What is a sponsor suppose to do?

"RichZ" wrote in message
...
Craig wrote:
n what people believe a sponsor is suppose
to do.


There is no hard and fast definition of what 'sponsorship' entails in the
fishing industry, so a sponsor's only obligation is to fulfill its
responsibilities under the contract negotiated between the two parties.
Same as the angler's obligation.

95% of the boat "sponsorships" are really nothing more than memo-bill
deals. On reality, anyone running a memo-billed boat is nothing more than
a
very low volume boat dealer for that manufacturer.

When it comes to rods, reels, lures, etc., truth be told, there should be
a
delineation between "product sponsored" and "paid" anglers. At the
local/regional level, there are some guys who get lures for wholesale or
distributor cost and call that a sponsorship. Other guys get product free.
But it's really only in the upper third or so of the "pro" populace that
you get into guys who have contracts that involve payment of cash, entry
fees or expenses.

Even at that, I wonder about the effectiveness of those deals for the
sponsor. Take a mid-level guy who has fished 2 or 3 classics over the past
decade, and has maybe one or two BASS or FLW wins to his credit. Depending
on how good he is at marketing himself and how much extra work he's
willing
to put in, he might be getting 500 to 1000 a month from 3 to 5 larger
sponsors, and 100 to 500 from the little guys. If he is aggressive in
marketing himself, he can cover his expenses at that rate. He'll have to
generate some winnings to actually make a living though.

But is the sponsor paying him a grand a month getting its money's worth?
90% of the fishing tackle sold in this country is sold either through
distributors or at the distributor price level. That means the mfg gets
about 2.25 for that $5 spinnerbait. Which means that mfg, packaging, etc.
cost him somewhere between a buck and a buck and a quarter. Which means
that each pro he gives let's say $750 a month to, must increase his sales
by about 9000 spinnerbaits a year JUST TO COVER HIS BASIC COST, before he
ever put an extra nickel in his sponsor's pocket. The sponsor is in
business to make money. He SHOULD be able to get at least a 40% return on
that sponsorship, shouldn't he? Well, unless that pro somehow incrased his
sinnerbait sales by 12,000 units or so each year, he's not.


Rich,

I only partially agree about your assessment. First I think we both agree
that sponsorship of any kind is just another form of advertising from the
persepctive of the sponsor.

I'm also pretty sure you will agree that companies advertise when they need
to increase sales, or if competition is cutting into their sales to save
sales.

Now here is the part that you may not agree with which leads to where I do
not necessarily agree with your assessment.

Advertising does not necessarily have to lead directly to sales.
Advertising can increase product awareness. For example. If a person is
shopping for spinner baits, but has never heard of Secret Weapon Lures they
are no more likely to buy it than any other spinner bait they see hanging on
the shelf. They certainly won't buy it if it isn't even on the shelf. Now
if that same person has heard me say I won big fish at the season open for
ABA on a Secret Weapon Lures spinner bait they might atleast be partially
more likely to buy it. That is the secondary benefit. 99 out of those 100
anglers that heard me make the statement when they handed me the microphone
at that tournament will not run out and buy one. One might just because he
buys anything somebody says is wonderful. On the other hand, when those
other 99 are in Sportman's Hide-A-Way looking to restock on spinner baits
and they see them hanging prominantly on the pegboard next to others they
are much more likely to pick one or two or even restock their whole
collection with that brand. Not one of those anglers are likely to say they
bought it becasue of me, but they now recognize the name when they see them.
In addition, Lannie at the store is going to stock them because I went in
there and handed him a couple. I went the extra mile to show him what was
different about them, and I was there when he called Joe, so I could make a
telephone introduction.

In addition, every guy I have fished with since I started using those
spinner baits has one in his tackle box now. None of those guys will run
out and buy becasue I said so. They will recognize the name when they see
it though. They might even give a second look at the quick change blade
system, and the swing away no trailer hook needed design.

A sponsor needs to evaluate the big picture. Even at the outrageous price,
they could probably get exposure to more people per dollar spent by putting
a 30 second advertisement on during the Super Bowl. They also have to look
at the quality of the exposure. The dollar spent per angler exposed to the
product is probably considerably less than by putting Dave Willhide (the
regional director for ABA) on the prostaff, or giving me a couple free
spinner baits to make up for those I gave away.

Now before one person accuses me of spamming for Secret Weapon Spinner
Lures. I am not on their prostaff. I do not work for them. Joes has not
given me any free spinner baits, although he did say he would replace those
I gave away. I dd not list their website on this post, but anybody who is
interested can find it easily enough bydoing a Google search or evne asking
in this newsgroup.

So, in conclusion. I agree that advertising must be cost effective. I
disagree in how the numbers are measured to determine that.

I also add these:
1. If you can't produce fast enought to meet sales stop advertising.
Unsatisfied customers are bad advertising.
2. Advertsie, promote, and sponsor when you need to increase sales.
3. Increasing sales will never make an inefficient operation better.

Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
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