Off-Road Racing Sponsorship 101. Part 3: Marketing your team as a brand

To increase your value as a brand you must invest in organized marketing. You need to treat your team like a brand. Do you want your brand to be the local coffee shop or Starbucks? It’s your choice. Starting with your logo don’t skimp. It’s your brand. There is no “Silver Bullet” in marketing meaning you have to use multiple platforms to create fans and attract sponsors. Again the great thing about off-road is you can create your own coverage or exposure, you are not limited by leagues.

Craig Scanlon’s SMG (Scanlon Motorsports Group)

Craig Scanlon’s SMG (Scanlon Motorsports Group) is a great example of how to professionally brand your race team. A simple clean logo with branding carried across race vehicle, chase vehicles, trailer, merchandise, collateral material, etc. In his former job as Chief Marketing and Retail Officer of Polaris, Craig received hundreds of solicitations for sponsorships. So he is the ultimate illustration of how to market your team as a brand.

Robby Woods

Robby Woods is a young, loud, and very talented professional off-road race car driver and fabricator. His style is a mix of throwback 70’s California beach bum, and modern off-road flat-biller. When Mad Media designed Robby’s logo they took cues from his personality and created a loud punk rock design that stands apart from typical racetrack art. Media Kits are a critical tool for racers to land sponsorship. After designing a unique identity for Robby Woods, they created a simple – to the point media kit to help Robby communicate his value to sponsors. The printing was handled digitally, so Robby could order small quantities based on demand. The designers also applied the logo with the look and feel onto his race truck, semi, signature cards, and merchandise.

Sheldon Creed

When the 15 year old off-road prodigy was looking to create a more professional identity, as well as create some key marketing pieces the focus was that he was one of the youngest kids in the pro-lite class. Mad Media wanted to create a youthful look and feel that set him apart from his older peers. Basically they wanted his logo, website, signature cards, t-shirts, stickers, and truck livery to look like something that would fit a 15 year old kid. The Mad Media team also drew on some of the retro surf punk colors and styles that are currently trending, then built a look and feel that could be carried across multiple mediums so all of his marketing pieces would pay into his brand equity.

It doesn’t matter whether you race a Class 1, Trick Truck or a Motorcycle, you can get sponsored! Getting sponsors for your off-road racing program requires time and effort, but it’s not impossible to find a company to sponsor your race car. Check back weekly, we’ll be sharing sponsorship best practices from veteran off-road racers and industry experts.