25 Things You Can Do to be an Outstanding Brand Ambassador Options

[MikeCarruth]

(IMG:http://www.bmxnews.com/hosted_images/whitfield_locals.jpg)


Just posted the companion piece to last week's BMXNEWS article on "What it means to be sponsored"

Some good stuff in there, if we do say.


Check out the story now


Enjoy!


M

[mannequinforce]

This is super awesome! Mike you hit this nail on the head. Every kid who is sponsored should be reading this and their managers should come to expect this from them as well.

This post has been edited by mannequinforce: Sep 12 2011, 08:07 PM

[justride]

I only disagree with #2. Like if you have a co-sponsorship deal on a frame. The frame rides awesome, perfect feel and super comfortable. You might say it's a bit heavier than you'd like. So you could say "It's not the lightest, but it rides the best and feels great." It's not putting down the product.

[Jason F.]

Facebook'd it

[Jason F.]

26 Dont talk like a 2 bit hooker working the docks....


Amazing how terrible so many people talk in the pits at big races.

[justride]

26 Dont talk like a 2 bit hooker working the docks....


Amazing how terrible so many people talk in the pits at big races.

*raises hand* guilty...but I'm more like a drunken sailor sometimes. I try to be careful when I'm around young guys but every now and then it slips out.

[jeffc]

Short story:
I was a sponsored snowboarder for a number of years. Every winter our clothing company paid for a week long catalogue shoot for the following years product. They paid for everything, hotels, food, booze, snowmobiles, cat time etc. So one morning as we're eating breakfast and planning the day, the best rider on the team opens his mouth and tells the 2 guys in charge of us all (8 riders in total) that the name of the company was bad and that they should change it if they wanted to be taken seriously. Nobody spoke. He finished the shoot and was off the team.

[obsessive]

Short story:
I was a sponsored snowboarder for a number of years. Every winter our clothing company paid for a week long catalogue shoot for the following years product. They paid for everything, hotels, food, booze, snowmobiles, cat time etc. So one morning as we're eating breakfast and planning the day, the best rider on the team opens his mouth and tells the 2 guys in charge of us all (8 riders in total) that the name of the company was bad and that they should change it if they wanted to be taken seriously. Nobody spoke. He finished the shoot and was off the team.

and justifiably so. Your either in, or your out

[Thumperpilot]

Great read and great points Mike. Keep'em coming my man!!

Doing what I do, I get asked all the time about riders and their families by a lot of companies and TM's.

One of the first things they ask is -

How's the rider perceived at the races?

Second is -

How's the riders parents? Is there a lot baggage that comes with the rider?

I think a lot of parents forget some companies and TM's actually look at how they rep themselves at the track and events as well. There are some parents out there that could read Mike's article and take something away from it to better their program. Great stuff for sure!

This post has been edited by Thumperpilot: Sep 13 2011, 08:11 AM

[Tim H]

Like if you have a co-sponsorship deal on a frame. The frame rides awesome, perfect feel and super comfortable. You might say it's a bit heavier than you'd like. So you could say "It's not the lightest, but it rides the best and feels great."

...and I don't know that I agree with this. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Sponsorship is, as it says in the article, a business transaction. In effect, the sponsored becomes a salesman of sorts, and needs to be able to sell his or her product. If the salesperson does not stand behind the product 100%, he or she either needs to find a new product to sell, or find a way to make people believe he or she stands behind the product 100%.

That's business, that's sales. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Jason F.]

I only disagree with #2. Like if you have a co-sponsorship deal on a frame. The frame rides awesome, perfect feel and super comfortable. You might say it's a bit heavier than you'd like. So you could say "It's not the lightest, but it rides the best and feels great." It's not putting down the product.

Try using that liine with your wife at a party and see how that works "she's not the lightest but she rides great" and see how it goes over.

[bystickel]

A sponsor would do well to encourage their riders to promote the sport just as much as the brand, if not more.

Face it, most kids aren't going to win week in and week out. Most kids can't afford a chi-chi bike. If the fun and community of racing isn't stressed, then kids will drop out.

Kids who stay in the sport are far more likely to buy sponsor's products than those who don't.

[mister2dt]

Truth in sales is what customers want. If the frame isnt the lightest out there and you are selling it at "100%" brand loyalty, the people you talk to will eventually take your word with a grain of salt. But, if you are up front and honest with them, you will more than likely gain a customer for life because you are completely honest.

What would you rather have? "this frame is the best on the market and nothing else compares!" or, " this frame is just a touch heavier but makes up for it in other areas such as feedback an handling. A better ride and more control which i would take anyday over a few ounces saved."

I'd buy the heavier frame because its an honest sell..

[justride]

...and I don't know that I agree with this. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Sponsorship is, as it says in the article, a business transaction. In effect, the sponsored becomes a salesman of sorts, and needs to be able to sell his or her product. If the salesperson does not stand behind the product 100%, he or she either needs to find a new product to sell, or find a way to make people believe he or she stands behind the product 100%.

That's business, that's sales. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

But what you are doing with my statement is taking info anyone can get from a website, a frame's weight. That info says frame x is heavier than frame y. So you say to someone who asks "well this one is stiffer" or 'this one pulls up easier". You are praising the product either way.

[Tim H]

As a sponsor, I would expect my sponsored rider to not say "this frame is just a touch heavier but makes up for it in other areas such as feedback an handling". Basic sales... you don't open with a negative, you open with a positive. "This frame has awesome feedback and handling," is what I'd expect my sponsored rider to say, following up with "this frame is just a touch heavier" if asked about the frame's weight.

As a customer, I would be put off by someone who out and out told me that "this frame is a touch heavier but..."; if the "salesman" (in this case a sponsored rider) is starting off by saying the frame's a bit heavier, I'm going to assume it's a lot heavier and he's trying to downplay an obvious shortcoming.

It's all in the presentation... which goes directly back to how a sponsored rider promotes his sponsor's products.