By Bob Gangwer
“Standing Out From the Shadows”
(Reprinted from Wailing with Wing Side Up LIVE internet radio show)
Oswego, NY 02/02/09…..Punxsutawney Phil may just have the best job in the world. He is pampered, well fed, and lives a relatively stress free live compared to other groundhogs. On the one day a year that he goes to work, people stand 6 deep waiting to listen to what he has to say. He doesn’t speak but on the particular occasion each February 2nd, that he is called to do what his sole purpose in life is, he does what he needs to, then crawls back into his little hut and not worry about the repercussions of his predictions, or his actions.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do the same? We could say what we want when we want to who we want then crawl back in our hole and not worry about what it is we just said.
I have to wonder sometimes if maybe some folks involved with the promoting end of supermodifieds don’t feel the same way. It sometimes seems that when it comes to getting down to the business of showcasing the division, that a lot is talked about but once it’s said, the person saying it crawls back into their den and sleeps a little longer waiting for someone else to pick up the ball and run with it.
Now I have a whole lot of ideas on how to promote, market, showcase and otherwise make it known that the supermodified is the one short track car that can grab peoples attention the first time they see them in person.
I have no doubt in my mind, and many of you feel the same that when that first supermodified hook is set into your auto racing jaw, you don’t even try to struggle. You don’t have a choice because the hook is so big and the pull so strong, you simply give in.
The thing is, supermodifieds may just be the hardest short track racing car to promote or explain to a prospective marketing partner. Unique in the entire racing world, one could use many adjectives to describe how sponsoring one or even a series or track could benefit a sponsor. We use a lot of those expressions and descriptions on a weekly basis right here on this show.
But using terms like unique, one of a kind, no equal, ultimate, and amazing may not be enough to hook a sponsor. It takes more than just talking about the “Ultimate Short Track Race Car”, it takes a pro-active approach and an ability to look at things just as exclusively as the cars are unique.
A while back, maybe 2004 or 5, I was asked by the then president of MSA to come up with some ideas as to how to help promote the sanction. Here’s some of those ideas here, because I still feel that it could be done and done in a relatively painless way for all of the supermodifieds.
We need to develop the awareness of our drivers. Especially when going to new tracks. Some lead stories in the local papers would be fantastic. Someone needs to contact the local sports writers and get them this stuff. Get them involved now so they can pump the race and help the promoter make money so he’ll book the shows again. Of course the hardest thing to do is make sure you have car count. Even so if the feeling about the show is good there will be less let down when only 12 or 14 cars show up.
I think that by doing human interest stories on your drivers, officials, crews, even fans is a great idea. I think it encourages the lay fan to see the light of what the supermodifieds can do for the human soul. Of course stats are good for the press kid and an important thing to include, but if the writer or marketing guy just see’s stats, he’ll never understand why we love this division the way we do and why he should fall in love with it too.
I think, if you can afford it, a nice diecut decal included in the kit would go a long way to schmooze the press also. Sometimes you gotta give a little to get a lot and at the very least it gets the name out there somewhere when they put it on the truck or cooler. Something else that is nice is a pen. I don’t know about you but I’m always searching for one. What better pen is there to scribe a story about the sanction or race, than one emblazoned with the logo and contact info???? You can get them cheap. I get free ones all the time just from having signed up to get info on them. How about a little notepad with the sanction logo? Little stuff like that gets that name front and center and hey while some will just take it and give it too their kids, you may find that others will use it and become enamored with the idea that a sanctioning body gave it away free. Even if it spurs just one writer for a local paper to be on your side, you’ve won a battle.
How about a monthly newsletter? If you are doing something anyway, say for your membership, why not include it in the kit? Make absolutely sure you have as much info as you can about the series sponsor. Letterhead, a couple brochures, etc. are easy ways to get their name front and center. Get it from your sponsors, (that way it won’t cost you a penny), and get it in there. Tell them what it’s for and I’m sure they would be more than willing to give you truckloads. Get a hold of the promoters for each show ask them who the race sponsor is so you can at least get the name on the release for the your show, and maybe even get some info into the press kit. That shows the promoter that the cash he’s paying is going a long ways and may encourage him to up the ante the next season. The same could be said for the driver’s sponsors. It could help get that name out in front of an even bigger sugar daddy when he sees the exposure the other guys are getting with the press. You know as well as I do the more a writer has to work with the easier his job is. It’s a lot easier to cut a paragraph out than it is to pull one out of your ass.
Where’s your purse structure and payouts? Get them in the kit. Make sure the writer knows so he can inform the fan. Remember even if it’s smaller than the other guys’ purse, to the average guy on the street or even a local street stock driver a super purse is a pretty big deal. If the writer knows what it is he can put it in his story.
Be the BEST, the BIGGEST, the FASTEST, the SEXIEST. Yes the sexiest. SEX SELLS-USE IT! Promote your drivers as Gods and Sex Symbols so that the fans love them as much as the Romans did their best gladiators. After all isn’t that what a race car driver is, a modern day gladiator? Find some nice, good lookin’ hotty to hand out schedules. Run a contest or something. The hotter the chicks are selling those 50/50 tickets, programs, or handing out brochures, the more your demographic is gonna pay attention and part with the all mighty dollar.
There’s no need to stray away from family values completely but, today’s society, especially your target demographic for auto racing, is willing to except a slightly more worldly view than the days of old. Hell, even our fathers as upstanding as THEY are would be more likely to buy 50/50 from an 18 year old than a 60 year old…UNLESS that 60 year old has a wicked cool personality like ole Pete Trenca did. Boredom will bore your fans, so get them excited and this is one way to do it.
If you haven’t thought of it yet you certainly need to have a driver profile page filled out on each driver. Usually you can get like 3 drivers in a nice table with professional looking borders on one 8×10 sheet. And stick to your guns. DEMAND that the drivers fill them out and fill them out COMPLETELY! Tell them to have fun with it but make damned sure it gets done. The fans AND the press want to know about who they are watching and it’s the simple things that fans dig. Things like driver Joe Schmo likes Ozzy Osborne as his favorite band, and so does Jimbob Doesally, (who has never seen supers and only loves Dale Earhnhardt, JR), may make the difference in a new rabid supermodified fan or someone that walks away wondering what and who they just saw. At the very least your fans and press corps will be more knowledgeable about the product you are selling.
Find someone to cut you a deal on freebies to give out to the fans as they come thru the gate. Make sure the promoter SEES the excitement on a kids face as he get’s an autograph card. I’ve never understood making a family wait till after a long day at the track to get excited about their favorite driver. The parents are wore out and ready to go, (especially if it’s been a day at a poorly run show that has seen 10 divisions of shit and then the supers), only to have little JR screaming he wants to go to the pits while his baby sister is screaming because she’s tired. Mom is tuggin at Dad’s arm to leave, JR is tugging at Dad’s other arm to go get some autograph cards. Dad’s stuck in the middle. Your target demographic is torn between keeping the old lady happy or keeping the kid happy. Keep the old lady happy and there will be peace in the kingdom. So where does dad go? He goes home. There’s four less fans that got exposed to your drivers and the sanctioning body. Put the hero cards and schedules out at the front gate as they come in. Get them excited about the show before it starts. Find an old super and tow it to the shows. Put it out where the fans can get close to it and learn about it. Make sure your sponsors are plastered all over the thing. Have signs telling what and why each part of a super is what it is and someone there to explain it further, like maybe one of those hot chicks who just happens to have some 50/50 tickets with her. Make them knowledgeable before they even see the first one. Get the kids IN the cars. Let mom see the excitement on JR’s face as he slides down into auto racing’s version of rocket science. She’ll think twice before the next time she says the family is going to a church picnic over the races when she remembers the smile and excitement her little darling had as he sat in that car with five autograph cards and a sticker. Then, have the Polaroid ready and hand out a free picture for the kid to take home with him. If the kids happy MOM is happy.
Tell your drivers you want so many cards from each one SIGNED. It’s mandatory. If they bitch tell them to shut up because you are putting THEIR name, THEIR sponsor, THEIR ego, in front of a lot more people than are going to stick around for after the races to get a card or even go out onto the track at intermission. And they are promoting the sanctioning body so that the sanctioning body can book more shows, for more money, for bigger venues. Drivers have to see how it benefits them. As a rule, and you full well know this, many of them just like to bitch about not having money to do this or that, or how expensive it is, or how the sanctioning body is screwing them, or how the promoter is a thief, yet they are so often rarely willing to do anything to help their own cause. You have to take them by their elephantine nutz and drag them kicking and screaming into the light. But you have to do it in a way that makes them feel as though they thought of it themselves, God bless em! PLUS it helps speed the show up if some peeps already have the autograph card that will be that many less that head to the track that you have to heard off. Not that it’s a bad thing but the benefits of this far outway the detriments in my opinion. And anyway maybe it will encourage more fans to stick around longer because you have created that excitement. The longer the fans stay the more money the promoter makes and the better you look. Even if he is running 10 divisions of junk to pay your purse, you’ve given the fan the option of sticking it out or leaving with a smile on their face and a handful of hero cards already signed. Keeping peace and bliss in the standard American family for yet another night.
So that’s what I said then. What do you think? I think it still certainly applies now. In fact I think it is more applicable now than ever.
Seems simple enough maybe, but it does take some work. I think one of the best things going is the autograph session that Oswego has on the front stretch. The teams bring candy out and sign a whole lot of hero cards while DJ goes through and interviews the drivers. I know from personal experience there’s some great personal interest stories when you stop a fan on the front stretch and ask them what they think about the cars. Positive responses get more fans interested, and the few kids that will talk about the cars are the cutest darned thing you’ve ever seen. That alone should all remind us of how we learned to love this division.
It takes an old fashioned view looking for new twists. It can be done, this radio show is living proof that beating the street and spreading the word while doing it in different and exciting ways will reap rewards. We’ve all seen our shadows here and there, it’s whether or not we decide to be brave for the duration or just go back in our whole that will decide how cold it really can become.
The End
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