News: Can Car Audio Competitions Help Your Business?
- Apr 22, 2010
In today’s marketplace, a common misconception is that sound offs are no longer a viable forum to help reinvigorate our industry. Sound offs that offer sound quality (SQ) in particular have dwindled to near extinction, at least in how many retailers and industry professionals view them. There are even those who would argue that extinction is complete for this once-glorious celebration of the mobile audiophile experience. This doesn’t have to be the case.
I’m going to discuss what sound-off events have done for other retailers and then offer up tips for making the most of sound offs for your business.
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What Have Sound Offs Done for Others?
One of the most successful current sound off event series in the US is the Autofest Points Series of shows hosted by Tony Goza, owner of Sound Creations in Durant, Okla. I’ve talked to Tony on numerous occasions, and he is always busy. He and Sound Creations are incontrovertible proof that sound offs are indeed a very viable marketing method, and that you will bring in new business.
“Doing the work and thinking outside the box are very important in hosting successful events, “ Goza said. “It is also important to involve the local community, and to find sponsor who are not in the car audio business. We no longer have the luxury of selling to ourselves. We still need to reach out to potential customers outside the demographic.”
Autofest was successful right out of the gate due to a lot of planning and preparation combined with Goza’s unwavering attention to the details. Before opening Sound Creations, Goza was the owner of a professional minor league football team in Alabama. Not only was he able to effectively market his team within the community, he was able to instil a champion’s mentality within the team itself.
“Even the best marketing in the world will only take you so far with an average team,” Goza said. “The product on the field has to be the best.” His teams were indeed the best, based on the results – two consecutive undefeated seasons and three trips to the national playoffs. Goza has successfully brought this same championship mentality to Autofest.
“When I played football, all the work was in practicing and game preparation,” he said. “The game itself was the easy part. The same is true of hosting a great show. If you don’t do the work, you don’t get the results; it’s that simple.”
Autofest combines large off-site venues of the Choctaw Indian Casinos and the Locals Night shows that he holds at his shop. He uses effective cross-marketing as part of the pre-show preparation, and he has a high degree of practical understanding that everyone with whom he speaks is (or at least knows) a potential new client.
The ability to effectively network is important in our industry. Sounds offs are a great way to gather a large number of people who have a common interest in cars and audio at a location, and Goza’s shows are proof of that. Not every store can be a Tony Goza, but retailers can enjoy the success that Goza is enjoying at Sound Creations.
Another example of a successful series of shows was Arizona Audiofest hosted in Tucson, Ariz. in 2006. These shows weren’t just marketed to other car audio shops, they were marketed and promoted to several categories of automotive businesses, as well as to local high schools.
Event sponsors at the first event included Discount Tire (which brought out its NASCAR race car and did on-site sales), Dave’s Famous BBQ to feed competitors, as well as the student council at the high school whose parking lot was used at the event site. This show was followed by another four shows held at the hosting store in cooperation with the neighbouring four-wheel drive custom store, bed liner store and independent automotive repair business. (“Hey, while you’re here ....”) You get my point. Spectator and competitor attendance increased by an average 20 percent per event, but more importantly, product and installation sales more than doubled during these shows.
What Can We Learn from the History of Sound Offs?
Who remembers the glory that was competitive car audio “back in the day?.” Chances are good that the vast majority of industry veterans not only remember this time but were directly or indirectly involved in what was, at one time, a thriving “sport”. Some of you may even go as far back as NACA, Car Audio Nationals and Thunder on Wheels. Some of us have been competitors of varying levels of success, certified judges, head judges, or even event promoters/coordinators. I have been all of the above. Those were some great times but the car audio culture has drastically changed in the era of the MP3 and our inexplicable participation in the race to zero.
Ironically, SQ grew in the mid 1990s as installations grew in complexity and sophistication to the point where actual sound quality became secondary. As custom installed reached unprecedented levels, the competitor pool started to dwindle. One could use the analogy that “the country club” of competitive car audio became so exclusive that no one could join. To a lesser degree, this has happened in the SPL arena as well as test tones and burps became the theme of the day, and decibel levels climbed to once imaginable heights.
What happened to the glory that was the sound off competition season between then and now? Although many people in our industry speculate about the reasons for this change, the number one answer is that we forgot what sound offs were intended to be. The industry originally created sound offs as marketing programs for specialty retailers first and as competitive arenas second. For many people, the concept of the sound off has drifted away from the consciousness of the retail dealer base. The question is why?
The marketing concept of the sound off is still one of the most cost-effective programs that a store can use to (re-)introduce itself to the local community, as well as to the regional and national landscape of car audio.
Here is the most important aspect of hosting sound offs: You need to invite as many current clients to your event as you possibly can. Your ability to sell your products and services increases dramatically when potential clients are able to see and hear numerous vehicles – in the same place on the same day – that demonstrate the quality of your work. A key component to sales success with sounds offs has to do with your own clients. Your clients can be some of the very best salespeople you have. They convey the excitement to others, which creates contagious buying tendencies, not for the potential clients, but for your existing clients, too. It’s one thing to toot your own horn, but it’s another thing entirely to have an entire band of your clients tooting their horns on your behalf.
Dave Ritter is a former National Field Sales Trainer for Results Seminars, former Sales/Technical Coordinator for Zapco, and current Managing Partner for Magnetic Marketing.
Reprinted with permission from Mobile Electronics (USA) Magazine (Issue April-May 2010)
