How to Get Sponsored by Fifth Third Bank

Most of the brands racers chase sell something that goes on a race car. Fifth Third Bank sells loans, treasury management and banking services, and it has become one of the most committed sponsors in motorsports anyway. David Morton, a senior vice president at Fifth Third, has explained how the bank thinks at my Sponsorship Summits, and his answers are a model for anyone pitching a non-endemic company. Fifth Third doesn't buy exposure. It buys access to businesses.

Racing is a business development platform

"Motorsports is an unbelievable business development platform. That's the way that we look at it," Morton said. Racing has passion you don't find to the same degree in other sports, and "it's big business, but it's also a small community, and it's a community built on relationships." ▶ Watch David Morton explain this

The bank backs that up with a long-term presence. Fifth Third is a founding member of PRI, active in SEMA, and Morton has served on the board of the North Carolina Motorsports Association for more than a decade. "Other banks may have a sponsorship here or there, but they're not out at the track like we are," he said. "25 weekends throughout the year, we're out at races." ▶ See the full answer

Fifth Third wants introductions, not impressions

Ask Morton what a race team does for the bank and he'll give you a list of businesses. "Our primary objective is gaining access to businesses that are associated with motorsports," he said: other race teams in the same series, the racetracks they compete at, the other corporate sponsors in the series, and suppliers to the sport. ▶ Watch the clip

The team's job is to turn a cold call into a warm one. "If you're the bank down the street and you're not involved in motorsports and you go call on them, it's a cold call. You don't understand their business," Morton said. "That's where our sponsorships with race teams helps us, because they can give us that warm introduction... and they help us be an authentic part of the motorsports community." ▶ See the full answer

Fifth Third is open to new partners, but each one has to add something. "When I look at new partnerships with a new race team, it's how can you be additive to what we're already doing? What new business can you bring us that we won't get through our existing partnerships?" ▶ Watch the clip

Expect to become a customer

Unlike a parts company, Fifth Third can't offer product or contingency. A Fifth Third deal is "an exchange of money," Morton said, and in return the bank gets its paint scheme on the car for a set number of races plus social media through the team's reach. Social matters, "but it's not the driver of ultimately the return on our investment." For a sense of scale, he said NASCAR Cup sponsorships run $200,000 to $500,000 per race depending on the team. ▶ Watch Morton describe a Fifth Third deal

The first place the bank looks for its return is the team itself. "We expect to become their primary bank," Morton said, from lending to treasury and cash management to credit cards. If the owner has another business, that's an opportunity too. Then comes the target: "If we invest $1, we expect to get $3 to $5 back in revenue," with the rest coming from "who that team can introduce us to and help us get business that we wouldn't have." ▶ See the full answer

Give it three years

Morton doesn't do one-year deals. "I'm a big believer in not doing a partnership with a team that's just one year at a time. I think that it's got to be a two-way commitment, and it takes time to get the return on the investment," he said. "Any team that tells you that they can get you return on investment in one year is not telling you the truth, and any sponsor that thinks that they can get the return in one year doesn't know what they're talking about." Three years, he said, is the sweet spot. ▶ Watch the clip

Every lead gets tracked

Business-to-business sponsorship has one big advantage for a bank: it can be measured. "That's one of the reasons why we focus on B2B, is because we can measure it," Morton said. Fifth Third flags opportunities in its customer relationship management system when they came through the team, even indirectly: "If we were in the garage and we got introduced to somebody, and that led to business, and we wouldn't have that business if we hadn't been in the garage... we will directly attribute that." The bank doesn't pay teams a commission on that business. Instead, the numbers build the case to keep investing, and Fifth Third has renewed and even increased its NASCAR investment because of them. ▶ Watch Morton on measuring results

Build the relationship first

Morton's networking advice starts with patience. "This is a marathon, it's not a sprint. It takes multiple touch points," he said. "Something that I always do is I really work hard at figuring out how I can get a win for somebody before I make an ask of somebody." Have a plan, too: "You can't just do this as a shotgun approach." ▶ Watch Morton on networking

That applies to your deck. "Don't make any recommendations in that deck until you've gotten to know the company you're trying to build a partnership with, because you don't know what they need," he said. And keep showing up: "It's not a one and done. Don't just send something, don't just stop by once." He mentioned a young racer whose family sends him cards throughout the year with race updates and stops by to see him at PRI. It's the multiple touches, he said, that make the difference. ▶ Watch his advice to racers

He also offered a reason to look beyond the usual racing brands. "Don't overlook companies that aren't endemic to racing," Morton said. For Fifth Third, the appeal was that "nobody else was doing it. There weren't any other banks doing it." And he rarely gets pitched: "I don't get that many sponsorship pitches sent to me." ▶ See the full answer

When I ran into Morton at PRI, he told me racers pitch him too fast, as if they have to say everything in two minutes. He'd rather they just get to know him.

Your checklist for Fifth Third Bank

• Map the businesses you can introduce: your team owner, other teams, tracks, series sponsors and suppliers.
• Offer Fifth Third your team's own banking business.
• Pitch a three-year partnership, not a single season.
• Show how every introduction can be tracked back to your program.
• Meet Morton and his team at races and PRI, and find a way to help them before you ask.
• Keep in touch all year with updates, and hold your recommendations until you know what the bank needs.