Help with closing a sponsorship deal with the US Army

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Dana

Help with closing a sponsorship deal with the US Army

Post by Dana »

The U.S. Army is interested in sponsoring our dragster. This is the reason for purchasing this package. Is there anyone that can give me some advice?
It is not your tipical sponsorship and was wondering what approach should be taken. I have already spoken to an E9 Sergeant whom in turn put me in touch with a 1ST Sergeant who then put me in touch with the Advertising and Public Affairs Department. Everyone is in agreement that they want to sponsor us but still have a long way to go to get it. Please contact me. Dana
Beverly
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US Army sponsorship

Post by Beverly »

Dana,

Congratulations on getting your foot in the door! The bottom line with any sponsorship success is creating a partnership. Remember that they want to get some benefit from this. I am not sure at what level you race, but regardless, you have a great demographic for the U.S. Army. Not only do you have the young, viral men and women attending the race but also participating. You'll want to give out something at the track and also take your car to the local recruiting offices or armory. You probably have already thought of these things but it is just so exciting that you have made this contact. You will be more popular just because the military is so popular today.

What specific questions do you have?

Where are you in the process? Have you done a presentation? Created the proposal? Do you already have media kits? What level and where are you racing? Are you with IHRA or NHRA?
Dana

US Army Sponsorship

Post by Dana »

We have a 1997 Mullis Dragster that did have a 509 but it's last time at the
track we threw a rod. In speaking with Sgt Lee and 1ST Sgt Paul they don't
seem understand drag racing as mush as Nascar. Our thoughts, since we own a
repair shop with only 3 employees, that we keep it to bracket racing. When I spoke to Ron (Advertising and Public Affairs), whom also doesn't understand, he wanted to know how many tracks were in the state of Florida. If we stay in the state of Florida, bracket racing would be the answer.

We have thought about all the public appearances that would benefit like;
High Schools, Colleges, Theme Parks, Fairs, etc. Also, not going to the same track every weekend and also having a recruiter at every race. They love these ideas. The things they want to know is about driver & crew, the
concept about bracket racing, what we have to offer them and of course
money. I don't believe that the Army will do anything half way but have no idea what to ask for. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Guest

Army sponsorship

Post by Guest »

Dana,

I was looking to get sponsorship from the US Army.
I was in the army, so I jumped through all their hoops.

If you would like to email me I can give you the contact information for the officers in charge of the sponsorship programs.

What I found out was that there is ONE Company that handles all of the army's sponsorship programs. The budget is about $20 mil.
The problem I ran into was that this company also OWNS the teams that they are sponsoring.
So I don’t really think you will get very far.
I was offering Major impact (SCCA WORLD CHALLENGE) for only $120,000.00 per year. Much less money than they are currently paying, with almost as much impact to the EXACT demographic they are looking for.
Still no dice.

I don’t mean to say "DONT TRY" but I would not plan team finances around this sponsorship.

I will help in any way I can.
PreGrid
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Post by PreGrid »

The problem with getting sponsorships that most Racers face is that they don't understand or offer the "value" the Sponsor is looking for. Beleive it or not, Exposure is only PART of the package and at the larger levels multi-million dollar teams are operating, exposure is a fringe benefit.

"Guest", I am interested in having a World Challenge Competitor to represent but that's because I work for Sponsors that operate at a level where exposure IS the point....

I'm trying not to give to much away or negatively impact GO ARMY and the reasons they operate like they do, but the world of high level Sponsorships is not necessarilly about exposure... its BUSINESS. And that business has to have a tangible return on investment IN ADDTIION to the exposure.

That's what GO ARMY needs and what many sponsorship professionals offer their customers, teams and sponsors.

That is a long way of saying this... you need to offer MORE at that level to make it worth it to them. There are many ways we do that extending FAR beyond exposure.

Don't feel bad or angry at GO ARMY or any other major sponsor. They are following their own charter and rules. You just need to figure out how to fit into that mold. ;)

Let me know if I can help...

Scott@PreGrid.com

Scott
------
www.pregrid.com
Are you ready?
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Matt
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Post by Matt »

When working with the military branches, you first need to know their structure and how they operate.

Local recruiting offices have a small budget of their own, usually under 30K. They report to a district office. The District office controls around 50-100 recruiting offices. The District office also has it's own marketing budget (a good bit larger) to promote it's local recrutiting offices. The District offices usually report to a Regional Office, which also has it's own budget. Then the Regional offices will report to the National Headquarters. The National Headquarters usually has a big budget in the multi-millions to promote their branch on a National level. The National Headquarters report directly to the House and Senate on Capital Hill.

What I've experienced is, the National Headquarters only want to sponsor higher profile racers/teams that have a complete National scope, and usually get a great bit of National TV time.

If you are a regional racer (Florida bracket racing), you have a better chance going to a District Office or Regional Office, and getting sponsored straight from their seperate budget.

If you race only locally, their is still a good chance that you can work out a smaller deal with your local recruiting office. Putting your car on display at the recruiting office is a great idea to pitch, but is already very common. Try to think of other cost-effective marketing programs that you can do. Think Outside of the Box.

The place to start is by calling your local recruiting offices. Try to find a recruiter that loves car racing. If you can find a true fan of the sport, it will make everything go a lot easier.

I've also found that it is a lot easier if you already have served in that particular branch of the military. You will then be more knowledgable about how their recruiting process works (you've already been through it), and these guys love to help out there own brothers and sisters.
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