Communication among key stakeholders in motorsports needs to become even more of a priority when it comes to bringing new sponsors into the sport, said panelists during the opening session of the '16 Motorsports Marketing Forum, being held today and tomorrow at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. “If we can all have a dialog that happens more on the front end, then deeper into the conversation there’s a unique place for all of us to engage companies about how they can reach their goals working in the sport,” said NBC Sports VP/Sponsorship & Strategy Mike McCormack. “We know the sport intimately. We know how each of our respective entities can engage the sports community.” Team Epic Principal David Grant added, “What’s happening is that every constituent is understanding that the story has to start with the brand. It can’t start with the assets that you control. If you start with the brand and figure out how we can tell the best story for the brand, that’s where collaboration happens.”
One thing that has helped improve communication is the fact that teams, tracks, drivers and manufacturers each have councils that bring more structured communication than in the past, said NASCAR Senior VP & CMO Jill Gregory. “There’s so much going on that having a formalized process through these councils has forced us all to have conversations earlier,” she said. In the end, said McCormack, the sport is recognizing that sponsorship “one-and-dones” can be detrimental when they come with unrealistic expectations. “We are the industry experts,” he said. “The brand knows their business better. Can we work together in a better way? We know that sometimes the one-off isn’t the best way to go about business because that brand might not come back.”
