This weekend I was at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire. The venue was host to the biggest motorsport property in the UK, the British Superbikes (BSB). The event was different, because as well as being supported by other motorbike classes, BSB hosted the Trofeo Abarth 500 GB, a new one-make car series. It could have all [...]
Den and I incorporated Lateral Syncing Ltd on the 26th of January 2004. Australia Day in London. The basic concept for the new agency was that there was a gap between how sport was using sponsorship and the marketing opportunities provided, not just by the web, but also by emerging technology such as SMS text messaging and wifi.
Bootstrapped, using credit cards and the occasional project elsewhere, Lateral Syncing was a maverick company, the product of the founders. The focus was to be travel and sport, more specifically motorsport.
Our first clients included a small UK racing team, Team Turn Four, who competed in the ‘Days of Thunder’ series at Rockingham, the UK’s only banked oval racetrack. The team did boast the defending champion, Ben Collins and was sponsored by Texaco Havoline. The sponsorship activaion campain featured SMS text messaging, integrated with ‘at track’ banners, a dedicated microsite and targeted print advertising. And it worked. The brand were able to communicate with fans across multiple media throughout the season and specifically meadure the ROI.
Not content with the UK, Lateral Syncing looked west across the Atlantic, where in the United States, mobile was just starting to bite. While SMS text messaging was still quite infant, the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), after a meeting at the 12 Hours of Sebring, decided to pilot wallpaper downloads and ringtones for its fanbase. In conjunction with their web offer and internet radio, the American Le Mans Series put a toe in the water of what is only now starting to really be taken seriously by larger sports.
In May, Den and I took part in an annual trade mission organised by the Motorsports Industry Association (MIA). The trip took in visits to NASCAR teams in South Carolina, the NASCAR AllStar race at Lowes Motor Speedway and then the Indy 500. Five hours after getting off the plane, I was at the Silverstone F1 test and a week after that, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
I had gone from Motorsport virgin to having seen some of the biggest races on the planet.
