me and all my friends
we’re all misunderstood
they say we stand for nothing and
there’s no way we ever could
now we see everything that’s going wrong
with the world and those who lead it
we just feel like we don’t have the means
to rise above and beat it…
Waiting On The World To Change
-John Mayer-
I HATE waiting.
Economics have been sordid for the past 8 months. People, companies, charities and portfolio values are dropping like flies. We’ve been listening & watching the race scene intently as team after team has struggled with finances to continue it’s journey in the sport.
It’s such a major issue that CNBC has focused several expose features on it entitled INSIDE TRACK: Refueling the Business of NASCAR. The essence of the issue is that companies are finding it more and more difficult to measure the return they are receiving for their substantial investments. Given that ‘Bling’ is so two thousand and LATE these days, if you can’t justify it, you’d better not be spending it.
Simultaneously, the philanthropic space has felt a similar crunch as tything has taken on a new meaning. The new meaning looks to be something like, “charity begins at home.” 2008 left most charities reporting receipts down in excess of 30 percent over 2007, a crushing economic blow. We’ve all heard stories of charities folding up shop in the last 6 months….it’s just wrong.
This observation has led Guardian Angel Motorsports (GAM) to look a bit deeper into the idea with an eye on creating or re-defining the space in what might be called Philanthropy or Race Sponsorship 2.0.
The heart of the idea is to leverage current web technology tools and niche interest social networks to help BOTH charities and sponsors measure ROI and flourish in the race car sponsorship space. These tools will help both parties to better evolve brands to build allegiance and commerce. Guardian Angel Motorsports sees three distinct steps:
1. Branding which will be accomplished by turning on the prospect to a brand idea enhanced by the surrounding context (racing).
2. Democratizing the consumers by inviting them to participate in creating and then experiencing a brand’s meaning thru engagement (viewing, vip passes, blogging, online community, consuming and giving).
3. Engaging which will occur as a subtle, subconscious process in which consumers begin to combine the ad’s message with their own associations, symbols and metaphors to make the brand more personally relevant (the charitable benefactor).
We’re also seeing that there is a lack of synergy for corporations between their civic dollars and their marketing dollars. They are overlooking the potential efficiency of aligning these two dollars to allow them to “Do Good” and benefit in trying times….or gain a tangible ROI from those civic dollars.
This all leaves Guardian Angel Motorsports currently expecting that we’ll be making some big announcements in the next few days about new Cause Partners. We’ll then begin looking for our supporters to help us connect some dots in the corporate marketing world to align with sponsors for charitable donations…or THE MEANS to rise above and beat it….
We really would welcome input, suggestions, help or introductions to expedite getting our program to market.
Until then…I’ll have to just keep waiting…
Loose Bruce
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VERY interesting and accurate strategy, particularly the three steps that are listed.
Extraordinary focus and correct, your three points point to the lack of social media strategy, vision with the 4 Cs - content, context, connection, and community aligning with business strategy and tactics, not to mention right-brain thinking to evolve into the A+ arena. CSR can produce huge wins for all the stakeholders…imagining creates the reality.