Marketing & Growing the series
Someone mentioned in the thread on "what does FV need for the future" the idea of marketing and growing the series.
What ideas to people have for doing both of these? Has anything worked for you in your area that has helped 1) increase awareness 2) put new bodies in the seats.
Increasingly in todays world, more and more people turn to the internet for their information. Do we need to find a way to increase our web presence, a web page for example.
Reinventing the world, one wheel at a time.
If you go to the Formula Vee Interchange there is section with about a dozen threads from the last 5 or 6 times someone decided they could stimulate growth in the class through marketing and promotion. Best of luck to you.
http://www.formulavee.org/interchang...forum.php?f=24
Correct me if I am wrong, but there is really no FV dedicated website for SCCA?
For our Canadian Series we run under CASC races but have FTDA (Formula twelve hundred drivers association) with http://formula1200.com/ as the website.
For the Formula 1600 Championship Series there is a website http://www.f1600series.com/
For the Formula 2000 Championship Series there is a website http://www.f2000series.com/
What FV website would I go to for the SCCA that gives as much detail or updates.
Steve Bamford
Bill Bonow
"Wait, which one is the gas pedal again?"
Thanks Bob, a good start to what I was looking for.. I came across this post about car rentals:
http://www.formulavee.org/interchang...&sd=a&start=15
Does anyone else have any experiences with rentals? Did it help increase numbers in your area? What percentage of rental drivers went on to buy their own car?
Reinventing the world, one wheel at a time.
Well, that was me.. And in the almost 2 years since that post, they've bought even more cars, have some guys doing full season rentals, they show up at the track with a big semi with 10 vees and the spectacle of loading and unloading is in itself pretty good promotion for FV haha.
The class has grown from 1 or 2 cars per weekend locally, to 12-14 vees per race, sometimes more. We have an annual "invitational" FV race, with our own run group, that had 20 cars last summer, with everyone (as far as I know..) promising to return and bring more friends. The focus up here has always been on having competitive fun, people tend to help each other out and we always try to have as many cars on track as possible, people from other classes are taking notice and deciding to join us. No matter what, there isn't any other class that puts on a better show than the vees, every single weekend.
By the way, even the FF's have started coming out of the barn lately, probably inspired by the resurgence in open wheel racing up here. Where the open wheel group used to have maybe 5 or 6 cars, we now have 20+ most weekends.
EDIT: One thing I have to mention though, some things have changed slightly up here.. WIth more cars and more competition, some people got a lot more serious and the spending probably went up for most people.. I think most of us are still pretty conservative as far as engine spending goes, but most people have switched to hoosiers/goodyears. No one is yet running a new set every weekend or anything like that, but hardly anyone is running a whole season on a set of tires anymore. The lap times have fallen incredibly over the past 2 seasons. The lap record 2 years ago (when I started racing) was a 1:21.xxx, went down to a 1:19.xxx in 2010 and 1:17.7 last season! The top 2 drivers are consistently in the 1:18's, most of the mid pack is in the 1:19's, the "slower" cars are in the 1:21/22's.. Which used to be pretty damn fast times only a couple years ago. I would be very surprised if the mid pack doesn't catch up to 1:18's this season. Things are progressing very quickly.. Hopefully the spending doesn't get out of hand, or I'm sure the resurgence will be short lived.
We need help from the SCCA!!
Good topic Jeff!
I very much like the idea of a "Formula Vee" Website.
In addition to www.formulavee.us/ There is also http://formulaveeracing.org/Home.html as a dedicated website to FV in the US.
The folks that started those sites were also very eager to help spread the word but as happens with everyone, time becomes scarce and updates become far and few in between. The initial desire to do the right thing can also be smothered when it seems like you're on your own. I'm sure Anna would be happy to get help with keeping it up to date and full of great info.
I do believe the lack of marketing hurts not only FV but all the classes in the SCCA. Maybe we should look to the National office to do a better job of helping the regions get the word out. With few to none spectators at any given race weekend, why would anybody know what we do? Ads in Sportscar do nothing to get people to the races. While an add in a major newspaper near the time of the event, that tells of great racing, so close you can smell it, all for $10.00 or $20.00 a day would in my opinion help to get people to the track. Pack a lunch with the family and go watch not one but eight races in one day. Once they see what is going on by talking to actual racers, there might be some people that decide to get excited about it.
So what would this do for Formula Vee?
Once they are on the hook, FV will be a logical choice to many. Just as many of us have landed here when we realized it's better to be able to afford to race a FV for a long time than some other winged thing for one season. FV is still the most popular open wheel class in SCCA and still the least expensive way to go road racing in a formula car.
What other class can you spend $6500.00 on a 30 year old chassis and win a regional championship?
We need to stop worrying about getting the younger generation and start targeting the people that have enough disposable income, a place to put the car, the ability to take time off a few weekends a year and are wise enough to see the value in racing a Formula Vee. But most of all we need to find the people that want to race.
How do we do that? By "we" I mean the National office of SCCA should be doing this for us.
1) There are way too many people that think they are "racing" when they do a track day. We need to target them.
2) We need to convince the guy/gal that is about to drop $60K on a BMW or Porsche he would be happier in a race car.
3) We need to find the people that will spend $400.00 for a ticket to see an F1 race.
4) Your idea here!
In a nutshell, SCCA Topeka should be figuring out how to find the people that have the resources to go racing first, and then we'll put them in a Formula Vee.
-Andy P.
NER
Andy,
A lot of good ideas. I've brought up the topic of spectators with some region board members. It turns out its a far more complicated issue than just selling a ticket at the gate. By no means insurmountable, but it does pose extra issue of having more bodies at the track. Little things from having first aid setup, to extra security, maybe an announcer, etc... All small issues, but small issues that can be tackled with proper planning.
If we have anyone who's web design savvy who would maybe donate some of their time in helping to update the websites would be great.
Jeff
Reinventing the world, one wheel at a time.
I think you hit this right on the head Andy. Formula vee is the perfect place for the racer that has had other events in his or her life that has prevented them from racing in the past. I took just about 10 years away from racing except for a few arrive and drive karting events becaue at the time I had other life changing events like most do ( purchasing a house, getting married, having kids, sending kids to college all stuff like that.) once I was older and things settled down FV was the perfect place to race for me.We need to stop worrying about getting the younger generation and start targeting the people that have enough disposable income, a place to put the car, the ability to take time off a few weekends a year and are wise enough to see the value in racing a Formula Vee. But most of all we need to find the people that want to race.
Mark Filip
Originally Posted by jhenn4716
I don't think we could sell spectator tickets very easy but we could put on the FV sites that if you are interested in FV raceing and want to get involved you can come to a event and get full access to the pits and drivers to find out all the information you want for FREE! We are all allowed what 3 crew members? I along with many other FV racers do not always bring our limit of crew and we are paying for them anyways so lets put up our availible spots to anyone looking to get more info. When we registar we can figure out who has space and who is willing to give some information to new potential drivers.
In NER I know of a few current racers that constantly contact potential drivers and help them out in everyway possible to get them going and having to ability to say come check out a event for free would help out. This is how I got in FV I was poking around on APEX and asking about a car and a local FV racer who is now a great friend called me and I was on my way and it has been the best experience in racing for me.
Mark Filip
I didn't really think there would be thousands of people flocking to the races but maybe a small gaggle. At least the tracks I've been to always have a small entry fee to get in if your not a racer or crew. The track takes the entry fee not the club.
Free admission
Mark mentioned that most of us don't use our 3 crew and that is true. I have a couple of friends that would come .but they have a wife and a couple of kids. My wife comes and sometimes a friend so i got an extra ticket but if the number was raised to let more folks in "free" we just might end up with corner workers. and more people that would get involved. At the last race at NH a guy brought an extra guest and they didn't charge them, and at a couple of other tracks 4 is the number. not 3.If we just opened it up. The track would sell more food. If nothing else, and may even sell a few T shirts. Track days: You pay $200.00 dollars and get your car on the track and go fast and have fun. "not real racing" but Fun. But your not paying $400.00-$500.00 entry fee and most of those people don't travel to tracks 400 or 1000 miles away to be in a series. "That is my biggest expense" I can figure it costs me about $1.00 a mile to tow my Vee to a race. nh my close track 300 miles $300.00 in gas round trip limerock 4hundred and summit or nj $1200.00 So I am limited to about 8 - 10 races a year with rebuilds tires 2k a weekend average. NHMS Had 5 races last year this year only 4. SCCA Ner decided they couldn't get enough workers to do 5 races The extra date was picked up by a track day as soon as it was available. We will never get that back. I think that was the beginning of the end.Not the right direction we want to go. { National and regional combined} We have one in NER If we go to a spec tire
we will be more in the way of the national guys .Is fun to see if your good enough to stay with some of those guys.I got to follow Our national champion for a lap or 2 and learned a lot.With a spec tire that will not happen. I am not against the spec tire, but would need to be used for all . not just regional.
Jeff:
There is a little thing here that stops us dead it's called "insurance". Whenever I broached the spectator subject with our region I got the "do you have any idea how much the liability insurance would cost???" All I know is....... If you don't have spectators you are destined to be invisable!
I have used the "friend of the reagion" card to get people into the track many times but that only accounts for a couple people a year.
G
G. Brian Metcalf
72 AutoD MK4
1991 Mysterian M2
2014 ALR73 FV/FST
If I was King for a day:
1. a booth at NHMS on Nascar days, LRP on Grand am days, WGI on grand am and Nascar
2. a booth at local race trade shows
3. station someone outside of NHMS on days there are autox's and invite spectators in
4. hand out fliers at SCCA autox's at Devens and other local events
Craig
Well I have my army of mechanics, pit personnel, team chef, masseuse, oh and umbrella girl to get in so I've got no extra tickets. Just kidding, it's usually me and a friend. It really depends on who you're bringing if you've got extra passes. But definitely share any extra passes or spots you might have.
The idea of having tickets available isn't to bring in throngs of people, but if someone is interested they can come out to watch an event. When I first got involved in motorcycle racing, my first weekend I went out and spectated, talk to some riders and got hooked. We can do the same for future drivers, in FV or any class.
We need to talk to our local region or race organization and see what they allow for spectators. Once we know that spectators can come in, we start our advertising. Whether it's by word of mouth, flyers, web presence, taking a car to an auto show, spark some interest locally.
Reinventing the world, one wheel at a time.
All awesome ideas!
In Corning they have a NASCAR night they close down the main street and it is hard to get a booth spot but it is fairly affordable. WGI on the other hand would be a min. of $1000.00/day for a booth but that was at the vintage race 6 years ago I imagine the price has gone up plus seeing it would be at the NASCAR event it would cost prohibative.
But once you give out the fliers the first thing I was always asked was how can we see a race.... joining the region to see a race is a little expensive our region used the "friend of the region" card to bring non members in but the track really doesnt like that.
G.
G. Brian Metcalf
72 AutoD MK4
1991 Mysterian M2
2014 ALR73 FV/FST
That is just a matter of changing how the event is sanctioned. Our region decided in the past to change all sanctions to spectator for only a little bit more than non-spectator events. Talk to your regions board and find out what sanctioning they have for events.
The other issue relates to the contract with the track. Many tracks will charge extra if there are spectators since they consider having to hire additional security and other expenses. The difference is not huge, but it is something the region can negotiate when the next contract comes up.
Reinventing the world, one wheel at a time.
I believe at NHMS spectators are welcome. My crew list is always full up there, but anyone else who has wanted to show up has easily gotten in after paying the small fee at the gate.
Why does everyone want to attract spectators?
Most spectators are simply that and will always be that we need to attract drivers.
All the clowns sitting in the NASCAR events don't become drivers.
Mark Filip
I was going to Nascar events at NHIS long before I sat in a FV or even knew about the SCCA. Last thing we should be doing is limiting our audience.
It's not like we're looking for our groupies, it's just an opportunity to bring someone to the track that's interested in racing. The idea being if you can get them to the track, they walk around, talk to other drivers, see the action on the track, they will get hooked and start racing too.
And I like to think we draw a different crowd than goes to NASCAR.
Reinventing the world, one wheel at a time.
If people want to start racing we are not going to convince them that they either do or don't. I just think most spectators will never race they watch.
Mark Filip
We're just trying to reach a broader audience. The idea of this thread is finding ways to promote and grow racing in our areas. Getting spectators to the track is still a win/win situation. Maybe they don't drive, maybe they get involved in other ways.
Everyone who's involved in our sport, from the corner worker, grid worker, registration, rescue, steward, and driver, we all started out as spectators.
Reinventing the world, one wheel at a time.
Not really an optimist are you?
I started a thread on this very topic yesterday
http://www.apexspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50139
Bob Stack, Hartland, WI
CenDiv - Milwaukee region
Deleted....
Last edited by CenDiv4; 01.24.12 at 2:43 PM. Reason: It might not be broke but it sure could use some "fixin".
Jim,
SCCA has offered weekend memberships (can be applied towards annual membership) for at least two decades.
Bill Bonow
"Wait, which one is the gas pedal again?"
All these are good suggestions - here is a little historical perspective.
The last big growth in FV in the SCCA was when the Suppliers in the class took out full page adds in SportsCar. I think this was late 80's early 90's.
The problem right now is cross marketing - it does no good to have a web site, if no one looks for it. Sites like Apex Speed and the FV Exchange are great if you are already a participant - but how do you find them? If I was a new SCCA member and looking for a class and looked at the classified - no FV's! Not becuase they are not there, but becuase the classifieds have moved to a dedicated web site.
Spec Miata and other Spec Classes keep their strenght becuase of cross advertizing - GrassRoots Motorsports and other street performance magazines.
Remember we used to have Autoweek (Competition Press), Formula Magazine (became OnTrack), Racer, Hot VW, and many others.
Bringing cars to shows is a great idea - but whose car is togther and ready to bring to a show today? Who pays for the booth and transportation - who mans the booth.
This latter part is a good project for regions, and MoHud does several shows per year.
Most towns have cars shows - while molstly hot rods - they would love to see a formula car and it is usually $5.00 and one night.
One suggestion where the SCCA SHOULD help us is have a class page at the back of EVERY SportsCar. This page (or half a page) can list the class, web site and possible contact names. Could be titled "Want to Race?
ChrisZ
We do need good websites, in this age everyone looks to the internet first. So developing our webpages for a better internet presence is important.
We could definitely advertise there, but we would need to figure out how to pay for it. Advertising in SportsCar only reaches people who are already members.
I really like this idea. Perhaps they could have a section on the SCCA website. A page that lists the different classes with links to outside sites.
Reinventing the world, one wheel at a time.
Here in Milwaukee every spring there is a big VW show at a local dealership. A couple years ago I tried to drum up interest from local FV/FST guys to get a display of cars but got no takers. IF there's interest in getting some cars here this spring I'll check out the dates and talk to the people in charge. But I don't want to waste their time or mine if there's no interest.
I'm waiting for the info on the date, but I think historically it's in early June, which may conflict with racing.
Bob
Bob Stack, Hartland, WI
CenDiv - Milwaukee region
Here in Canada Karting clubs seem to be the way to get new blood,our rookie of the year in 2011 was an ex champ @ karts,another NEW kid Karting champ is definitley driving with F1200 in 2012,the guy I park next to at events is ex karting (20 yrs)he has done 2 yrs in F1200 now.Most young ex karting guys go to F1200 as a stepping stone here...some stay...some move on to bigger things.One kid is in Indy lights now,2-3 just recentley moved up to Formula Ford all within the last few years.The only downside is getting your Butt kicked by 16 yr olds.
I thought this was a nice ad in the latest SportsCar magazine , it also is running in Racer magazine which was mailed to me for free this month on promotion . http://www.sportscarmag-digital.com/...ar/201202#pg16
Gary
I more or less did both these things last year, cause I had NO IDEA that I could afford real w2w racing. (yeah my sti was only 35k) Now that I stumbled onto FV and realize I can afford real racing, I should have bought a pickup(or maybe a wrx) and an fv with the cash left over. I would have raced last season and come out ahead financially. (in the short term at least)
I know I got a big packet of goodies(advertisements) at my track days last year. Hell one of them was organized by the scca. Contacting organizers and seeing if they will add some pamflets to their packet might make good sense. I agree this is a good avenue to take, as personally that's the market i am coming from.
Last edited by Socko; 01.24.12 at 9:06 PM.
I think it has been mentioned previously as an idea. For the Ontario F1200 this year we will be exibiting in the Canadian Motor Sport Expo.
http://www.canadianmotorsportsexpo.com
Yes for us, it is close by, and does require support from not just our association, but also the drivers to man the booth, and talk for 3 days.
But you do have racers, car nuts, karters...Basically everyone at the show is a candidate.
I also think targeting car clubs has merit. Why take your 100K car on the track to have "Fun Laps" when you can go real racing
Maybe this is an off-the-wall idea, maybe it has been tried.
If any of the arrive and drive programs or teams out there were to canvas regional car clubs and offer a test day in a race car (vee) for a discounted rate. Chances are there would be some takers?
Teams might get paying drivers for a season or more, but no better way to show off.
volksfest. Milwaukee
I just learned that Volksfest in milwakee will be June 9th which appears not to conflict with any races. I think if we could get 5-6 FV and FST cars out there it might be a good opportunity. Anyone willing to do it? I'll talk to the guy in charge but I need to know there's real cars that would show up.
Bob Stack, Hartland, WI
CenDiv - Milwaukee region
you can count me in, I'll bring my car
Reinventing the world, one wheel at a time.
I did a search on "open wheel racing" - nothing came up but oval track
"inexpensive formula racing" - oh - Formula First Came up (Arizona) - very good!
"scca formula racing" the SCCA comes up and FA comes up before F5.!
put in "Formula Vee" and FormulaVee.org comes up and formulavee.us but how do you get someone to type that in in the first place?
People sell the class, the web site helps close the deal. In the past, there was a big market of people funneled right to the SCCA and formula car racing. Now you have to compete with all the other noise out there, including virtual racing - which is about as safe and as cheap as it gets.
Target markets:
Youth - Karts
Adults - Car Clubs
Older adults - Bucket list (Car shows, seminars, race spectators, etc.)
And don't overlook your fellow SCCA racers - no shame in stealing someone away who is running FF or Spec Miata if they would be better served by FV.
All FV drivers should carry a business card with the web sites and major contacts in their area. I had a PR package put together (will dig it up when I am home again) and was mailing it out to people who expressed an interest. I stopped doing my newsletter when the time and cost became too much and the Internet took over, but I now realize that the Internet by itself is not enough.
We can ask the SCCA to help us promote our class, but have to remember, the SCCA has no desire to do it on their own.
ChrisZ
Mark. Your right. Most won't but some might and some is more than none!
That's how I was first introduced to SCCA and it's why I'm here..blabbing away.
The SCCA used to hold Pro (Trans-Am?) races during National race weekends. I'll tell you the story someday...or ask Steve.
Socko....welcome and we're glad you saw the light! Tell us exactly how you fell into FV. Did the packets and pamphlets work? Did you know someone already racing?
Chris... I like the idea of business cards or pamphlets for the FV drivers to have on hand. That would be a great example of a small thing the SCCA could do for us and all classes. Here's how.... They give each Ad hoc committee a preplanned graphic layout with recommended bullet points and token SCCA logos and tags and some amount of cash to let the committee fill in the details and take care of printing and distributing.
We can be salesmen but the SCCA needs to help get us get the tools to close the deal. I know it's a club but we give them money to make it a good club that we want to be a part of. They can invest some of it back in helping the club grow.
Anyways, the biggest question is how do we get Chris back in the car?
-Andy
Well first I have to convince my doctor and that should happen in about 3 weeks.
Then if this job works out I will have a chance to sample the other side out here by Chicago.
Then I need to get a hold of your brother and make plans for 2013.
ChrisZ
I was lucky enough to meet a person when I was meeting up with a few guys to convoy to a track day last year that had a new to him fv in his garage. It was pretty much dumb luck as it was the first time I met the guy and we just started talking about his new toy as we waited for the late arrivals. So i got to see it and touch it and found out how reasonably inexspensive real w2w was. More or less since that day I have been working out how to make it work in my budget. Research has seriously impacted my productivity at work.
I had known of spec miata but after watching them as a spectator they looked SOOO SLOW!!! After running with a number of ITA preped(i think thats the right terminology) miatas at a track day they are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SLOW!!!!! So I am glad I waited and didn't get into that as I would not of been happy at all. I can deal with being slowish in a car 2" off the ground that I can tow with my STI. But the sacrafices I would have had to made to have a tow vehical for a miata would have made me really mad every day, and the miata would have been too slow on the track to start to make up for it. So I am pretty sure this was the way it had to be.
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