Australasian Dirt Bike — January 2018

SIMON INGRAM

DIRECTOR OF IMS (IMPORTER OF ETS

RACING FUELS)

SOCIAL MEDIA:When used properly,

socialmediaisaverypowerfultool

anditisbasicallyfree.Isupposethe

most important thing from our

perspectiveisfortheperson/company

thatwesupporttohaveabranding

presence that will help promote our

brandinagoodlight.

Ourgoalistohaveourlogofrontand

centreontherightpeopleandinthe

rightsituations.Socialmedia,webetc

isallaboutthebranding.Inreality,a

smallstickeronabikeisnotgoingto

get you TV coverage or much exposure

at all for that matter.

For us, it’s a business a nd pu rely f rom

abusinessperspectivewearevery

analyticaloftheathletesregardinghow

they position our logo and the

representationweget.Butitis

importanttomentionthatwereally

don’tgainmuchfromasocialmedia

post that just has our company tagged

in, along with 50 other brands.

IMAGE/REPUTATION:Iwouldsayone

ofthemostimportantthingsforusis

the professionalism of the rider/

team/athlete.Youcanhaveabitofa

wild side to you, but still be

professionalifthatmakessense.We

have an understanding that this

sportweareinvolvedinisnotgolfor

cricket,forexample,andsomeofthe

most marketable athletes out there

haveabitofanedgysidetothem.

However, the professionalism of the

athlete and team is always critical

forusandourbranding.

RESULTS:These are important, very

importantactually.Butcertainlynot

theonlyaspectthatwefocusonwhen

looking for people to sponsor. When

you’redealingwithasportwhereyou

haveapercentageofathletesatthetop

oftheirgameyouhaveoneexpectation

from them, which is to perform well

andpromoteyourbrandaccordingly.

LOYALTY:There’sapercentageofthe

market out there that will chop and

changetheproductstheyusejust

becausetheygeta$2discounthereor

there.Andthistraitcan,quiteoften,

take over their way of thinking. These

arethepeoplewetrytoavoidif

possible when considering sponsorship.

We understa nd t hat it is a n expensive

sportbutrelationshipsarewhatitisall

about.Whatwetrytoavoidasa

companyistosponsorsomeoneforone

yearandthenlosethemfornoapparent

reason. And it all comes down to

loyalty.Itisoneoftheveryfewthings

in life that costs nothing.

JEFF LEISK

GENERAL MANAGER KTM/HUSQVARNA

AUSTRALIA

SOCIAL MEDIA:Ithinkthatifyouhave

sponsorship it’s important that you’re

communicating the right message on

social media. If dealerships don’t see

peoplewalkinginthefrontdoorthen

we’renotdoingtherightjob.Our

athletes may be getting terrific numbers

with likes/shares/comments etc but if it

isn’t getting the right message across

thenitcanactuallybedetrimental

rather than positive for us. What makes

socialmediasogoodcanalsomakeit

so bad, and can negatively promote

peopleandproducts.You’vegottobe

mindfulwithhowyouuseit.Itcanbe

very damaging, and it is something we

have worked on closely with our senior

team.Wealsofeelthatwithourfactory

riders that they are promoting/

representingthedealernetwork.It’sa

huge deal for us.

IMAGE/REPUTATION:There’s nothing

wrongwithsomeoneedgy,orabit

controversial, but the main thing from

our perspective is to be yourself. Let

your personality shine through. Kirk

Gibbshashisownpersonalityand

Ryan Dungey likewise. These two are

rather conservative off the track with a

clean-cut image. Jeffrey Herlings,

however, has been known to have a bit

of an edgy, confident attitude. This

adds some colour and flavour to the

sport but sometimes a bit of

controversy. I think it’s important that,

no matter who you are, you need to

come up with more than ‘yes, no’

answers. And, to be honest, I was a

little guilty of that myself during my

racing years.

RESULTS: I’m a bit greedy. I want it all

really, so I’d like my riders to have a

good social media presence, a great

reputation and win everything. I think

if you have got the runs on the board

then you can put your hand out. And

you aren’t going to get paid for what

you’re going to do, you’ll get paid for

what you’ve done. I’m a racer, and we

are out to prove that our products are

the best so we are out to win as much

as we can. And, to be honest, if we

don’t perform well then I get chest

pains (laughing).

LOYALTY: It’s great if it’s there. It is

appreciated and it goes a long way.

Unfortunately, you don’t see a lot of it

these days. To some end we are in a

results-driven, cut-throat business and

sometimes loyalty gets compromised.

To extract value from a sponsorship it

takes more than one year. If we are

looking to partner with a brand we

won’t really consider it if the time

frame is under three years. Long term

is important and adds creditability and

value. It’s a form of loyalty and

commitment. Honesty and

communication are so important.

GAVIN EALES

DIRECTOR OF SERCO MOTORSPORTS

SOCIAL MEDIA: This is really a bit of a

touchy subject for most big companies

that have young athletes representing

them. It’s all to do with how you

present yourself on social media. It’s

not all about winning races which is,

unfortunately, what most riders think

these days. Don’t get me wrong, results

are still extremely important. However,

it’s only a small piece of the pie. You

want the brand to be carried at a high

level, not to be taken down because of

silly things on social media. What an

athlete needs to understand is that if

we give them 10 bikes then we want to

sell 20 because of our association with

FEATURE I SPONSORSHIP

176 | JANUARY 2018 http://www.adbmag.com.au

Our goal is

to have our

logo front

and centre

on the right

people and

in the right

situations.