Editor’s comment

6 March 2015  

Spring is in the air and as well as the buds and bees there is also another form of buzzing in the air, that of the engines that race around tracks both nationally and internationally. Finally the main motorsport season is about to begin again.

Again, motorsport brings opportunity, from the technician preparing his own car to companies sponsoring teams in order to get their name out there, bringing business for them and for their customers. Again, this can be in the form of a small sticker placed on a car seen by fans at the circuit or on television, to a title sponsorship or even purchasing an entire team to get the name out there and the offer of hospitality to the masses.

It also offers some technicians the chance to hone their skills. A number of motorsport teams often ask for volunteers to get involved in looking after their cars, especially in the lower echelons of national motorsport. While you can’t expect to be working on the Mercedes W06 in Melbourne, you will gain an insight into the high pressure world and it will look good on your CV. Even renowned racing companies such as Prodrive use ‘weekend warriors’ in some of its lower category teams.

For the end user, motorsport sponsorship provides brand names that can be associated with good service and products. Companies such as Power Maxed, Yuasa, Morris Lubricants and Approved garages took advantage of a UK television audience of over 20 million last year to showcase their brand in over 229 hours of television coverage. Using these products or belonging to this scheme means you benefit. There may even be promotions you can take part in to encourage customers if you are a distributor or purchaser.

Therefore, even if you are not a fan of motorsport, or prefer something a little more close to home and not so expensive, it can benefit you and your business. Whether you are directly involved or as a customer of a sponsor, linking yourself to that through POS or references on advertising or social media could bring customers through the door.