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The business of sport compact car sponsorships
By Eddie Habeck III
How do you define sponsorship? How do you get it? Shared here are some of my ideas from being in the scene for the past several years, some questions to ask yourself, and somethings you shouldn't try at all. Hopefully you can use some of this information for your benifit.
What it is?!?
A vehicle sponsor is a company or shop that will give you merchandise or money in exchange to help them market their product or shop. A sponsorship does not necessarily mean they give you everything for free. Sponsorships are very common for 75%, 50% or anything in between. Sponsors usually require signed legal contracts binding you to use their product for a given time period, display their logos on your vehicle in accordance with their specifications, and travel to certain events that you have agreed upon.
Are you ready for sponsors?
If you can answer yes to all of the following questions your ready to start working towards getting sponsored:
-I’m willing to travel to shows/events up to 5 hours away (or more sometimes!) for several weekends throughout the season
-I have a car that’s very competitive in the show scene and have placed at national events in the past or come close to placing
-I have traveled to several national events (HIN, IREV, NHRA) in the past and competed with my car
-I am willing to put sponsor logos on my vehicle
-I am willing to make a portfolio for my vehicle
-My car will or already is magazine material (for a feature)
-I am very motivated to market my car and get it noticed on a national level
So are you ready now? Does this describe you? If so lets get started!
Getting started:
Make a portfolio for your car. Its like a job resume for your ride. Your trying to sell your car and show why its all that to these companies. Make it look good and professional. Talk about yourself, they want to see the man/woman behind the project. Every portfolio should include
1. Cover letter (introduction and what products/money your applying for)
2. List of modifications
3. Big Pictures (include at least one exterior shot that’s 10x8 or so)
4. Shows you’ve attended in the past and awards won / booths featured in
5. Shows you plan on attending this coming season that you can rep for the company at
6. References (other sponsors you have or shops that you deal with that can attest to your dedication and work ethic)
7. Photo of yourself
8. Past media coverage you have received (magazine features, website features etc)
Finding potential sponsors:
Unless your RJ DeVera or LJ Garcia its not likely sponsors are going to walk up to you and just hand you a turbo. Look at ads in your favorite magazines for companies you can target. Call them and ask them to whom you can mail a portfolio to (most likely its someone in their marketing department). Some companies have an outside company that handles all their sponsorship requests, ask to speak with them if possible.
Once you have done this, start mailing it out, sometimes its ok to email it to them, but most of the time its snail mail. It’s more professional and sincere. After you send it give them at least two weeks before you do a follow-up with them (some companies receive as many as 700 portfolios each month!). When you follow-up just politely ask if he/she has received it. They will look for it and it might end up on the top of their pile. Don’t bug them too much or you might make them mad. Remember, they look at tons of portfolios just like yours, so again, like a job, have a good resume that stands out, prove to them why they should help you out. You’re selling yourself to them.
If they want you on their team, they will contact you and inform you of the process. You’ll most likely to have to sign something, they might ask for your credit card number (in case they never hear from you again and never see their products on your car, they can charge you full retail for the product)
That about completes the whole process. Be very patient! It doesn’t happen overnight, some sponsorships can take 3 months or longer to be approved. Be professional and outgoing. Be persistent and not give up if you’re turned down by some wheel company, there is only another 3000 of them out there to try! I always recommend starting at the bottom and working your way up. Meaning, start with smaller companies and then work up to the big ones. The logic behind this is many large companies (such as Meguiars, Axis, Yokohama, etc) are not going to sponsor you if they see you have no other sponsors. Some won’t sponsor you if you’ve never appeared in a magazine. Once you start to get some little ones the larger ones are easier to obtain, and it can almost be like a snowball effect.
Lastly, sponsorship IS NOT for everybody. Sponsors don’t make a hot car, you do. Some of the hottest cars out there have little to no corporate help, just a dedicated owner that worked his ass off. Not everyone wants to sign a contract saying they have to have so-and-so’s body kit on for 1.5 years. There is nothing wrong with that.
Hopefully some of my thinking can help you attain sponsors. Good luck!
Eddie Habeck III writes for Car Sound & Performance magazine (
www.carsound.com) and is currently sponsored by several companies including BFGoodrich, Meguiars, Auto Meter and Polk Audio.
Sponsors.
-1992 4 door Bomex'ed out, Nitrous Express Sport'n, Rippmods SuperCharged Camry 
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