Should I accept this sponsorship?

I just got this email from Redline Oil:

Dear Adrian Valella, 

Happy New Year and thank you for your application for Red Line Synthetic Oil sponsorship. For 40 years, we’ve helped the best racers in the world by providing the finest quality products—we are glad to ask you to be part of our 2019 marketing effort. This offer is valid until February 15, 2019. 

Red Line will provide your team with a 25% discount on our products and apparel, and will include free freight in exchange for meeting the promotional requirements.  For our sponsorship investment, we ask that you agree to the following: 

1.      Represent our name and product reputation in a professional manner on and off the track 

2.      Operate your race vehicle only at sanctioned racing events and tests  

3.      Exclusively run Red Line motor oil, gear oil, ATF, additives, greases, WaterWetter or other applicable fluids in your vehicle  

4.      Other vehicles on your racing team do not represent other oil companies 

5.      Clearly exhibit current Red Line decals, racing suit/uniform logos and patches, logo banners, etc.  

6.      Remove decals from competitive brands 

7.      Mention Red Line Oil in all media contacts  

8.      Post at least once a month on social media, including Red Line branding and appropriate tags. A link of each post should be submitted to ********** after they go live 

a.      Twitter #redlineoil 

#teamredlineoil 

b.      Instagram @red_line_oil  

#redlineoil  

#teamredlineoil 

c.      Facebook @redlinesyntheticoil 

9.      Educate others about the advantages that you have experienced using Red Line 

10.   Watch Science of Synthetics video and educate others about the quality of our products  

11.   Communicate that REDLINEOIL.COM is the source for vehicle application guide and to find a dealer 

12.   List Red Line Synthetic Oil as a sponsor on all event entries, sponsor listing, sponsor pit boards or event displays, etc. 

13.   Provide 2 high-resolution digital photos including you, your team and race machine with Red Line logos clearly visible 

If you choose to accept, please post your partnership with Red Line on social media and submit to ************ Once received, your sponsorship will be activated and you will be issued a discount promo code for orders placed at REDLINEOIL.COM.  

A racer kit will be sent to you with your first order. It includes decals, patches and a few other promo items. If you need electronic logo files, please email ********** Our logo usage guidelines are attached for reference. Please review it and follow the guidelines. 

end of email

here is the catch, in order to get that 25% I have to order a minimum of $250 and I can order it up to 4 times in 2019

I dont spend even close to that on fluids, even if i would get the most expensive stuff.

My feeling is this is not a worth it for me but this is the first time I get offered a sponsorship is it stupid to turn it down?

I may send them a counter offer, like enough product from them to run my car for a year (which is barely $100) 

I think you should go for it, and be able to go a few years between orders for fluids. Oil, gear oil, coolant, solvents, etc...

In reply to chaparral :

its only for 2019, I would have to apply again for next year

No, you wouldn't! Just use the products you bought with the discount in 2019 in 2020. The only problem with that is if you get a different fluids sponsor for 2020!

I'm pretty sure you would get the same deal out of them if you asked for a discount on $250 worth of product, and you wouldn't have to post about it on social media.

In A Pro Series Racer You Change All Fluid's After Every Race, That Said I would Be more Inclined to Promote them If they Supplied Said Fluid's, 250 in Synthetic's ain't a lot of Product.

Sorry, no way I would take that...if it were free oil (in return for what they request) then I might consider it. I get free tires and tire service on my Samurai for less work than that.

How much do you spend a year in fluids? 

25% of $250 is $62.50. I'd pass.

If you spend $10k a year in fluids, sure, go for it.

Almost like you are paying for their advertising.

Can you sell the product that you bought with the 25% discount at a profit?   Like show up at the track with a little display table selling Red Line products?  Or sell to your friends?

   I could see some with a business making money off this deal if that is the case especially if the $250 minimum doesn't have a maximum per order ceiling. 

Looks at OP avatar, yup it's a canoe.

In reply to echoechoecho :

Welcome to 2018. Eyeballs/clicks/whatever are almost worthless. 

That seems like a big hassle to save small $!

That’s BS. 

A full year of advertising for $62.50?  What a joke. They pay 100 times that or more for a single appearance in a magazine. 

And they are giving you 25% off retail?  They are still making about 50% more than when they sell wholesale. 

Plus, they force you to buy twice as much product as you would otherwise. 

I wouldn’t even call that a sponsorship. I’d call it a scam. 

What sponsorship? I dont see a sponsorship here

In reply to SVreX :

Just what kind of 'sponsorship package' do you expect to be offered for BS/scam sponsorship (handout) requests?

Antihero said:

What sponsorship? I dont see a sponsorship here

Me neither.

I've done sponsorships before for parts. We send you parts, you put our name on the car, go win races, mention us in the magazine articles. This is just employee pricing, so they are still making money while also getting free advertising. I'd skip it.

If thats a sponsorship ill tell you what:

My band will sponsor your race car. You have to buy $250 worth of merch but ill give you a 25% discount on it. You have to mention my band in every form of communication, Facebook posts, forum posts, every text message and every time you talk ("Do you want paper or plastic?" "My god do i ever love Interstellar Sledgehammer! Paper please." Do you want fries with that?" "Have i told you about Interstellar Sledgehammer? And yes to the fries")  Also you must forsake all other music.

I eagerly await your response lol

I had WAY better sponsors years ago when I was bracket racing!

#1, A Snap On dealer paying all my entry fees, #2 a local cycle shop giving me any parts at dealer cost and anything in stock (fluids, plugs, etc) for free.

If you're not a canoe- tell them to pack sand!

OK as someone who writes contracts for a living I'll chime in. Now keep in mind I'm only speaking to the contractual aspects I'm not picking apart Redline I'm  quite happy with their products, it's also clear that th terms are a boiler plate template meant for a wide range of sponsorships. Hopefully the hive will find some of this useful on a broader level.

1. Conducting yourself in a professional manner off track? This is extremely broad, if a get drunk at my backyard barbecue while wearing a logo hat and someone posts it am I know in violation. 

2. If I get a chance to do some private testing does this violate the agreement?

5. Display logo on your driving suit; how much will it cost you to have the patches seen on?

7. Define media contact; your local SCCA newsletter? A friend who runs a blog?

9. Educate others.........if you tell your kids about this you've fulfilled this requirement.

10. Posting monthly on social media monthly; so let's say it takes you 5 minutes a month to do, that's an hour. So you've eaten up $25-$30 of your own time. Now your discount is down to $30.

On the 25% discount, is this 25% of retail wholesale?

On the $250 minimum; is that before or after the discount? Do you have to buy $312.50 to have that discounted down to $250.

If you violate the terms what's the penalty, do you simply get dropped?

Again this is not to pick on Redline but when you're dealing with contracts this is the mindset you need to have in order to make a decision. 

You don't buy enough to really make this worth you're while. If you were buying $1000 worth of product then it would be worth doing.

Sounds like a generic "yes" to every sponsorship request so they can pretend they aren't saying no.

Keep in mind that asking for a real sponsorship is basically asking for a job in the marketing department. You don't get that by filling out an online form, you have to pitch it. If you can't sell yourself, how can you sell the parts? If you're really successful, you may get approached. But if you're neither successful nor willing to put in the work, then you get a few bucks off. Maybe.

These "25% off and run our sticker" discount programs have become more and more prevalent. It's an easy way to deal with all the "will you sponser me, everyone will love my car when its done" noise that all vendors get. A few years ago I posted a great article discussing it, but I'll let someone else dig it out again if they're interested.

Antihero said:

If thats a sponsorship ill tell you what:

 

My band will sponsor your race car. You have to buy $250 worth of merch but ill give you a 25% discount on it. You have to mention my band in every form of communication, Facebook posts, forum posts, every text message and every time you talk ("Do you want paper or plastic?" "My god do i ever love Interstellar Sledgehammer! Paper please." Do you want fries with that?" "Have i told you about Interstellar Sledgehammer? And yes to the fries")  Also you must forsake all other music.

 

I eagerly await your response lol

The fundamental difference is that the race team does not need your band's merch. It does need lubricants. So the balance of power is different - you need the race team more than the race team needs you. This is a more symbiotic relationship.

A real race team can easily suck up $250 in lubricant over the course of a season. An oil change in my track Miata sucks up $94.50 of Redline oil. Do that twice a year and throw in the regular transmission and differential fluid changes and $250 (with free shipping!) is in the rear view mirror. I'd be happy to see those costs reduced by 25%.

Reading through the terms, here's how that agreement comes out:

• don't be an ass, make sure your car looks good, don't advertise for our competitors, use our stuff

• don't race on the street, we don't want to see you on the news getting your car impounded with our stickers on it

• mention us 12 times over the course of a year on social media

• list us as a sponsor and mention us when you'd mention all your other sponsors

• talk to people about Redline when they ask, and watch a video so you have a clue

To me, that doesn't seem terribly taxing. You're basically being asked to do the bare minimum that could be expected from any sort of sponsorship. How much less can you expect to do? Why should Redline give you anything?

And SVreX, this is basically wholesale pricing. There's not another 50% of margin for resellers. Trust me on this one 

To me it looks like a polite way of turning down a sponsorship request without loosing a current or potential customer.

Keith Tanner said:

Keep in mind that asking for a real sponsorship is basically asking for a job in the marketing department. You don't get that by filling out an online form, you have to pitch it. If you can't sell yourself, how can you sell the parts? If you're really successful, you may get approached. But if you're neither successful nor willing to put in the work, then you get a few bucks off. Maybe.

These "25% off and run our sticker" discount programs have become more and more prevalent. It's an easy way to deal with all the "will you sponser me, everyone will love my car when its done" noise that all vendors get. A few years ago I posted a great article discussing it, but I'll let someone else dig it out again if they're interested.

 

Antihero said:

If thats a sponsorship ill tell you what:

 

My band will sponsor your race car. You have to buy $250 worth of merch but ill give you a 25% discount on it. You have to mention my band in every form of communication, Facebook posts, forum posts, every text message and every time you talk ("Do you want paper or plastic?" "My god do i ever love Interstellar Sledgehammer! Paper please." Do you want fries with that?" "Have i told you about Interstellar Sledgehammer? And yes to the fries")  Also you must forsake all other music.

 

I eagerly await your response lol

The fundamental difference is that the race team does not need your band's merch. It does need lubricants. So the balance of power is different - you need the race team more than the race team needs you. This is a more symbiotic relationship.

A real race team can easily suck up $250 in lubricant over the course of a season. An oil change in my track Miata sucks up $94.50 of Redline oil. Do that twice a year and throw in the regular transmission and differential fluid changes and $250 (with free shipping!) is in the rear view mirror.

Reading through the terms, here's how that agreement comes out:

• don't be an ass, make sure your car looks good, don't advertise for our competitors, use our stuff

• don't race on the street, we don't want to see you on the news getting your car impounded with our stickers on it

• mention us 12 times over the course of a year on social media

• list us as a sponsor and mention us when you'd mention all your other sponsors

• talk to people about Redline when they ask, and watch a video so you have a clue

To me, that doesn't seem terribly taxing. You're basically being asked to do the bare minimum that could be expected from any sort of sponsorship. How much less can you expect to do? Why should Redline give you anything?

And SVreX, this is basically wholesale pricing. There's not another 50% of margin for resellers. Trust me on this one 

Oh i know the analogy was different than stuff the race car needs, its the reason i picked it. Throwing a different light on it if you will

These "25% off and run our sticker" discount programs have become more and more prevalent. It's an easy way to deal with all the "will you sponser me, everyone will love my car when its done" noise that all vendors get. A few years ago I posted a great article discussing it, but I'll let someone else dig it out again if they're interested.

Hell, that's a "program?"

Over my years of racing (primarily rally/rallycross) when I want to order a part from a smaller vendor or specialty vendor, I'll usually shoot them an email first just straight-up saying that I'd be happy to throw some stickers on the car and on the trailer in exchange for whatever discount they feel like giving (on parts that i was gonna pay full-price for anyhow). I usually just mention to check out my build thread (about 500,000 views between the one here and the one in the BMW forum). The vendor almost always gives me some kind of deal on whatever I'm ordering....5%, 10%, 25%, sometime more. I throw some of their stickers on the car, tag them in some social media posts here and there just as a "thanks" and that's it. The guy who made my skidplate has gotten a dozen orders from local e30 rallycrossers alone just from them seeing my car. Hell, ARB (the offroad company) hooked me up with some free replacement parts when I basically destroyed my awning on the tow rig in a wind storm just for telling them that the truck towed a race car. I don't push, but I'll certainly ask. Only thing it costs me is a couple minutes to put a couple stickers on the car. My one "real" sponsor started that way, and since I've gotten a lot of others into his products, now he gives me free or heavily discounted stuff when I need it - though I don't ask often. 

I don't bother asking with larger distributors (i.e. the eEuroparts, or FCP, or the ones who do "discount/sponsorship" deals), since they have written requirements, etc. But for smaller companies who aren't well known, sure, why not. I like stickers, and if I get them a couple future sales I suppose it's worth it. 

It's the difference between "looking for sponsors" and just taking a minute to see if me and a manufacturer can do a quick, mutually-beneficial transaction that doesn't cost either of us anything but could help both of us. 

It helps that I'm not doing stupid E36 M3, that I'm fairly well known in the rally/rallycross community on this coast, and that I'm known as a big supporter of the e30 scene who shares/writes about products I like. 

Hell, I have a Flyin' Miata sticker on my toolchest. I don't even own a Miata, and never have :)

In reply to irish44j :

Reminds me, your car should really be at the DC Auto show, but I believe that it's too late to get it in at this point.