, however, as I think has been mentioned, I am no desirous of adding stickers just for the sake of stickers. Though I realize that at this point in the development we are taking all comers, however, there needs to be some relative value. If we are willing to put four Toyo stickers on our car because they are going to give us $$$ for tires, (thought I still have seen nothing from them) do we give the same coverage to a company that offers us a discount on future purchases? And companies that provide us products, (i.e. SSF) how long do we post their stickers, a race, a season, forever? I, for one, would like to know what we are getting from each of these "sponsors" before I start throwing a bunch of stickers on a paint job that will come off in chunks if I try to remove them.

[Steve Rea]

Firstly, great thanks to you Tim, for all the continuous hard work you're doing. I know what it's like to be the pillar of a group/club/organization, so, while driven by passion (no pun intended), and rewarding, I know it's tough.

 

I think your 2 points are right on:

 

1) WE decide if we want to accept the sponsorship/decals based on our personal idea of it's value.

 

2) WE decide on placement in general, with a standard guideline given.

 

I remember when I went to my first National Tour Competition for autocross and they required us to put the Tirerack banner on the windshield, as well as 4 SCCA stickers. I'm a mellow guy and all, but this blew me away. Who are they to tell me what to put on MY car, especially when Tirerack wasn't giving me nada, and I generally don't like anything on my windshield to obscure my vision. So I took the black vinyl banner, and put it on the dark blue paint above the windshield, so it practically went sight unseen (sorry, might have to watch me, still some small rebel inside ).

 

Now, as I'm building my car, once the go-fast gear is on it, I do want to paint it, and get it looking good. However with the time, energy and money I'm putting into it, I'd certainly appreciate being able to decide for myself how it will look.

 

As was mentioned before, I also like the freedom of getting my own sponsors, or advertising, without the car being overly cluttered with stickers. Some people love it...cool...some people don't...cool too. I say, to each his own.

 

Another idea for sponsors, is to work it out so that all paperwork, advertising, T-Shirts, and things like that, carry their name. This may not be perceived by the racers as intrusive as requiring them to put a sticker on their car, and honestly, if the sponsor is not giving some big time support, I think this would be a fair deal for them as well. For ex., the POC does this, and seems to work out ok.

 

Heck, maybe I'm just an American with an overblown sense of "my rights" or "my freedom".

 

Anyways Tim, thanks for listening to all of us and being flexible to adjust.

 

Steve

[Tim Comeau]

Couple points gentlemen,

There are no stickers for the sake of stickers. Every sticker gets you something for advertising.

I decided, after seeing the 944 Turbo Cup, Carrera Cup, and Super Cup series cars, that some uniformity was very sharp and professional looking. I knew I wanted that in the series that I was directing. Also, after seeing the Phoenix group's racing numbers (no offense guys) I knew I didn't want a hodge-podge of different sizes, shapes, fonts, for our series' racing numbers. It just didn't look as good as those Porsche racing series number plates. There's also the factor that, as the series director, things like that reflect on me as a manager. Why would I let the cars look less than professional? If the cars,as a group, don't look sharp, why would other racers join our class? That's the way I like to do things.

Toyo is the only company that requires 4 decals to get their"bucks." The other sponsors are getting 2 decals. I believe that's pretty commensurate with the "value" they're giving us.

The SSF deal is for the 2004 season. Hopefully, they'll WANT to work with us next year, too. We'll see. Joe Anselmo, from SSF, just bought a 944 to come racing with us.

[PeanutinCA]

Tim,

I agree on the uniformity thing. There are always other 944's running out there, like Fontana last weekend. Some newbies kept asking if they were in the class? If cars don't look the same, then who will EVER tell?

 

Dylan.

[Spec-944#70]

Keep it up Timmy!! I can always hide the decals with some black/white scuff marks!! To me it's no big deal. Do whatever it takes to keep it cheap. I like the podium stuff mixed with the giveaway/raffle stuff. Gives everyone a chance.

Eric - New mid packer!!!

[skip]

Hi folks! Hope you don't mind me barging in here

 

So, what is it that 944-spec racers would like to see from sponsors? Money, goodies, discounts, etc... what specifically? Historically, we give out hats, t-shirts, gloves, cleaners, fluids, generally anything that is more fun than useful.

 

A discount is great for both of us, but only works if you shop from us - we appreciate the problems that may cause, but it's the easiest thing to do for those of us who are not local to your events. Do you even want a non-local sponsor for your series?

 

So, with all of the opinions of what represents a fair trade of goods for advertising, I'd like to hear from the group as to what would motivate you to accept our sponsorship - let us have a fair and reasonable advertising opportunity on the car and wherever else feasible.

 

Also, it would be great for the group to develop some standards of sponsorship so that packages could be handed out to prospectives. This would include minimums for a guaranteed level of sponsorship for advertising, etc.

 

My personal opinion is that a spec series must decide to have full participation on not attempt to attain series sponsors - otherwise, "we" are sponsoring racers and not the entire series or event.

 

[email protected]

[944-Spec#94]

Tim with respect to the numbers here in Phoenix.

 

Well all started out with same number boards, but over time it has gotten lax. The 944SC over here is our "class designation".

 

Skip.. Great to see you on the forum. You are more than welcome to be here!

 

 

Now to Skips points.

 

What do I want from a sponsor?

 

1) Cheap parts! - Makes it cheaper to run races.

Firstly, Tires are the single biggest expense. NASA National set-up a deal with Toyo. Obviously the deal is better for the fast guys, but it is pretty good deal.

 

So best deals to have in my mind are deals for cheap parts. Maybe a xx% discount parts (All 944 parts) for 944-spec drivers. Personally have 2 other 944's and 1 944 Turbo so cheap parts for the spec car or my street car is huge. This deal also is handy to all drivers for new car prep or existing car maintence.

 

If you want to deal with specific parts then consumables are the best. Really cheap air and oil filters, brake pads, brake fuid, oil etc

 

Right now paragon has a good deal on spec suspension, but you it should only help you once when building the car. Maintence needs probably require just selected parts not the entire set.

 

What about services? Well services are harder to get benefit from. Simply put it does the Phoenix guys no good to have car service discounts in So-Cal. Not worth the trip. This is ok for regional, but not both series.

 

 

Of course one drawback from series level sponsorship is that it won't have the same benefit from for all drivers.

 

I build and maintain my car without the support of any shops. It is a backyard effort. So shop discounts or sponsorship mean NOTHING to me, but discount parts ARE important. However the next guy may have his shop do all the work and discount parts are useless since his shop gets parts and installs them. So he gets no value.

 

So Tim my advice is this.

Pick "Level's of Sponsorship"

 

National Title sponsor = biggest $$ to them so biggest $$$ benefit to us = biggest decal package with a possible "must run decal here rules" for all cars. My feeling is that if they "fork it over we MUST provide them VALUE".

Value to use may be two fold. Discount to all drivers and Marginal extra discount or freebee's for race finish order and/or series points finish. IE... 15% discount for all drivers, $50 Gift coupon for race winner, $35 for 2nd $20 3rd, $500 for champion. Etc. I have no idea if the level of discounts are fair, but something like this is good.

 

Might also have a regional sponsor

Secondary sponsor(s) - These guys do things are the much smaller in nature. IE.. 10% discounts, Low $ door prizes, These guys get 2 bumpersticker sized decals on each car. Owners get so pick placement.

 

To limit bumpersticker over load we may want 1) national series sponsor and 3 to 4 "bumpersticker" series sponsors along with Toyo's Tire deal.

 

Contact the 944-cup guys in Virgina. They have sponsor program so can probably give you some ideas for Valuing sponsorship deals.

 

Just remember that we as driver's would like to see VALUE from our sponsorship. Personally I don't have much in the way of sponsors, but some guys can get some good money/service for themselves. Series sponsors should not impede on the ability for a guy to get indvidual sponsors force him to cover his car in sticker and get little in return.

[Tim Comeau]

Skip, thanks for posting to our forum. I think it might do some good to have direct communication between the racers and a sponsor so that our guys can see what goes on.

Joe, Thanks for the good input. I agree with the "different levels" of sponsorship. I've been working with that in mind, which is why I've asked for specific decal placement (in order to save big spots on the cars for BIG sponsors.)

The free parts I get for the racers were chosen specifically to be do-it-yourself parts. This was in an effort to not upset the shops with lost business, i.e., The racer would normally replace an air filter himself anyway.

As far as East Coast stuff. I was in the room at Anderson Motorworks when the deal was cut to sponsor the 944 Cup series for 2003, so I'm aware of that , too. Good on Dave Derecola for finding sponsorship.

I believe Dave "owns" that series and so he can direct racers to apply decals where he wants.

[skip]

Thanks for the input, Joe. I'd really like to hear more of that from all the folks who might have an opinion here.

 

A concensus is hard to ask for at this point, but I am very interested to hear what exactly would qualify as a Title or Primary sponsor and also a Regional or Secondary (bumper sticker) sponsor. The group seems to be pretty well represented here on the forum.

 

PRIMARY: You gave one example: 15% off (related parts), $50/$30/$20 for Podium finishers and $500 series champ (cash or gift cert?... you know which one we prefer ). Is this realistic to you as a group? What does it buy with regard to advertising (windshield, hood, number plates, ...), loyalty (contracted for 1 year, 6 months, ...) and participation (100%, 90%, ...).

 

SECONDARY: What would it require to get a two-side exposure sticker - as some of you may have seen like Tim brought to your Fontana event with our name on it - 3"x14" Die-cut vinyl. Where would it be placed? How many of this level sponsorship can be used?

 

Joe, I fully agree with your comments regarding the usefulness of our current deal for your group - not very useful at all unless you have a bare bones car... Tim and I worked that out a while back not knowing how many would be able to take advantage of it, and also not knowing how large the group might be. It's still a very manageable number of racers - so, there's certainly more we can do in the future. To keep freeloading down, we have to agree on some way to limit membership to the discount club, savvy. That's a tough animal to tame, but Tim does an excellent job of it.