8 Oct 2014INTRODUCING RALLYCROSS to SA

3 INTRODUCTION

4 THE TRICK TO GET REAL VALUE

6 RALLYSTAR MOTORSPORT ACADEMY

7 WHAT IS RALLYCROSS?

8 RALLYCROSS TODAY

10 THE RACE FORMAT

11 SO WHY SPONSOR RALLYCROSS

13 RALLYCROSS WILL WORK FOR SPONSORS

14 HOW CAN WE MAKE SPONSORSHIP WORK

15 A FULL ON MEDIA COMMUNICATION PLAN

16 RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

CONTACT DETAILS Leon Botha CEO Rallystar Email: [email protected] Mobile: 082 555 3119

Alanie Botha-Austin Marketing and Public Relations Rallystar Email: [email protected] Mobile: 082 562 8289

Websites: www.rallyx.co.za www.rallystar.co.za

In 2011 Rallying celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first ever rally held, The Monte Carlo Rally, better known as the “Mother of all Rallies”.

In the past century rallying, like many other sporting codes had to undergo dramatic changes. Most of which were the result of the changes in the dynamics of society, in short the way in which people spent their leisure time changed and our daily lives became technically controlled.

This obviously affected advertising and competition for market share became so intense that many companies have run out of ideas?

In SA we have the added problem that a relatively small market is flooded with unlimited products and services, as the world fights for a share of our market. This caused some great products or ideas to fade away without representing the success it achieved overseas.

Very few, even strong brands, make it in our market place while some established companies will confess that the fight for market share is more hectic than ever before!

Recent marketing research clearly showed that customer loyalty is fading at an alarming rate in many areas. There are simply too many alternatives to try out before perhaps returning to the “old faithful” again.

A great advertising campaign may still have the magic results come at a premium cost in most cases. This risk caused many companies to look for alternative options and a growing number of companies found the answer to this marketing problem in sponsorship.

Without going into specifics we can confidently say that sport sponsorships are becoming more popular drawing bigger money to major sport all the time!

The right budget can let a company name appear on TV for 80 minutes during for instance rugby broadcast with added repeat bonus programs. There is no need for further motivation for the incredible branding and other values linked to sport sponsorships.

Fact is that sport sponsorship already exceeds traditional advertising spend.

Allow us to take you back a number of years.

Many will recall the severe criticism so-called “one day cricket” received when it started out.

Coloured clothing on a cricket field – that bordered on blasphemy?

Then a well-known cigarette company had a vision of what this new found fun and enjoyment could mean for their brand!

Benson & Hedges creating their fame and fortune overnight is history!

We all wanted to go and share in the fun of braai, beer, girls and cricket –it looked good in any sequence and it was!

Benson & Hedges did not only manage to create a great branding vehicle, they created the mystique around a great game!

South Africans found alternative entertainment to rugby – in cricket!

I have often wondered why this and other “habits” work so well in SA?

Why did “everybody” go to Durban, Margate and Lorenzo Marques for holidays, why did the people in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Witwatersrand go to

© All rights retained by Leon Botha 2013/2014 onwards. A Squirt of Adrenaline into sponsorship… Bapsfontein on Saturday evenings to dance and on Sundays to listen to country music and have fun in the small amusement park at that venue?

Why was the “Rand Easter Show” an institution, why was Sunday Picnic at the Fountains in Pretoria or Warmbath so popular?

These days you hardly hear people discuss anything but overseas trips, an evening at a good restaurant or some other “once off” events?

Have “habit” and “traditional” disappeared making way for something else? Is the search for an alternative on again?

Fact is that trend or fashion - the need to be "in" and do the "right" things are getting stronger every day!

It is time to take the lead and re-invent an event that will become tradition again?

Yes, the time has arrived to introduce something new and exciting, an activity in line with the modern trends and social demands and it is called “adventure”!

Surveys show that the modern consumer wants to share extreme excitement, get as close as possible to the action, actually be right there where and when it happens and be able to share the "moment" with the hero without taking any risks!

We are in the era of “I want to be the hero, but do not want to get hurt!”

Some eight years ago, Leon Botha, a well-known member of the rally fraternity, saw the need to establish a facility that would offer motorsport enthusiasts and competitors a venue to test and set up off-road race vehicles, get some training and also entertain the public in other disciplines of rallying!

He developed Rallystar Motorsport Academy in Bapsfontein near Johannesburg where he introduced Rally Sprint events, self-drive programmes and opportunities for corporate business organisations to spend their leisure time, offering opportunities for team building, hosting of important clients, and giving people and organisations opportunity to experience the thrill of sitting in and even driving high performance rally cars.

The facility has also been used by the country’s foremost rally competitors as a testing ground for their cars and on occasion, like recently, overseas World Rally Championship competitors have been to the Academy to use the testing facilities and they were suitably impressed, rating the facility as one of the Top Three in the world!

The Academy has proved that there was a definite need for such a facility.

Leon then decided to take the activities presented at the Rallystar Motorsport Academy to a next level introducing Rallycross to South Africa.

6 WHAT IS RALLYCROSS?

Tanner Foust a Rally America Rallycross champion describes it in this way: “Rallycross is so much fun, it is like a real life video game. The cars and drivers are mean and aggressive, and the racing is an incredible challenge.”

The sport started as a TV show, produced by Robert Reed of ABC television for ITVs World of Sport.

This TV show took place at Lydden Circuit (between Dover and Canterbury) in Great Britain on Saturday, 4 February 1967.

The first ever true RallyCross was organised by Bud Smith with the aid of Lydden Circuit owner Bill Chesson, and was won by later Formula One driver as well as 1968 Rally Monte Carlo winner Vic Elford in a showroom Porsche 911 of the British importer AFN, ahead of Brian Melia in his Ford Lotus Cortina and Tony Fall in a BMC Mini Cooper S.

After that inaugural event there were another two test Rallycross events at Lydden, on 11 March and 29 July, before the new World of Sport Rallycross Championship for the ABC TV viewers started with round one on 23 September, to be followed by round two on 7 October. The series was run over a total of six rounds and was eventually won by Englishman Tony Chappell (Ford Escort TwinCam), who became the first ever British Rallycross champion after winning the final round of the new series on 6 April 1968 at Lydden.

The largest competition nowadays is the FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers and proof of that is that during the weekend of 7th September 2014 the 100th driver joined the show!

Nordic drivers have dominated RallyCross since the end of the 1970s1)

FIA European Rallycross Championship (ERC) cars are built based on production car body shells but are extensively modified, some capable of 0-100km/h in less than 2seconds! 2)

1)Names as Martin "Mister Rallycross" Schanche (Norway), Olle Arnesson (Sweden), Matti Alamäki (Finland), Kenneth "His Kennyness" Hansen (Sweden) and Per Eklund (Sweden) as some of the more famous. British drivers to win European rallycross titles were the first ever European RX champion, Scotsman John Taylor (in 1973) and the two Englishmen Will Gollop (in 1992) and Richard Hutton (in 1994). 2) A typical leading ERC series car, Per Eklund's Saab 9-3 Turbo 16 4x4 technical specifications are a 2-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder 16-valve engine with a 45 mm turbo restrictor rated at +550 bhp (410 kW) and 800 N·m (590 lb·ft) of torque, four-wheel drive with programmable active differentials and six-speed gearbox, 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) (current FIA regulations) and will do the 0–100 km/h (about 0–62 mph) sprint in less than 2.5 seconds, thereby roughly as fast as a Formula One racer (capable of 0-60 mph in 2.3 seconds, some other ERC Division 1 cars are already claimed by their drivers to need even less than 2 seconds.

The weekend begins with a session of unofficial practice. Following this is the official practice, where each driver does a number of timed laps. A driver's fastest lap counts, and this sets the grids for the first heat.

There are three heats. Each heat is formed of a number of races. Cars could start abreast on the start line and sometimes staggered grids are used. The heats start from slowest cars until there are fewer than 10 cars left, when they are split equally for the last two races. Heats are approximately 6km long.

The short track – Rallystar will be in the region of 800m to 1km will keep the excitement going and there will never be a dull moment.

Drivers are given points based on their time for the heats.

The finals for the top ranked drivers then take place. In the finals, the drivers start in a staggered formation, two in a row. The finals are longer than the heats, about 8 km.

An interesting aspect is that in every race, the drivers must pass through a longer track section for his so-called “Joker Lap” once. The alternative route for the Joker Lap is a section that must be at least 2 seconds slower than the normal track, often on a different surface, and the drivers must decide when to take it, carefully. This increases the excitement and fun!

In an article in 2009 in a trade magazine the following appeared under the heading:

“Hi-Q Rallystar Sprint Series raising the excitement stakes.”

“When it comes to spectacular driving action guaranteed adrenalin-pumping excitement and hours of entertainment, there is nothing that comes close to the Hi-Q Rallystar Sprint Series.

The event does for the rally circuit what the 20/20 series does for cricket. Fans just can’t get enough. Hi-Q Operations Manager, Mike Maree, said that the franchise immediately recognised its potential and could not resist getting involved after being approached by Gauteng-based Rallystar Motorsport Academy, which masterminded the South African series.

“For Hi-Q the series offers superb brand exposure...”

So if the sprint series did to rallying what 20/20 did to cricket, just think what Rallycross can do for rallying and of course a sponsor company?

The fact is that you cannot afford to miss being part of this new rally concept in South Africa that has grown to such great popularity heights elsewhere in the world.

In motorsport excitement is the name of the game and it starts with the incredible spectacle offered by Rallycross.

We need to establish a “partnership” between the sponsor and Rallystar as Rallycross is a big potential business. The sponsor can make it work as Rallycross is the perfect branding vehicle if approached with professionalism and good will.

SPONSORS WILL GET THE MOST BANG FOR THEIR BUCK

Rallycross is fun, exciting and the added danger, drama, the roar of engines, the smell of fuel give all the ingredients for action not easily forgotten.

The compact and fast moving action will give sponsors excellent exposure and Rallystar will obviously offer the best possible value in appreciation to companies starting this with us.

Rally drivers are seen as heroic and daring figures. Not only are they skilled drivers, but positive personalities and charismatic. As a marketing tool, Rallycross is a proven winner.

One of the most inexpensive ways to develop brand or logo exposure will be to sponsor a Rallycross series.

Depending on your involvement your brand and logo can be linked to naming rights, exposed on the cars, service vehicles, driver’s uniforms, clothing of the team members and this together with the company’s own banners and other outdoor advertising material, offers an ideal opportunity to get brand exposure.

The typical sponsor of Rallycross would incorporate the sponsorship into its corporate marketing strategy with the aim achieving the best exposure to promote its brand and corporate identity.

Having said that the main aim of both sponsor and Rallystar should be to grow this incredible sport fast and surely! This is a maiden opportunity to mould something we can all be proud of in future – a legacy from us to motorsport and South Africa in general later when we draw international competition.

This is the opportunity to create top of the mind awareness in selected target markets and to position for a better share in the market place.

Despite a vast array of marketing opportunities available to leverage the sponsorship, we believe that given the nature of this sponsorship and sponsor we need to concentrate our efforts and resources in three main areas. These areas are: • A full on media communication plan; • A well developed and executed relationship marketing plan, and • Piggybacking on other opportunities created by the sponsor

The above obviously does not exclude necessities such as posters, postcards, team clothing, banners and the budget permitting other give-aways.

So let us look at each of the three areas that we have identified as crucial to start with.

All the different forms of the communication media play an important role in the execution of an effective marketing strategy for any sponsorship.

The media business has however undergone various and in some cases radical changes. The traditional printed media has had to change and adapt to the challenges of the new and ever developing electronic communication media.

We have already determined the costs of producing our own TV program and are busy setting up various meetings with contacts to Super Sport and SABC TV.

The Rallystar PR will work in conjunction with sponsors as well as competitors to ensure that the printed media is fed a regular and usable news copy about Rallycross we believe that given its stature as an exciting new form of motorsport entertainment, we need to highlight personalities, create Rallycross Heroes.

Every opportunity that presents itself to generate publicity for a Rallycross event will be utilised.

The electronic media is immediate and on a weekend when a rallycross is being held, thousands of enthusiasts are looking for information on how the event is progressing and how their teams that they support are performing.

We do have the advantage of a 10 year old established website www.rallystar.co.za with more than 10 000 regular and around 6 000 dedicated readers to use as our platform in future.

Sponsor will have the opportunity during and after Rallycross season to make use of various opportunities to arrange relationship marketing events.

Let us look at some of these opportunities:

Hospitality at Rallycross: As we have noted earlier Rallycross is an extreme sport and therefore it is a stadium sport even more than TV spectacle. The reliability of the car and the skill of the driver are tested to the limit in the “arena” and the spectators form part of this! The sponsor’s name forms an intricate part of the action.

This is why Rallycross is an ideal opportunity for the sponsor to create hosting areas for his clients on the various events and to develop trust with decision makers!

Rallycross provides a unique opportunity for a sponsor to implement non- traditional advertising methods. The tremendous entertainment value for the families of employees and events give fans a chance to associate their own personal values with such core values as achievement and hard work.

The range of marketing goals at a Rallycross aimed at increasing brand loyalty, creating awareness and visibility, rewarding your sales force, exciting your employees and relationship marketing are unlimited.

Corporate Days for Customers: In Gauteng, the Rallystar facility at Bapsfontein offers an ideal setting for a sponsor to arrange corporate days for his top customers.

The Rallystar Motorsport Academy offers a variety of corporate days that could be arranged to suit the needs of any particular type of customer.

A corporate day includes Rally Self-drives, spins in rally cars over a rally course, entertainment and catering. Various packages are available and forms very popular ways in which the sponsor can develop closer relationships with its customers using a unique type of sport.

Of course once the sponsorship is agreed to more opportunities may be developed and implemented.

All that remains is that you…..

“Come fly with us...... ”