Sponsorship
 

I'm currently working on an RTW trip, hopefully starting early July 2003. There's two of us going, both on R80G/S bikes. We have a website in English and Dutch, and have documented just about everything one can think of.

One of the debates we are having is around sponsorship. We're trying to get an angle on the trip that will allow us to go sponsored for the whole or part of the trip. One of the ideas is a periodical, with pictures etc., on a secure website. People could then buy access per story or buy a subscription. The other options include some creative work with Durex (yes, the condoms), by offering some local education in the various places we will come. Maybe hand out some samples. I think it's a unique way to get into the smaller places of the world and stop AIDS etc. A good selling feature, maybe. As well, we're thinking of putting a PayPal link on our sites so as to allow people to "buy" some miles in support for our cause etc.

We're planning to be gone for 1000-odd days, so money will be an issue.

Has anyone successfully tried a stab at sponsorship, the financial kind? The real cost is in the daily living expenses, not the gear or the bike. So offering free tires or clothes doesn’t but much. Anyone ever have any luck, or people you know of, with this sort of an approach?

Cheers,
Kevin


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Kevin

http://www.nohorizons.net

Sounds to me like you need a PR consultant! The only commercial justification for sponsorship of a bike trip is press coverage. Selling subscriptions to your web site is a non-starter - hardly any sites succeed at this outside the porn industry. And selling "miles" to support a worthy cause would require you to set up a credible, properly managed and audited charity - do you want to to do this?

You are right to look for an angle - without a very strong one you won't get any coverage except the odd snippet in local papers. Not many RTW bikers get substantial sponsorship. (Why should they? They're just having a long holiday!) The ones that do have either written a successful book (Ted Simon, Helge Pedersen) or have a unique claim to fame (Nick Sanders - fastest RTW trip; Glenn Heggstad - kidnapped in Colombia). Your Durex idea is an excellent one, with real potential. Using a motorbike to deliver condoms to far flung corners of the earth makes a nice photo story which would appeal to lots of journalists. But you'll have to be able to demonstrate that what you're doing has real educational value. How will you communicate with people who don't speak your language? Who may be illiterate? Will you be able to carry enough condoms to make anything more than a token gesture? Serious journalists will want to be satisfied on these points before they write about you.

Another angle might be to do the journey on a bike that would benefit from a tough RTW image, perhaps from a manufacturer who wants more sales in the giant trailie market. Aprilia? Suzuki?

It's unlikely you'll get a 3 year deal - but you might get a 6 or 12 month deal, renewable if the sponsor gets plenty of press coverage. For this to happen somebody - probably you - will have to put in lots of work every week, writing press releases, taking pictures, and bombarding journalists with phone calls, emails and faxes.

Good luck!

I agree with Nick that you need a good angle, any company wants to know whats in it for them. This is a really difficult area to break into

The other problem is that if people have really good ideas or contacts, they tend to keep this to themselves as they want the sponsorship for themselves. Probably 90% of the people on this site would be on the road if they had full sponsorship for their trips.

There not many people who have had full sponsorship for this period of time. I think the trick is to see what you can pull off on route, free flights etc

Cheers

Julio