3 Reasons a Company will Sponsor you (that aren’t exposure.)

We’ve talked before about the word “exposure.” If you’re still using it to describe the value you can offer to businesses, stop now and try these instead. As you’re reading through these, think about where your strengths are and which of these you naturally gravitate towards. These are the opportunities that will suit you best, as you grow your skills and program in the opportunity areas. 

Here are three reasons companies will pay you to represent their brand: 

Brand Activation

Every company is in business for one primary reason – to sell something. Brand activation helps companies sell products by getting people excited about them. As a racer, you have the unique opportunity to get in front of a company’s target demographic and show people how a product works, why it’s great, or even that it exists. Brand activation as part of a sponsorship deal could be handing out samples, doing demonstrations, or putting out displays, among other things. 

Have you ever seen a company involved in motorsports that doesn’t relate to racing or automotive at all? These are called non-endemic sponsors, and it’s oftentimes difficult to activate their products or brand. Think about how you would activate the products of a bank or a dentist at the track – it's not going to be easy, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have value to offer in a non-endemic partnership. 

Brand Alignment

Brand alignment is a great way for a business to reach a target audience without trying to directly sell them something at that moment. Instead, they just want their name to be associated with a set of values or a culture that shapes how their audience perceives their brand. Imagine you’re shopping for car insurance and you receive two quotes for the same amount with the same coverage. You recognize one of the companies because they sponsor your favorite NASCAR driver. Brand alignment is banking on the fact that you’ll purchase from that company because they’re associated with something you value.  

As a racer, brand alignment is a hard sell unless you have a strong brand, yourself. If you’re not sure how to intentionally build a brand that will give you the chance to align with sponsors, you’ll want to attend the webinar we’re hosting this week – you can register here. Once you’ve intentionally positioned your brand to reach a target audience that aligns with your sponsor, you’ve set yourself up to become the face of that brand, too. 

Research and Development

Some companies come to racing to test or prove their products. Every part on your car is an opportunity to push a component to the limits, but it doesn’t stop there. Think about everything you consume or use during a race season, from the tools you use to prep the vehicle, to the cooler you use to store your food, to the HVAC filter you use in your RV air conditioner. Not every brand is looking to partner with racers in order to get feedback, but some are. 

As a racer, it’s important to understand when a company is looking for feedback on a product (and when they’re not.) To set yourself up for success in this strategy, you’ll need to build your communication skills so you can tactfully tell your company contacts when their product isn’t working well, and why. If you’re testing a tire, be prepared to learn enough about circumferential grooves to be able to communicate that they’re trapping mud and causing you to slide out in corners. If you’re testing a cooler, understand that they’ll want to know how many times you opened it in a race weekend and a log of the internal temperature at each open.  

To truly maximize your value to potential sponsors, it’s time to move beyond the outdated concept of “exposure” and embrace strategies like brand activation, alignment, and research and development. These approaches not only create meaningful partnerships but also showcase your tangible worth, translating into financial benefits for both you and the companies you represent. By identifying your strengths and aligning them with the right opportunities, you position yourself as an indispensable asset, ready to drive value and elevate your career to new heights. Your potential to create value is limitless.