Whatever your current sponsor is, a good way not to get sponsored again is not to be productive for that company. This lack of productivity comes in multiple forms and can include but is not limited to not promoting your sponsor, promoting another company with conflicting interest, not updating your sponsor on your performance and not representing your sponsor appropriately.
Endorsing Competitive Products
For example, if you are a Battlefrog Pro Team member, a good way not to get renewed for a second year is to accept sponsorship as a Spartan Pro Team member. These are two big name companies, so that may not be realistic, but if you are sponsored by a smaller company this is a possibility. A better example pictures online posted of an athlete eating gels from a company other than his sponsor talking about its great taste. It is probably not the best idea to rave about another company’s gel product if you are sponsored by a different endurance company.
Radio Silence
Another way not to get sponsored again is not updating your sponsors on your performance. Depending on who your sponsor is, they probably have different methods of tracking your progress. A common method is to require athlete updates. Athlete updates require you to fill out recent race results either through an email, an online submission form or possibly just a social media post in a secret Facebook group. Whatever the method is for tracking your progress and results, not updating your sponsor company is a good way not to get another year of sponsorship.
Additionally, if you are showing up to races never wearing any shirts, stickers, hats or logos of your sponsor, you are probably not doing your job. They want you to get their name out there, so it draws attention. However, as with anything, there is a balance between promoting and being too aggressive. After all, you are representing a brand, and no one wants a product from someone who keeps tagging you in pictures of sunglasses on Facebook.
False Advertising
Another way not to get sponsored again or maintain your current sponsor is not to be genuine when applying. When applying to a company you need to be able to explain your capability without being too modest or exaggerating. Realistically, you should let your race results speak for themselves and then add some background information along with how you plan on promoting their company. I watched a Facebook post last month where several athletes thought another athlete, let’s call him John Doe, was misrepresenting himself. John Doe posted about his new sponsor; another athlete posted how John was a fraud and within 24 hours, that company dropped John Doe. Whether John Doe was right or wrong is another topic altogether, but the bottom line is be genuine when applying to avoid situations like this.
Too Many Sponsors?
There are some athletes running around the OCR world who have enough sponsors to fill up a NASCAR. So is there a tipping point where you can have too many sponsors? Just like personal privacy or how much you reveal on Facebook, it is a personal preference. A similar approach can be applied to sponsorship. Everyone has their limit, and a lot of it depends on how much free time you have. If you are pressed for time, maybe you just want one sponsor, but if you think you can effectively promote that many companies maybe you can go up to ten. It is all athlete dependent and product dependent as I have previously talked about regarding conflicts of interest.
Believe in the Product or Service
Reading this article should give you an idea of what not to do. Now that you have an understanding of what is wrong do the opposite. Show your sponsor that you appreciate their product and support by turning yourself into a walking, interactive billboard, which translates to sales. That being said, you need also to be genuine. Be genuine in both your application, your claims about the product and when interacting with people. If I do not believe in
If I do not believe in the product I will not promote it and at the risk of offending some people, I am going to call out one company that has been notorious for selling what many people are calling ‘snake oil’. For example, if you are walking around promoting a product like Oral IV, which is essentially a pinch of salt in a thimble full of water, you may need to rethink your plan. Some people may cite ignorance of effectiveness of a product as an excuse, but that is unacceptable.
If you are going to promote something you should have an understanding of that product and the science, proof or data backing it up. For example, one of my friends asked me to promote a nutritional supplement a couple of months ago that would have been separate from my current sponsor because they did not have a similar product. However, after doing some research, I declined the offer because I felt uncomfortable promoting a product where I did not fully grasp the science behind it, and I was not convinced of its effectiveness. I am not going to go around selling lies to people because I find it morally reprehensible, although clearly not everyone feels that way.
Did you miss the first two parts? Check them out below.
Part 1: Why am I not Sponsored
Part 2: Choosing the Right Company
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and official policies of Mud Run Guide LLC, or their staff. The comments posted on this Website are solely the opinions of the posters.
Great article. I was about to critique after the topic of larger sponsors vs smaller sponsors buy you hit the nail on the head about multiple sponsors and NASCAR. USA Track and Field is in a dilemma where athletes want to have multiple sponsors but the major shoe companies monopolize advertising of racing jerseys. It’s healthy to have a balanced amount of sponsors and good for the elite athletes trying to make a loving off of racing.