WHO ARE THE (REAL) MAJOR ROLE PLAYERS?
author: Leon Botha
Obviously anyone at my age will refer to the days gone by - as:
"Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la...
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days"
then suddenly it dawned on me that I do not really place much of the past ten years in the 'those were the days my friend" category.
The mind seems to want to go back a few more years and the further back the nicer it seems to have been? Probably because a radiator cost R38 new in 1968? (I know that because that was my father's complete contribution to my motorsport career, which was also about the budget I got from Nissan when I walked for them for a season while supposed to drive their Langley Turbo?).
One has to keep in mind that the subconscious trauma of changes in SA over which we did not have any control - well at least as little as we had over the implementation of whatever was wrong in the past - plays a role in the minds of almost everyone - even those who were born after 1994 the year when changes were supposed to have taken place.
Politics and the rights and wrongs of what happened and what are presently happening, are not what I have in mind.
My thoughts "back to the days" are more motorsport and "fun" related.
About forty years ago it was, what we then thought, 'fast cars, blondes, Tassies and a few university books' approximately in that order of preference and to be honest we thought they would never end!
We wore motorsport club blazers, we almost stood at attention when the 'old men' came past and we did not challenge the leaders and management easily because we were only interested in driving on dirt!
Money did play a role but the technology was not so far advanced that you could not do most things in you garage and your performance depended on how sober you were when you 'polished the ports' (not the bottle - the ports in the engine head) and how well the person who 'cut the camshaft' understood what you needed - or how well he managed to copy the profile of a camshaft you 'borrowed' from an opponent!
Money could not easily get a bad driver to the top or even near the top - at least not in South Africa. Our handicaps were fuel restrictions, money for new tyres and not to have an early morning head-on collision with the school bus at the end of an all-night rally on public roads!
Then through the years the money factor stepped in. Sponsors put in large (relative to the period) amounts of money and manufacturers started realising the importance of impressing the customer - something that unfortunately lost its importance as you will see later on in this article.
The Datsun SSS or P510 as the 'experts' called it stepped into battle with the Toyota twin cams and Ford Escort BDA over the years and the fight was on while the Renault Gordini, the DKW, Peugeot, Colts and so on, faded away.
The last of the marketing gurus stepped in and created for instance a Sarel van der Merwe. A driver not really matched again in promotional posture, simply because the marketing around him was done properly at the right time.
Test this statement and ask the general public even today to name three South African Rally drivers an although he is ready to drive for "The 60's Old Age Haven" - the name Sarel may still pop up even before Serge Damseaux or Hannes Grobler. If you ask a bakkie owner he will be quick to mention "old Hannes" Nissan's redundant top salesman over many years who will be doing his BMW thing one of these days - before he has to retire!
Of course the staunch rally follower will mention Hergen, Enzo and Habig - and a number of them may now even start remembering the name Johnny Gemmell - but the nostalgia will still beat the present situation hands down.
WHY?
The nostalgic sound and visions of the Audi Quattro must surely die in the minds of real rally people sometime, and we will surely get over the "those were the days" era sometime, or will we?
We sat having breakfast with a champion driver of the present the other day and it was great to see that a group of young girls sent a waiter with a request to have a photograph taken with him (I will not mention names as a few guys do have wives checking up on them) - it is also great to see excited kids and parents gathering posters at service areas - and there are a number of things that stimulates the little ray of hope I have standing on my knees...
But - I am afraid that is not enough!
This weekend I was present at the Subaru Bruma Rally where we could enjoy a field of almost 50 entries at regional level, but instead of being elated I was sad as no one outside of the converted knew about the event! Nothing - no promotional value to the sport - no media coverage - no management!
Sad because I then realised that we are going backwards so fast we will one of these days be able to select second gear - backwards!
This is the point where I can bend forward and type seventy pages of frustration, but I will spare you most of the detail in the hope that a few of the "right" people may read this and sit back to think about it.
Due to the expense in the sport (and the lack of vision) you will not soon find more than 60 entries in any popular rally in South Africa. This combined with all the movement on regional level in the provinces brings the total number of competitors in rallying country-wide to somewhere in the region of 140 teams.
Any true marketing person will immediately lose hope when trying to figure out what to do with the sport - I mean why actually worry about 140 people at a stretch?
And that is where those in 'charge' have gone wrong!
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Fast forward buttons and all...
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On a meeting a number of years ago when I did my best to achieve something on the inside - someone who thought that the expression was actually still vibrant and new - said "we must think out of the box!" and sat down.
Little did he know that we were sitting all boxed-in ready to be expressed around the table back to where we started and no one wanted to know that we should at least pierce a hole in the bloody box to breath let alone think "out" of it!
Everyone and his pal who could handle anything looking like a 13mm flat spanner had something to say in the 'management' of the sport and I plead guilty for every so often trying to place the words "grow" and "develop" on the table.
Almost 95% of everything that gets decided around the so-called table has something to do with the technical running of the sport and not how to promote the sport.
If you can show me three sensible pages with a marketing plan or any plan to develop and grow the sport for the future - I will be a wide-eyed surprised man!
I would for instance be very surprised if any of the management agendas contains the words, publicity, posters, radio, media or combinations thereof.
It is already nightmarish to hear that those who have been involved in this incredible success story have been asked to draw up plans for the future and on how to make things work.
Lets me think of the time we had to spend a day or two in a so-called think scrum to try and sort out a mess when the person responsible for steering the ship into ground, stood up and said that he wanted to tell the group what he thinks should be done to save the situation! When I got up and said "yea - someone should shoot you!" while walking out in protest, I was not the most popular person around! Strange hey?
Almost worse is that I now hear that the so-called "role-players" are busy making the rules under which they want to, or are willing to compete. The fact that the second biggest role players, the privateers competing in the sport are ignored by the clan representing about 15% of the field - a field that they allowed to get so expensive that their own eyes are watery - and I will get to the reason for that watery eyes later on.
Just before you believe that I think the so -called 'role players' are the most important you are very, very far off the track.
The companies they work for are actually doing some very necessary branding - an exercise where in some cases they as representatives fail miserably because they are in the change rooms sitting around the table talking while they are supposed to prepare for the game?
We are now so far off the mark ourselves that the so-called "technical" and "sporting working" groups are making the rules concerning the competitors and even their safety. Rules and areas that have absolutely nothing to do with them!
Their arguments behind for instance the use or now ban on 'wet tyres' are fascinating. "They" decided without consulting or asking a proper vote from the competitors that no one "with immediate effect" will be allowed to use wet tyres in classes S2000 and N4 (so I hear as I do not receive these highly secret documents)
This decision (if true) was based on ... well to tell you the truth - stupidity, irresponsibility, penny pinching and plain ...sorry I said it already!
A proper 'wet rally' such as the Toyota Dealer rally proved to be twice in three years, run on "dry tyres" will at least ensure that they deplete any budget they may have left because they saved on four tyres for the year - on panel-beating after the rally. Luckily there are not many trees on the event, but the situation may be somewhat different when the cars shift to fifth in the plantations the Volkswagen rally use, or when the surface is slightly snotty during the Osram?
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True?
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Then they will probably have more reason to argue that because of the Route Notes the guys could go faster and that was why they had accidents?
Recce runs - because the 'works teams' can afford an extra and in the case of two events - two extra days and 'recce cars'? That of course while the farmers will be extremely impressed to stop farming for an additional two to three days - at least those who are willing to put up with a three kilometre convoy travelling through their farms for two extra days?
The fact that everyone will battle to try and see either the leaders or the tail-enders in the three-kilometre convoy to select their short cuts, I am sure, do not bother these wise men?
No problem - they will buy the satellite tracking the sport will need to monitor every participant's route from their private pockets, as the well managed sport usually do not have that much in reserve?
Hang on, hang on...don't you see the advantage those with the right backing will have?
They will run in cars with the right suspension to 'test' the jumps at 35km/h - remember all will be fitted with satellite tracking monitoring speed - and then the master drivers will be able to see that all the calls except the "ones and maybe two's" which were deleted already are all wrong.
They will then after they went over the obstacle without the luxury of being able to go back and make sure the change is correct, change a stupid little "danger" warning to a "slap stick flat out my bru!" not only because they are able to make superior notes, but because they are incredible judges of these things. I mean - think about it - they can sit in a lazy-boy, take two looks at a one dimensional DVD and change the calls while making car Vuvuzela sounds in the living room! Incredible stuff? Heh, heh...?
Wet tyres, recce runs - all absolutely well thought through - and that is why I am not even going to bother to really point out some of the about 10 other reasons why these 'decisions' are brilliant. One of them being possible efforts to force down the sport to suit an underestimated budget or dwindling profit line?
I started off a few paragraphs ago stating that the 'role players' - I am not sure where they get the audacity to call themselves that in isolation from the majority of competitors, but anyway, are in rallying to do one thing and one thing only.
They have to win rallies, get publicity and so build their brand and image to ensure sales and repeat sales to their customers. That is what the sport is all about! It is entertainment to the highest degree - a golden marketing and branding opportunity - but due to people fiddling around where they have lost nothing - turned into a WASTED opportunity!
Have you looked at the passenger cars sales lately? Amazing how for some reason or another, some sales relative to the economic situation, are rocketing while others are rather mediocre? Makes you see green does it not?
I would also love to see, on the off-road side how well Nissan (especially their Nivara) is now selling? Sales must have escalated since their decision to stop being such a leading role player in the Off-road sport?
Let us leave that in peace for a moment and look at the most important 'role player' in and out of the sport!
For the benefit of those who through habit, need a subconscious-mind-shift to put the whole thing in perspective before carry-on reading, and for those under the impression that they are King of the heap, try to re-program the subconscious by saying the following words slowly - "I have a job because out there in the real world are a species called "customers" also known as "buyers". They are the reason why I am earning money no matter if I am contracted to develop and build cars, or get my salary because I work for the company! The company's "bottom line" depends on the silly actions of that species called 'customers' and not on me."
"I must remember that there is also a deceptive (sounds familiar if you can read Route Notes) species sometimes camouflaged under a layer of dust, called a competitor who actually pays my company for the "honour" to do some advertising and branding for it free of charge! In all other types of business this is called - an incredible deal!"
If you are now in a bit of a trance, it is understandable as the terms "customer", "buyer", "branding", "free" and so forth will come as a bit of a shock to the system because these terms seem to have died out in our sport and on your list when you all became "important role players" and your plans to "develop" this incredible medium to do branding and promotional work for your company failed.
Take it easy, it is like giving up smoking - it is simple because you have control over your mind and therefore, subconscious-mind that controls your whole being. (Please note that my new E-book "Psy-telepathy - a mind game" that will make this process easier for you, will be on sale soon).
Right-Dee-Oh - now that we hopefully have every one back to where they belong and made some customers aware of their rights, we may be ready for episodes two, three and four that will follow on Rallystar during the soccer world cup.
We trust that some of you will concentrate in the meantime to get the pecking order sorted out and keep it that way as it is important to know where you actually have a say and where not really. It will save a lot of time and as a "BIG TIME role player" once said with his back to the meeting - "nothing happened since 1983!"
Wonder why?
Maybe the real role players have been too quiet for too long accepting the crumbs in the believe that something big would one day come their way? Ag shame man!
Maybe I should publish a list of the names you need to salaam when passing, waving a cheque book in the one hand and R150K cash in the other!
p.s. Dust covered customer/competitor - next time you are too scared to say something to one of these living gods - ask yourself what they have REALLY done for you withou being paid - don't keep quiet because you believe they will in future take the time to bless you, or do something incredible like greet you - your chance is around sub-zero and you will probably have retired long before they will have a seat behind a 'works' steering-wheel open for you - because they are so good at promoting the sport that sponsors line up to support this fantastic marketing tool?
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Next time you are too scared to say something - think about it before you pop back into a hole.
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You can spend your money where you want and believe me your participation has and will almost always depend on how much money you can or are willing to contribute! YOU ARE THE CUSTOMER - YOU ARE THE ROLE PLAYER, THE ARTIST - IT IS YOUR NECK YOU STICK OUT!
(I do not think I will publish a book on Diplomacy soon, but who knows - what I have said can be proven much, much easier than you will be able to prove to me that you will benefit by licking ass or standing on your knees! Write out a cheque and they will do you the favour they are paid to do!)
We would also love to write about your experiences - all you need to do it tell us about it.
GOOD LUCK TO BAFANA-BAFANA - we are truly behind you and hope you come out of the arena later today singing "Ole, Ole! Mexico het pak gekry!"
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