Britcar Branding (the great sticker debate)
Discussion
Ok I never post on message boards generally but good old PH seems to be the best forum to voice opinions on and I really need to get this off my chest.
Britcar are doing great this year, there is little doubt that it is the endurance racing championship to be in this season with British GT having less than 20 cars on the grid. It's a just reward for years of hard work.
That being said however I'm getting pretty irked by some of the commands being issued down via email and track side from Britcar HQ of late.
I'm talking about the endless "PUT BRITCAR STICKERS ON YOUR TRUCKS / CARS / OVERALLS OR YOU'LL GET NO POINTS" threats that teams (or customers as maybe they should be thought of) are getting sent out pretty much once a week now.
A modicum of branding for the championship is fine / great in fact and I more than understand the need for it. But here are my problems with the current situation.
1) On principle - we pay the championship to race and then for them to demand huge and I mean HUGE amounts (e.g. truck decals are 1.26 m x 41.5 m) of real estate on our cars, trucks and overalls is a bit rich, a nice neat placement in a prominent area is surely enough?
2) Its fair to say that Britcar branding leaves a lot to be desired. The logo is old and looked like it was designed by someone who has just had their first lesson on Microsoft paint circa 1989. Having it plastered all over our carefully designed liveries ruins a lot of hard work and makes everything look messy.
3) The quality of stickers / decals they give competitors is appalling, they look terrible, are inconsistent in appearance, apply badly and take paint off when removed.
If Britcar want to raise their profile and create a professional looking championship it'd be an idea to look at a total overhaul of their branding, with new logo's and a definitely a new website. Surely with all those connections in the paddock they can sort out a designer / agency who can put together something that looks professional and contemporary at a relatively low cost. Something everyone involved can look at and be proud of. It would seem like a much better arrangement rather than threatening teams to plaster billboard size stickers over everything in site.
ok i'm done now rant over
Britcar are doing great this year, there is little doubt that it is the endurance racing championship to be in this season with British GT having less than 20 cars on the grid. It's a just reward for years of hard work.
That being said however I'm getting pretty irked by some of the commands being issued down via email and track side from Britcar HQ of late.
I'm talking about the endless "PUT BRITCAR STICKERS ON YOUR TRUCKS / CARS / OVERALLS OR YOU'LL GET NO POINTS" threats that teams (or customers as maybe they should be thought of) are getting sent out pretty much once a week now.
A modicum of branding for the championship is fine / great in fact and I more than understand the need for it. But here are my problems with the current situation.
1) On principle - we pay the championship to race and then for them to demand huge and I mean HUGE amounts (e.g. truck decals are 1.26 m x 41.5 m) of real estate on our cars, trucks and overalls is a bit rich, a nice neat placement in a prominent area is surely enough?
2) Its fair to say that Britcar branding leaves a lot to be desired. The logo is old and looked like it was designed by someone who has just had their first lesson on Microsoft paint circa 1989. Having it plastered all over our carefully designed liveries ruins a lot of hard work and makes everything look messy.
3) The quality of stickers / decals they give competitors is appalling, they look terrible, are inconsistent in appearance, apply badly and take paint off when removed.
If Britcar want to raise their profile and create a professional looking championship it'd be an idea to look at a total overhaul of their branding, with new logo's and a definitely a new website. Surely with all those connections in the paddock they can sort out a designer / agency who can put together something that looks professional and contemporary at a relatively low cost. Something everyone involved can look at and be proud of. It would seem like a much better arrangement rather than threatening teams to plaster billboard size stickers over everything in site.
ok i'm done now rant over
i would just like to point out before this goes to far DEK GRAPHICS has nothing to do with the vinyl stickers for this championship, as we do this for a living and dont want people to think our vinyl material pulls customers paint work off. As for letting off some steam you go for it.
I've been a long time supporter of Britcar and think Claire and James have done an excellent job in getting it where it is today, yes we all moan about it, but we all love it too !!
Having said that i do think its time for a more professional image. The only problem, as usual, is money. If say £20-30k is spent refreshing the brand, web site etc. ultimately it will have to be paid for by the 'customers' via entry fee's unless a headline sponsor came on board.
Dont get me wrong, i'd love to see an all singing dancing web site and a brand re-fresh but if it increases entry fee's maybe not. (I cant beleive i've said that, I run a Branding and Marketing agency, dont let my clients hear me say they shouldn't spend money on branding - lol !!!!)
Chris
Having said that i do think its time for a more professional image. The only problem, as usual, is money. If say £20-30k is spent refreshing the brand, web site etc. ultimately it will have to be paid for by the 'customers' via entry fee's unless a headline sponsor came on board.
Dont get me wrong, i'd love to see an all singing dancing web site and a brand re-fresh but if it increases entry fee's maybe not. (I cant beleive i've said that, I run a Branding and Marketing agency, dont let my clients hear me say they shouldn't spend money on branding - lol !!!!)
Chris
LPS_Racing said:
anonymous_racer said:
truck decals are 1.26 m x 41.5 m
Thats a big sticker.1.8.5 No team will receive points or prizes if the decals are not displayed in the correct positions on the race car, all decals will be supplied by Britcar Ltd. This is at the discretion of the Championship Co-ordinator. Presentation of all cars should be of a high standard. All trucks or vans carrying cars to and from Britcar GT Championship 2009 events must carry the Britcar GT Championship 2009 logos supplied by Britcar. These will be 1.26 x 41.5 metres in size. These must be displayed on either side of this vehicle. Failure to do so may result in two points being lost at each championship round they are not displayed at the discretion of the Co-ordinator. These will be available at each event. (MSA Reg A25 (I) also applies).
legally that clause would almost certainly fail given that is unreasonable to demand that a sticker is placed on a vehicle which would endanger the driving and use of the vehicle - lets say the van is a transit at 6m long, thus you'd have to wrap the sticker round the van twice covering all the windows in order to comply with the championship regulations. Interesting as a point of reasonableness such a clause would likely to be deamed unreasonable if the clause made no sense with that particular reference removed and thus I would strongly argue that since you are likely to obtain no points by non display of the dangerous sticker to your van then there is no point in displaying any of the graphics at all :
:Edited by TimCrighton on Thursday 9th April 12:45
CAW said:
I've been a long time supporter of Britcar and think Claire and James have done an excellent job in getting it where it is today, yes we all moan about it, but we all love it too !!
Having said that i do think its time for a more professional image. The only problem, as usual, is money. If say £20-30k is spent refreshing the brand, web site etc. ultimately it will have to be paid for by the 'customers' via entry fee's unless a headline sponsor came on board.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see an all singing dancing web site and a brand re-fresh but if it increases entry fee's maybe not. (I cant believe I've said that, I run a Branding and Marketing agency, don't let my clients hear me say they shouldn't spend money on branding - lol !!!!)
Chris
Do I detect the beginnings of a value for money offer from your brilliant agency Having said that i do think its time for a more professional image. The only problem, as usual, is money. If say £20-30k is spent refreshing the brand, web site etc. ultimately it will have to be paid for by the 'customers' via entry fee's unless a headline sponsor came on board.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see an all singing dancing web site and a brand re-fresh but if it increases entry fee's maybe not. (I cant believe I've said that, I run a Branding and Marketing agency, don't let my clients hear me say they shouldn't spend money on branding - lol !!!!)
Chris
Chris, you could become a series sponsor, great for your branding, PERCORSI couldn't resist the challenge !!!
CAW said:
- Funny you should mention it !!! Seriously, i'd love to do something. May even go to British GT meeting this weekend, just to do some competitor research, obviously....I suppose that their branding image is quite good, and as we are both Ex BGT we know what it's like racing with them, shows how powerful good branding can be, the trick seems to be backing it up
Britcar with BGT branding could therefore be the best of both worlds
Racing Rod said:
CAW said:
- Funny you should mention it !!! Seriously, i'd love to do something. May even go to British GT meeting this weekend, just to do some competitor research, obviously....I suppose that their branding image is quite good, and as we are both Ex BGT we know what it's like racing with them, shows how powerful good branding can be, the trick seems to be backing it up
Britcar with BGT branding could therefore be the best of both worlds
We could have had a top six finish with the Z3's
I agree there branding is good, the website isn't so good though, maybe i should pitch to them too !
I didn't see you at Silverstone, where you there? I'm not out at the moment due to lack of budget
, maybe later in the year. 
Richard Hamilton said:
obes said:
Queried this yesterday! It should say 41.5 cm
Think about it - 1.25m x 41.5cm? Surely that can't be correct either.Edit: Unless you have to put them vertically, I suppose.
Edited by Richard Hamilton on Thursday 9th April 19:55
Indeed I've just managed to free myself from a giant Britcar sticker that i was attempting to fix to the side of the truck, three weeks stuck to the side of a truck at Silverstone is no fun i can tell you
It's bigger than any of our sponsor stickers!
However I'm really looking forward to 'The Rock' and i've asked some of my designer friends to have a crack at a few ideas for a new Britcar logo, which i'll post up sometime for you all to mock
It's bigger than any of our sponsor stickers!
However I'm really looking forward to 'The Rock' and i've asked some of my designer friends to have a crack at a few ideas for a new Britcar logo, which i'll post up sometime for you all to mock
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