Jelly Bean Treat

[paintboy]

I thought I would share with you all my halloween treat. I got the opportunity to shoot this photo mission with Brant Seghetti in "Sparky" yesterday and whata treat it was. What a great day in the Northern California Valley. And I did not have to wear a mask or anything. I did say thank you afterwards. Trick or treat!!!!!! Enjoy.

Dave

[wingman]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

Nice shot, Dave. Wonder what it's worth to do this to your airplane?

[Victor Archer]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

Great Shot! Definitely a treat ! Thanks for sharing Dave
More

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

Nice shot, Dave. Wonder what it's worth to do this to your airplane?

I talked with "Spagetti" (Steve and no disrespect intended, that's how he ID's himself whenever we talk ) before Reno and I did not get the impression that there was an awful lot of $$ that changed hands in this sponsorship, however, it DOES showcase how extremely visible that a sponsor can be on a rapidly moving object!

Particularly, the bottom wing of the racers is a GREAT platform for sponsors to get a lot of visibility. Bill Rogers and Dale Stolzer and the Rogers Stolzer Air Race Team really do show the way with their sponsor placement on the wing. I wonder if anyone could ever accurately calculate how many pairs of eyes actually view the sponsor name when you figure in ALL the tons of photos that get published on the net, as well as in various ink and paper pubs.. I'm not just talking about sites like this one and the other ones dedicated to air racing. When you talk "bottom wing shots" you're talking literally tens of thousands of pictures passing around via the net, snail mail..you name it.

Beating the old drum again but, without sponsorship, and I mean in a MAJOR way, we're not going to see a bunch of growth in this sport. Right now, we've got a few of the full on "super modified" racers still in action. Stop for a minute and think about it though, if Terry Bland decided his time in the sport was finished, if The Rare Bear exhausted their funds via, say a major engine failure, or some other problem involving lack of funds and say, Mike Brown got tired of it or left for whatever reason..

That would just about spell the end of the "SS" racers.

It would always be a blast seeing the rest of the guys go at it but it would not be the same without the really "chopped up" SS airplanes on the course.

I am beating the old drum, the only difference now is, after something like seven years beating it, I'm finally becoming convinced, the big sponsor dollars will never come to this sport as it is needed to really grow it big.

Sometimes I wonder if we'd really like it if it did grow....

I've learned something over the last few months though, appreciate what you have now, you may not have it tomorrow.

With that said, support your favorite team by visiting their website during the off season and maybe buy a T-Shirt or something, when at Reno, make sure you do the same at their pit.. Every little bit counts!

And to the "Sparky" guys... No matter how many $$.. GOOD GOING!!!!!!!!!!

Wayne

[Peashooter]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

Who is SBM Cleaning?

http://162.58.35.241/acdatabase/acmain.htm

[wingman]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

I guess this does qualify as a visible sponsorship...

[paintboy]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

Wayne.

You have touched on a really tough nut with the whole sponsorship ordeal. There are a number of great potential sponsors lurking out there who could benefit greatly with racers even with their limited showing. I asked Brant Sunday if he thought they would be able to continue with the Jelly Belly sponsorship next year. He stated the sponsor was very happy with how the racer displayed their company name and that Jelly Belly sold something like $12000.00 in jelly beans at the Reno event. If that does not prove the power of advertising then I give up. Brant sounded positive on being able to extend sponsorship for next year. The problem with sponsors is LIABILITY. Unfortunately, heaven forbid you have a accident with a racer (or any aircraft for that matter) with a large recognised sponsor prominately displayed, now that sponsor becomes the star defendant in a law suit because they have the deepest pockets for a settlement. It is unfortunate, but this is the world we now live in. Imagine a racer painted up in Pepsi, Coca Cola, Gaterade, Budweiser colors to name only a few. Take the possibility of liability out of the equation and it would be a win-win situation for everyone. Red Bull has done some terrific things with their advertising on a variety of sponsored aircraft and it works out great for them. The difference is, over seas there are no jackpot settlement lawsuits. I thought along the same lines as you once about the whole sponsorship scenario and beat myself up wondering why the dollars are not there for these teams. I realized years ago the answer was simple. Corporate America is afraid. Sorry for rambling on about this and I will now step away from the podium.

Dave

[Apteryx]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

-

Beating the old drum again but, without sponsorship, and I mean in a MAJOR way, we're not going to see a bunch of growth in this sport.
-I've learned something over the last few months though, appreciate what you have now, you may not have it tomorrow.Wayne

Re: (Part 2) AMEM. WHAT you have, and WHO you have.............

Re: part one, has there EVER been, I don't recally any, full field(s) sponsorship?
Formula One, Bi-plane, T-6, Unlimited, now Sport.
I've tossed this idea out before and am usually ignored. The "little guys" would cost a fraction of Unlimited costs, and how cool would it look to have ALL the classes parked together, with the same paint scheme. It would certainly create a photo-op. MAYBE even the NEWSPAPERS would print a story. There would rarely be a race report written that a
(Sagar)meister airplane, would not be mentioned, heck you'd probably get a volume discount on the paint jobs...............................Paul

[Peashooter]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

Let's look at marketing dollars from a corporate perspective. Typically, an advertising budget is anywhere from 2 to 20 percent of gross sales. So, just based on the Jelly Belly event sales, that equates to anywhere from $240-2,400 to Sparky based on the quoted on-site sales. Of course there are ongoing sales due to the Reno "ad impressiosn", but even Reno's crowd of 60,000 can at best be described as one percent of the net, unduplicated audience that the Jelly guys would need to reach in a year's time.

Long & short, these dollars might buy some of Sparky's gas, but not a new mouse motor.

Until Reno, and/or other future air race venues reach a documentable critical mass audience, the Tides of the world will not get real interested in sponsoring our favorite winged racers.

[T. Adams]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

I think I have to agree with Wayne here. As long as this just happens once a year, and it will because it's so damn expensive, big money just won't be there.

I'm sure you will get a little here and there like Jelly Belly, but the Reno crowd is very small even compared to a week at Oshkosh. You think they could have sold a few jelly beans if that Mustang would have been at Oshkosh for a whole week?? I think so.

If the SS racers could get to more huge shows like Oshkosh you may see more interest. On the other hand I know it is very, very expensive to fly to Oshkosh, and also risky since the time between EAA, and Reno is so short. I remember when the Bear was as EAA a number of years back. The crowd around the plane was very large from what I remember, but my memory is going.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

Dave's hit on an issue that really is an issue in the corporate legal departments when it comes to putting their name on anything that is aviation related and could be considered "non-standard" I don't want to mention company names but I can think of one really high profile company that *is* pretty well involved with supporting classic aviation but they are EVER so careful to ensure that they are not held liable for anything and they absolutely will not have anything to do with airplanes that are raced.

Very good point indeed Dave!

Wayne

PS, Tim, on just exactly how much exposure the sponsors do get out of the one shot at Reno. I'd really like to figure a way to calculate how much they really do get. A quick for instance would be the MotoArt guys on cable now. That picture of Voodoo on the wall that is so clearly shown in so many shots. I wonder, if it had a big PEPSI or something like that on the bottom of the wing, would it get seen? Or would they blur it out?

But it is an example of ways that the sponsors do get exposure beyond that which is "just" at Reno.. It really is too bad that Oshkosh is so far away, or that it is so expensive to go to *any* show. I'd love to see a "circuit" of demonstration races several times a year but even that is just too darn spendy to be supported with the current level of inbound money to the teams. Shows don't have enough, usually, to pay, say six airplanes to show and "race".. it has to be a sponsor backed deal..

Once again I'll say, enjoy what you have now!

Wayne

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

I guess this does qualify as a visible sponsorship...

LOL Neal, to say the least ey... Sparky always seems to be a very "photogenic" airplane, a bit different this year (understatement) but still looks pretty darn shootable.

Nice job of exposure on the pylon shot.. looks like a very difficult situation but you pulled it off, as usual.

Sure can't do that on autoexposure can you

I miss you guys! Wish you and Birgitta could hop a plane and make it down to Nellis!!

Wayne

[Unregistered]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

Hi Wayne -- Thanks for the compliment -- it truly was The Year of Bad Light! As always, though, those shots that did work were often both beautiful and unusual. I had a new toy this year -- a 300 mm F4 lens with internal focusing motor that is both really fast focusing and stupendously sharp. This helped my percentage of reasonable shots even in frustrating light.

Would love to come to Lost Wages! I think we need a sponsor!! LOL.

By next year we'll be retired and living much closer -- that'll make all sorts of things a lot easier....

Neal

[paintboy]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

As requested I have posted a few more images from the photo mission. I hope everyone enjoys them. That sponsor really does look good on "Sparky". It has really grown on me. Makes the racer that much more colorful, not to mention different.

Dave

[AirDOGGe]

Re: Jelly Bean Treat

That picture of Voodoo on the wall that is so clearly shown in so many shots. I wonder, if it had a big PEPSI or something like that on the bottom of the wing, would it get seen? Or would they blur it out?

I would suspect that the production company would have sought a sponsorship from Pepsi, or else asked them to remove/relocate such a poster.

Product plugs seem to be popular on TV shows. If you ever watched Seinfield, you may have noticed a mtn. bike hanging in the hallway on a hook (I THINK it was seinfield). Klein Mountain Bikes paid a pretty penny to have that bike (and it's name) visible in each episode. I also read that when you see a can of coca-cola or some other product on a table or counter on in an actor's hand, money changed hands for it to be there.

Movies too. Reeses Pieces candy were seen and used in Spielberg's "E.T.", only because M&M's didn't want to pay for the exposure.....Bad move, as Reeses Pieces became very popular after that movie became a hit.

I do not know if this is true for real-life programs like "wingnuts" though. It's a definite possibility.