Promotion, or the lack there of

racephoto1 · 7/12/10, 10:50 PM

I was lstening to WFMS at work today, and guess what, I heard a Kokomo UMP late model commercial. The race is wednesday night, and Schrader and Kenny Wallace will be there. I gleaned this from the commercial. The O'Connors doing some promotion.

Oswego and Terre Haute Silver crown. when is it, who will be there, what time? Who knows? A little promotion would do wonders. Posting it here is preaching to the choir.

Why not take a couple newspaper editors to lunch, take a couple drivers along, and get some press.It wouldn't cost much, and the return would great.

Also a TV commercial or radio commercial would be helpful.Some people in Kokomo seem to know that already.

Seadog · 7/13/10, 8:42 AM

Here in Cincinnati, they had the Monster Truck Jam last Saturday night at Paul Brown Stadium (Bengals). The local TV and radio stations were flooded with commercials. Monster Truck drivers were making local apperances, doing interviews, etc. And yet not one single mention of ISW at the 'burg that I heard of around Cincy. Is it a matter of money, marketing or...? Maybe I just don't understand, and somebody can enlighten me. How do we get the word out there? Or possibly all concerned parties are satisfied with the status quo?

staggerman · 7/13/10, 9:09 AM

I think it just comes down to bang for your buck when it comes to advertising. Lets say you spend $5000 on radio ads in return you must get 250 fans (at $20 a head) to break even. If the show is rained out you lost $5000 plus your other costs. As for comparing it to Monster Trucks that is a special once a year event and they have 60,000 seats to sell which is easier to get the return on advertising. JMO

TQ29m · 7/13/10, 10:14 AM

Having been in business myself, for many years, it takes a lot of searching, and money, to find what it takes to market what you're selling. My wife and I have become very tuned to advertising, even tho we no longer have our business, ours was a hard business to market, margins were very low, so offering a discount, or sale price was out of the question, even to hopefully move some items with long whiskers, it was almost a word of mouth selling approach, and it worked. Marketing a race or an event is a whole nother deal, and I don't know of any advertising that will catch many peoples eyes, or ears, the internet, thru message boards and the like, will probably catch a big portion of them, and if the're interested they can print it off, and put it on the fridge. There are still a lot of people that listen to radio, my wife prefers AM, over FM, because that's where the local news and things that interest her, are. But then, we assume everyone is interested in racing, so we overlook the obvious. Bob

Hubie · 7/13/10, 10:30 AM

I live in Speedway Indiana, where folks are pretty in tune to attending open wheel racing. They for sure have a grasp of it and know the difference between a Midget and a Sprinter

You would think that a poster or two in the local Kroger's or Marsh stores would help? A hook up with something like a local UAW plant (which there are several) would also be a great place for event posters.

The Sprint race at ORP a few weeks ago was embarrasing from a crowd standpoint. The racing was excellent and scant few fans were there. I would go out on a limb and say unless you were hardcore and visited USAC's web site or a message board such at this, you would not have known it was even going on.

It's really sad, as the racing is outstanding for the most part.

Eatin Dirt · 7/13/10, 10:38 AM

I live here in SE Indiana and on our cable TV for the week leading up to the Burg's ISW there were commercials on everyday. It was a great one I might add, showed the cars racing and was very good. Dave does a great job with the local promotion around here.

Mud Packer · 7/13/10, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eatin Dirt

I live here in SE Indiana and on our cable TV for the week leading up to the Burg's ISW there were commercials on everyday. It was a great one I might add, showed the cars racing and was very good. Dave does a great job with the local promotion around here.

I am sure with Kim's background, she is a valuable asset in working with promotions.

Seadog · 7/13/10, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eatin Dirt

I live here in SE Indiana and on our cable TV for the week leading up to the Burg's ISW there were commercials on everyday. It was a great one I might add, showed the cars racing and was very good. Dave does a great job with the local promotion around here.

I think SE Indiana already knows about the track and the racing. Where we need the advertising is nearer to the population center of Cincy. On Time Warner cable that has hundreds of thousands of eyes on it. On the major TV stations in Cincy, newspapers, etc. Not to offend anyone, but advertising in SE Indiana is not exactly a population center that reaches lots of people. That needs to happen where more people can be reached. JMO

Eatin Dirt · 7/13/10, 11:07 AM

It may be that people around the area already know about the Burg as mentioned above, but whatever it is that takes place the crowds have been pretty good there. Maybe that's why the sign out front used to show "The Legendary Lawrenceburg Speedway".

Seadog · 7/13/10, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eatin Dirt

It may be that people around the area already know about the Burg as mentioned above, but whatever it is that takes place the crowds have been pretty good there. Maybe that's why the sign out front used to show "The Legendary Lawrenceburg Speedway".

Pretty good crowds need to turn into standing room only crowds, and the track having to add grandstands to accomodate fans. We need the Cincinnati TV stations to do something in their sports report about the 'burg. We need to think "Monster Truck Jam" big for the 'burg. It needs to grow. 2,000 is a good crowd at the 'burg. We need 10,000 or even 15,000 there to turn this niche sport into something that shows up on people's radar.

It's about the discretionary dollar and where people spend it. We need to sway those paople to our side.

7/13/10, 10:14 AM	#4 Re: Promotion, or the lack there of
TQ29m Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 6,558	Having been in business myself, for many years, it takes a lot of searching, and money, to find what it takes to market what you're selling. My wife and I have become very tuned to advertising, even tho we no longer have our business, ours was a hard business to market, margins were very low, so offering a discount, or sale price was out of the question, even to hopefully move some items with long whiskers, it was almost a word of mouth selling approach, and it worked. Marketing a race or an event is a whole nother deal, and I don't know of any advertising that will catch many peoples eyes, or ears, the internet, thru message boards and the like, will probably catch a big portion of them, and if the're interested they can print it off, and put it on the fridge. There are still a lot of people that listen to radio, my wife prefers AM, over FM, because that's where the local news and things that interest her, are. But then, we assume everyone is interested in racing, so we overlook the obvious. Bob __________________ "Being old, isn't half as much fun, as getting there"! Ole Robert I!

7/13/10, 8:42 AM	#2 Re: Promotion, or the lack there of
Seadog Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 2,136	Here in Cincinnati, they had the Monster Truck Jam last Saturday night at Paul Brown Stadium (Bengals). The local TV and radio stations were flooded with commercials. Monster Truck drivers were making local apperances, doing interviews, etc. And yet not one single mention of ISW at the 'burg that I heard of around Cincy. Is it a matter of money, marketing or...? Maybe I just don't understand, and somebody can enlighten me. How do we get the word out there? Or possibly all concerned parties are satisfied with the status quo?

7/13/10, 9:09 AM	#3 Re: Promotion, or the lack there of
staggerman Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 828	I think it just comes down to bang for your buck when it comes to advertising. Lets say you spend $5000 on radio ads in return you must get 250 fans (at $20 a head) to break even. If the show is rained out you lost $5000 plus your other costs. As for comparing it to Monster Trucks that is a special once a year event and they have 60,000 seats to sell which is easier to get the return on advertising. JMO

7/13/10, 10:30 AM	#5 Re: Promotion, or the lack there of
Hubie Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 541	I live in Speedway Indiana, where folks are pretty in tune to attending open wheel racing. They for sure have a grasp of it and know the difference between a Midget and a Sprinter You would think that a poster or two in the local Kroger's or Marsh stores would help? A hook up with something like a local UAW plant (which there are several) would also be a great place for event posters. The Sprint race at ORP a few weeks ago was embarrasing from a crowd standpoint. The racing was excellent and scant few fans were there. I would go out on a limb and say unless you were hardcore and visited USAC's web site or a message board such at this, you would not have known it was even going on. It's really sad, as the racing is outstanding for the most part.

7/13/10, 10:38 AM	#6 Re: Promotion, or the lack there of
Eatin Dirt Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,919	I live here in SE Indiana and on our cable TV for the week leading up to the Burg's ISW there were commercials on everyday. It was a great one I might add, showed the cars racing and was very good. Dave does a great job with the local promotion around here.

7/13/10, 11:07 AM	#9 Re: Promotion, or the lack there of
Eatin Dirt Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,919	It may be that people around the area already know about the Burg as mentioned above, but whatever it is that takes place the crowds have been pretty good there. Maybe that's why the sign out front used to show "The Legendary Lawrenceburg Speedway".