Originally Posted by
Jandro
Ovo, we are actively trying to NOT have sponsor logos plastered all over our kit. We understand the practical need for them, but for now, we don't need it. We collaborate with a really awesome local shop and a restaurant, but are more interested in event sponsorship than random discounts in exchange for a logo on the kit.
I'm actually vaguely tempted to start my own club or racing team to pursue essentially this strategy, partly because I think this is actually better for sponsors, partly because I'd love to design a really cool no-compromises kit. It sort of falls down on the social element of organizing a squad - I don't know that I'm good enough at meeting people and making friends to attract people to a new team, especially one where they don't get any discounts or team bikes or whatever. But I'd love to make something like that happen.
Originally Posted by
rapwithtom
Love this.
I pretty much believe that logos on kit have zero value to sponsors. Not close to zero, but actually zero.
I would expect that a lot of racers would, if they could be bothered to type a response, disagree...I doubt any of them could be persuasive, but I'm all ears.
No, I don't think I disagree with this at all, at least not at the amateur/enthusiast level. I think event sponsorship is much more likely to actually see a return on investment for most businesses, including bike shops. I think it's not really well-understood that having your name on someone's kit is a risk as well, and the plus side is mostly that cycling is obscure enough that people are just as unlikely to boycott your business because they hate cyclists as they are to patronize your business because they see it on the jersey of the guy who won last week's cat 3 state championship. Not that events are easy to pull off, but a successful, well-run, well-targeted event seems like a better deal than a jersey spot.