Get Your Motors Running

September 4, 2024 | By Gerry Wagner

Think out-of-the-box for your next HVAC marketing and advertising campaign.

Sponsorship involves a lot more than just your name on the car.

As the vice president of business development for Bathica Corp. responsible for HVAC marketing, I’m always looking for new and unique ways to get our brand in front of our audience, which is HVAC contractors and their customers.

I recently hit a target number in my career that I have been working toward for the last 12 years or so, and that is 10,000 HVAC installers and technicians trained by me. This spring I hit 10,256 since 2012.

I bring this up not to pat myself on the back, but rather to point out that in my experience, the vast majority of those 10,000+ training attendees I interacted with were gearheads, motorheads, hotrodders and nitro-junkies just like me. Yes, I’ve learned that HVAC contractors are generally interested in all things mechanical, and many attend races or have raced themselves.

In my previous role with the Gree product in the U.S., we sponsored a young racer in the NASCAR ARCA Series for three seasons, Gus Dean. The sponsorship was hugely successful not only for the TV coverage provided by FOX Sports at the time, but also for the “at track” activities that the sponsorship afforded us.

We would choose tracks and races that were in strategic markets for the company and have “customer appreciation events” where our customers and their families could enjoy rockstar access at a race with not only our driver, but all the drivers pre- and post-race as well as pit access, and in some cases, executive suite accommodations.

The return on investment (ROI) was tangible, and during those three seasons Gree grew to the number five HVAC equipment line in the U.S. from essentially being unknown in the market, with the common joke being, “What’s a Gree?”

Now, in my present role with Bathica and the Tosot product, we have entered into similar sponsorship deals with drivers and teams in Canada, most notably, driver Gary Klutt who drives the #59 Dodge Challenger in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series in Canada.

This was a single race deal that had two other promotional events included, one with Gary and the car with the BATHICA/EMCO/TOSOT livery (pictured above) appearing for a pre-race promotional event at the EMCO/McKeough Supply location in Guelph, where customers could bring their families and get pictures and autographs, enjoy BBQ and play arcade racing video games.

The second event was an open house at the Klutt Family business, Legendary Motorcars, in Georgetown, Ont. Our customers and their customers were able to enjoy being in the presence of some of the most collectible and exotic automobiles on the planet. And the third event was the race itself, the Weathertech 200 at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ont. Fifty-plus guests enjoyed food, drink and a start/finish line view from an executive suite.

As Klutt explains, “Motorsports sponsorship in our program with Legendary Motorcar Company competing in the NASCAR Canada Series is all about tailoring a custom package for the respective company. The most important ingredient to a good package is the competitive potential of the team and driver, with the car racing at the front, the exposure time and VIP fan experience is far more fruitful.

“Viewership numbers these days come from: TV coverage, social media reach, our content creation team, and VIP events with the car and driver outside of the race weekend. Our network of sponsors and customers at Legendary Motorcar provides our sponsors leverage to pursue B2B potentials and synergies as a result of the sponsorship program.”

Logan Clark’s #15 Ford Mustang with the Hajoca/Mainline livery.

Currently in the U.S., we are participating in a sponsorship program with a young driver, Logan Clark, who drives in the zMAX CARS Tour. Logan drives the #15 Ford Mustang with the Hajoca/Mainline livery (our distributor and brand in the U.S.).

The CARS Tour Late Model Stock (LMSC) program is the southeast’s premier late model stock car touring series. Logan’s family is in the HVAC trade themselves, which makes for perfect synergy and not only a sponsorship relationship but also a B2B cooperative endeavor that benefits both motorsports team and sponsor.

Clark says the following about sponsorship opportunities: “Sponsorship in motorsports gives brands a number of different avenues to reach consumers all under one partnership. Drivers like myself, along with our teams, are working to represent these brands full time through creative, fan-engaging activations, not just on-track activity, although that is important for exposure also.

“Race fans are extremely loyal to sponsors. They constantly support and engage with these companies, which is something that can be harder to achieve in other advertising markets without the direct interaction that racing provides. Motorsports activations have advanced over the years and we are in a great spot right now for companies to reach consumers directly and effectively through our creative platform.”

There is a motorsports sponsorship opportunity for all budgets, and not all involve the exchange of money but rather a bartering of product for exposure. An example was Bathica’s unique experience with Stephen Cox, owner and driver for Sopwith Motorsports in Indiana.

Stephen was building a new facility for his race cars, and we provided the HVAC equipment and installation in return for video content created by his Sopwith Media business. Stephen says, “Sponsors who don’t heavily advertise their motorsports sponsorships are really missing their greatest opportunity. Your car and driver need to saturate every media platform and every print and digital ad your company produces. The way to compound your ROI is to literally advertise your advertising.”

I’m currently working with one of the founding families of NASCAR, the Petty/Moffitt Family in Randleman, North Carolina. This too was a bartering relationship, where they needed an HVAC system for a family member’s home, and in exchange we had the opportunity to have Richard Petty, “The King” and his grandson, Thad Moffitt who is a driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, do a promotional video for us.

It’s an honour to work with Richard “The King” Petty (left) and his grandson, Thad Moffitt.

The opportunity to have Richard Petty, the winningest driver in NASCAR history and simply a motorsports icon, say our brand name in a video is priceless!

This arrangement, like the one with Stephen Cox, creates content that will last for years to come and resonates with our customer base in a way that traditional ads can’t.

Daikin sponsored winged sprint car spotted in Pennsylvania.
(photo: Gerry Wagner)

My friends at Daikin clearly understand the value of motorsports sponsorship. Recently I attended a winged sprint car race at the iconic dirt track, Williams Grove in Central Pennsylvania. I was delighted to see a Daikin sponsored team.

There are local dirt tracks all across Canada and the U.S. where the advertising bang for your buck is tremendous! This is an example of lower cost sponsorship opportunities that target not only your specific audience but also your specific geographic market.

Here’s the important thing to remember: putting your logo on a race car is NOT what this is all about, and in fact most motorsports teams will tell you that if that is your only goal, then they aren’t interested.

Teams nowadays realize that for sponsorships to be successful for all parties involved, the company must participate in at-track and off-track promotional activities so the ROI is realized to its greatest potential.

OK, bottom-line: look, I make it no secret that I am a motorhead to the highest degree, so marrying my two passions, motorsports and HVAC, is particularly satisfying to me.

But I’m also a business person who has to show ROI for all the promotional activities I get our company involved with, and motorsports has proven to be one of the most successful and FUN ways to increase sales of equipment and get your brand in front of your consumer audience.

Yes, motorsports sponsorships sell equipment.