Adopt a college's engineering program. Seriously. Partner every team with a top universities engineering program and start internships for a couple of students to join the team for the year and give an engineering class on campus a specific job for the year (build better suspension pieces, come up with new mirror's etc.). Then make sure the local media for each of the universities has access to those programs so they can update the readers, do news stories, get local people from across the country involved and give the local media a reason to talk to them.
You win.
This would be excellent for getting fresh engineering talent into the sport.
Promotion people, PROMOTION! MARKETING. Yes, a 30 race schedule, starting earlier and changing the start time for the 500 are all interesting ideas but they have nothing to do with marketing and promotion.
Using the current package as it exists today with the races, drivers and start times, what would you to to promote the series?
1. Hire Eddie Gossage or someone he recommends to be the official promoter for the IRL. He knows how to generate buzz.
2. The IRL should take over marketing and promotion of the series and races. I know Curt Cavin poo-pooed my idea about this but I still think it's valid. Some of the teams can't do any promotion due to lack of funds or lack of sponsors. Don't rely on the teams to do it. Ever see some of those NASCAR commercials that are promoting NASCAR and not a specific driver or team? What about those milk, beef or pork commercials that aren't selling any specific brand but the product itself? That's what we need. The IRL should market and promote the product itself. To that end...
3. 1 full page ad in USA Today Friday before the race promoting the upcoming event. 1 full page ad in USA Today on Monday celebrating the most recent event/winner. Radio/television commercials in race markets ALL SEASON LONG.
4. Offer discount tickets/garage passes to anyone that works in any form of the auto industry within 100 miles of the race track. Mechanics, dealers, etc... Show a work ID and receive a garage pass or discount ticket or both. Get a special tour of the track and garages on the first or second day of practice. VIP suite lunch and driver meetings included.
5. Everyone loves a parade. The Circus is in town. Arrange for local grade schools or junior highs to enter floats into the parade. Offer a prize to the school with the best float. Have drivers show up at these schools well before the events to encourage the kids to build floats. Winners get free or discounted tickets and stuff. Then have the parade roll through town the evening before practice. Parade consists of local floats, haulers, cars, drivers, etc... Throw a street festival with booths, driver meetings, etc...
6. Encourage/require top-level sponsors to promote the series in their home town headquarters in some way. Get the towns behind the drivers. When Cummins Engine Company sponsored Gil DeFerran my hometown of Columbus, IN felt like he was our driver. When big Al won in 87 with a Cummins sponsored car, he showed up at Cummins a couple of months later to talk to the fans. Get these sponsors to generate buzz in their HQ's community. Get that community to think "Target's HQ is in my hometown. Dixon and Wheldon are Target drivers. They are OUR drivers representing OUR town." Do the same thing with the drivers hometowns/place of residence.
So, in short, Advertise, Advertise, Advertise. Get the local community involved and behind the team.
These would be a great place to start.
All great ideas. Really.
The best way for the IRL to start getting known is to promote like madmen. Expensive, but it does the job. Get Gossage here full-time, and give him the budget to play hardball. He'll get the job done. Heck, the freakin NHL was offering him a high up job.
In addition to what has already been said, here's where I'd go.
NASCAR's 36 races is too much, but the off-season is ludicrously long, so more races is a good idea. Have the US series start the same weekend as the Daytona 500 and run until late October, and have it have roughly 23-25 races.
Then have an international series. Call up some motorsport promoters in warm weather countries - Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain, Israel, India, et cetera - and see if they'd support a winter series or a few of them, like the old Tasman/Springbok Cups. Decades ago, said series had cars for local entrants and were winter fun for teams that were hardcore racing nuts. Make sure the local hero Indycar racers make appearances - Kanaan, Junquiera and Camara should be guys at the Brazilian rounds (just for kicks, see if Barichello will make an appearance, too), Schekter should be at the South African rounds, Briscoe and Power at the Aussie races, and so on. Have Indycar sanction said series, but have the local promoters figure out how to make them work. But for sure make sure they are televised in America.
The reality show idea is a great one. I'm thinking more along the lines of the Ultimate Fighter - the best drivers are divided into 2 or 3 teams coached and taught by Indycar drivers (I'd have Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal and Paul Tracy coach and lead the teams), with the prize of a full-time ride in Indycars. Have the six best racers compete by racing each other, their team leaders and a handful of Indycar's best in a heads-up sprint race, as the season finale.
The college engineering programs ideas is very unique, and its also an awesome one. Make sure whatever that school's closest race is, the entire school team is there.
Have graphic artists design the cars. Seriously, some of the paint schemes are downright sad. And since you want to make an impact, having a car that makes people go "holy s---!" always helps. With that in mind, for unsponsored cars, why not just do what a couple F1 teams have done in the past - let all kinda of local sponsors know that the race is in town and they can sponsor a car in that race for cheap. Gets some money for the teams and makes the empty car syndrome a little better.
Make sure the racetracks look good. This is especially true of road/street races. Toronto looks positively run-down on TV and its just as bad in person. What could a bit of white paint, some kerbs and perhaps even some Astroturf/grass do? Quite a lot, actually. On an oval, allow the fans to get closer to the action and then try to not focus on the emptier stands above. (Bonus: The fans get a much closer and more personal experience.) On a road course, make sure the track looks good, pave over concrete patches (That's directed at you, Mid-Ohio) and generally clean the place up.
Make sure the series is fan-friendly. The ALMS is the example to shoot for. Allow fans to go into the paddock and see what's going on. Allow them to sit wherever they wish at the track. (Harder at street races, but there is no reason to confine guys at a place like Mid-Ohio or Road America.)
Adopt a college's engineering program. Seriously. Partner every team with a top universities engineering program and start internships for a couple of students to join the team for the year and give an engineering class on campus a specific job for the year (build better suspension pieces, come up with new mirror's etc.). Then make sure the local media for each of the universities has access to those programs so they can update the readers, do news stories, get local people from across the country involved and give the local media a reason to talk to them.
This idea actually cought me off guard... in a very good way!
For one, it ties in and expands off of the recent design project, taking it to another leavel entirely.
In addition, I think the true genious of it is that it's something that offers repetitive dividends at every race. In otherwords, driver X wins the race in lets say Bunker Hill (yeah, yeah, I know there's no race in Bunker Hill.. that only makes it neutral). So driver X gets good publicity for the series and everyone is thrilled in the press. Regretfully, driver X doesn't win another race for the rest of the year and after two or three races, the press looses interest.
With this idea, Smuff76's program keeps the series in the press year round. Every stop the series makes, the local press have a great story to focus on. A program such as this offers the telivision media a very easy avenue to promote the series to the standard media. How? They just keep hammering it in during the broadcasts at every race. It's a great story and is akin to a stage II of the college design program. With the press, it's a lot like fishing. The more bait you have out, the better your chances are for a bite, and hopefully a hook. This is good bait.
Will it be the top story?
No. Never.
However, having said that, Smuff76's idea is akin to the offensive line in professional football. The press will always be looking for a Bret Favre, but without a steller front line, Favre could never get off the pass in the first place. What you're seeing here is a stellar front line.
Picture a conversation at the coffee machine at work.
"Hey! Did you see that piece in the paper about the college engineering program the Indy cars teams are using?"
"College engineering program? No. What's THAT about?"
"Well, the teams are tied in with engineering colleges and universities having their students working with the teams."
"Wow! You're kidding? I've got to read about that! Today's paper you say?'
"Yeah! Sports section. Bottom of the front page, part of the race that's in town. You can't miss it under the pictures and stories of Helio and Danica..."
NASCAR's 36 races is too much, but the off-season is ludicrously long, so more races is a good idea. Have the US series start the same weekend as the Daytona 500 and run until late October, and have it have roughly 23-25 races.
For IndyCar to start the same time as Daytona they would have to choose a warm weather track. California and Phenoix are not an option. Las Vegas might be. I think the weather is still cold in Texas, which leaves you with opening in Florida the same weekend as the Daytona 500. That's going to be a really touch ticket to sell.
The reality show idea is a great one. I'm thinking more along the lines of the Ultimate Fighter - the best drivers are divided into 2 or 3 teams coached and taught by Indycar drivers (I'd have Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal and Paul Tracy coach and lead the teams), with the prize of a full-time ride in Indycars. Have the six best racers compete by racing each other, their team leaders and a handful of Indycar's best in a heads-up sprint race, as the season finale.
Okay but, please let these guys have some seat time in real race cars before putting them in a 225mph IndyCar. Last thing IndyCar needs is the headline "Reality TV finally kills" when some rookie gets over his head and plants his car in the wall at 225.
On an oval, allow the fans to get closer to the action and then try to not focus on the emptier stands above. (Bonus: The fans get a much closer and more personal experience.)
Except those are the worst seats at a track. Tracks usally sell these seats last.
I would really push the champ car vs. irl thing. This will sound dumb but try and time the races to start just after the nascar races. How many people will start flipping channels after the nascar race looking for something to watch? The cars need to look better. The paint schemes are a bit dated. The way the races are shown, the camera angles don't give a sense of speed. I have noticed this with formula 1 during a race at spa. When the camera pulled back it gave a real sense of speed. They even had a helicopter chase cam. Not the entire race mind you but a few shots would be cool. I am sure I will come up with some more but I need to sleep. Oh yeah ditch the spec cars. this will bring in the car nuts and they will drag more people with them with there constant arguing
Adopt a college's engineering program. Seriously. Partner every team with a top universities engineering program and start internships for a couple of students to join the team for the year and give an engineering class on campus a specific job for the year (build better suspension pieces, come up with new mirror's etc.). Then make sure the local media for each of the universities has access to those programs so they can update the readers, do news stories, get local people from across the country involved and give the local media a reason to talk to them.
This idea actually cought me off guard... in a very good way!
For one, it ties in and expands off of the recent design project, taking it to another leavel entirely.
In addition, I think the true genious of it is that it's something that offers repetitive dividends at every race. In otherwords, driver X wins the race in lets say Bunker Hill (yeah, yeah, I know there's no race in Bunker Hill.. that only makes it neutral). So driver X gets good publicity for the series and everyone is thrilled in the press. Regretfully, driver X doesn't win another race for the rest of the year and after two or three races, the press looses interest.
With this idea, Smuff76's program keeps the series in the press year round. Every stop the series makes, the local press have a great story to focus on. A program such as this offers the telivision media a very easy avenue to promote the series to the standard media. How? They just keep hammering it in during the broadcasts at every race. It's a great story and is akin to a stage II of the college design program. With the press, it's a lot like fishing. The more bait you have out, the better your chances are for a bite, and hopefully a hook. This is good bait.
Will it be the top story?
No. Never.
However, having said that, Smuff76's idea is akin to the offensive line in professional football. The press will always be looking for a Bret Favre, but without a steller front line, Favre could never get off the pass in the first place. What you're seeing here is a stellar front line.
Picture a conversation at the coffee machine at work.
"Hey! Did you see that piece in the paper about the college engineering program the Indy cars teams are using?"
"College engineering program? No. What's THAT about?"
"Well, the teams are tied in with engineering colleges and universities having their students working with the teams."
"Wow! You're kidding? I've got to read about that! Today's paper you say?'
"Yeah! Sports section. Bottom of the front page, part of the race that's in town. You can't miss it under the pictures and stories of Helio and Danica..."
So I have been tossing this one around in my head and can't decide if this is a good idea or not........ so here it is.
The ICS needs a BIG kickoff event to shake off the 6 month off season....... this isn't really original, but OW doesn't do it, so......... an endurance race. You could make it 12 or 24 hours. You can do it on an off weekend or set aside a month for testing etc. (like indy) and have your "marquee" road race. Schedule it so that you can bring in drivers from all disciplines. Gordon, Stewart, Dumas, Brabham, Pruett, and on and on.......... I don't know where you would do it...... not Daytona, not Sebring, maybe Laguna?
Have Bruton build a road course at Vegas motorspeedway and have the "24 Hours of Las Vegas, The City that Never Sleeps"
BRING BACK FORD vs CHEVY after all it is an American series.
That is about all you would need.
Few Americans can relate to driver's names but all Americans can relate to CHEVY vs FORD.
Ford and Chevy have to come back on their own. That's their decision, not ICS.
Sure that is a correct statement, but the IndyCar World Series can entice Chevy and Ford that they would market Chevy vs Ford rivalry and make it the foundation of the IndyCar World Series promotion. In America there would not be a better marketing tool than to promote Chevy vs Ford.
MAybe not drop Honda, but do everything they can to get other manufacturers involved again. Be that GM or whomever, bring back manufacturer competition to get "juice" and dollars flowing back in!. Great ideas all over the place here, by the way!!
3. Go to hot places during winter and overseas (Mexico, Australia, South Africa for example).
With these 3 you can promote races. Now you are in sight/mind ALL the year-long... I know that this requires money, but which sponsor is gonna pay for 7 months of doing nothing?
Okay, first off, This is IndyCar Series...aka...AMERICAN open wheel racing. South Africa? are you KIDDING me? Forget mexico...MAYBE swing by and do Surfers when you do Motegi, but that is about it. And if we can get Toronto back. But stay in the states, for the most part.
2nd,
I know that this requires money, but which sponsor is gonna pay for 7 months of doing nothing?
What sponsor is going to spend big money on your 10 month schedule when races are so spread out, and get 2 in a month or N@$C@R that runs 7-8 races a month?? What sponsor is going to sink money into a 10 month schedule, and see very little return because ESPN/ABC wont advertise our series, and keep announcers who put our fans to sleep.
BRING BACK FORD vs CHEVY after all it is an American series.
That is about all you would need.
Few Americans can relate to driver's names but all Americans can relate to CHEVY vs FORD.
Ford and Chevy have to come back on their own. That's their decision, not ICS.
Sure that is a correct statement, but the IndyCar World Series can entice Chevy and Ford that they would market Chevy vs Ford rivalry and make it the foundation of the IndyCar World Series promotion. In America there would not be a better marketing tool than to promote Chevy vs Ford.
Okay. That's great. However in a market where Chevy and Ford have been in the red for a couple of years, what do you suggest that will entice them to drop another $30M + per year on the Indy Cars?
Regretfully we can't just clap our hands and say "Make it so!" like King Tut. We need a plan that will work.
