Great points scekert,

All it takes is Money, because you have to buy the air time. Oh yea, you also have to hire the production company to produce it. Speed TV or any other TV outlet will not just put you on the air. They, the cable TV outlet, have to make money through spots being available for them. USAC then needs to find sponsors to fill the rest of the spots.

The fact remains that money will cure the awareness problem of our small culture and get it on TV.

Sometimes I think we all forget how small this sport really is and how small the following is. Yes, we would all like to see it grow, but you have to find corporate dollars from a company who can see a future in supporting and eventually make money from the marketing dollars invested. Now that is a perspective of reality.

Over time, a corporate marketing department must sell the idea of long term investment to upper management. The reality is, that is a very hard sell.

The real problem is that all corporations today are looking for a quick turn around in their marketing dollars to show immediate growth. Investing in something like USAC is a long term investment, not a short term quick marketing strategy that would show a shareholder board a sound investment.

I worked for a fortune 400 company, (Temple - Inland) as the Manager of Marketing Communications. So what I'm telling you comes from real world experience.

Mr. Miller has a challenge ahead of him to create a perception of who USAC is and what the brand stands for. His marketing strategy must show audience growth in the sport over time. I don't believe there is a quick marketing fix for USAC. However, if a corporation would have an opportunity to see, by being a partner with USAC, you can grow together. This has been done before, but the current corporate climate does not support this approach. That is not to say, that there isn't one out there, but for the most part this is a fact. And a fact for almost the entire list of fortune 500 companies. This was caused by the big World Wide Web investments, where share holders were making big money until it collapsed. But the share holders today are still pushing for "what have you done for me today" and not "what can I expect to get in 10 years for my investment."

A few years back I met with Rollie and Mike Devin and presented a plan to produce TV spots with a 10 second tag at the end, so a local promoter could go to the local cable outlet, who BTW, would add the tag for free along with the purchase of airtime. (Yep you can do that, I worked for cable TV for 5 years). And, give the spots to the promoters for free. Also develop a generic radio ad with the same concept. That way you have given the promoter a professionally produced TV and radio commercials to use for promoting the event or events coming up with USAC. This does two things, helps the promoter to market and make it easy for them to market the races. Oh and BTW, we would build the TV and radio spots so they could be used for 2 - 3 years before USAC would re-invest in new spots.

Of course, in the end, they did not see the value and willing to spend the money to do it right. They didn't see the value in making USAC look like a professional organization, who provides a fantastic entertainment package. They didn't see the value of helping their promoters sell the product. They didn't see the value of changing the perception of who USAC is today. They didn't see the value of investing in TV and radio spots that would lure the 18 - 34 year old market.

I wish USAC and the new management team the best. I hope the board sees that changes need to be made, because quite honesty, I believe the board is the one who pushes back on spending any money to market the brand and product. This takes marketing dollars, but instead the board wants to hang their hat on the way USAC was perceived in the 1960's.

I hope some see that USAC's future lies with young people. They need to find ways to reach this market. But, guess what, it takes marketing dollars to do that. So time will tell.

George Wilkins