How to Get Sponsored by King Shocks

King Shocks builds off-road suspension in Orange County, California, and its shocks sit under championship trucks, buggies and UTVs on both sides of the Atlantic. Ramses Perez handles strategic marketing for King, after earlier stints at Toyo Tires and Monster Energy. He joined one of my Sponsorship Summits at 12:30 in the morning from Portugal, where King was supporting the King of Portugal race, a European event in the Ultra4 style. His answers were short and direct.

King can't give its product away

Perez started with the reality of the product. Everything is made in-house in Orange County, a very expensive place to live and work, and the shocks are not cheap. "It's a high price point product, so we can't just give it away, per se," he said. "Our manufacturing costs are so huge that we need to be very careful and very picky of who we truly sponsor." ▶ Watch Ramses Perez explain

To put a number on it, he walked through a UTV setup. A basic shock can be upgraded with different valving, springs, bigger reservoirs and bypass options, and "at the end, you could end up with a shock that will cost you four, five grand per corner." ▶ Watch the clip

His budget is also smaller than you might expect from a brand on so many winning cars. "I went from Monster Energy having a huge, huge, huge budget to do a lot of cool stuff to a family owned business," he said. ▶ Watch the clip

Every racer can get in through contingency

That doesn't mean the door is closed. "We will never turn a racer down for sponsorship," Perez said. "We have a racer program that we will give you either support parts, you know, shocks or whatever." ▶ Watch Perez on King's racer program

The first rung is contingency. "We do have a contingency program set up with every single organization out there, from SCORE to... short course, everything," he said. The payout comes as credit with King. "You can bring in your shocks and we'll service them for you, do whatever you want, as you accrue X amount of money. The more you win, the more you're going to get." ▶ Watch the clip

When I asked whether a deal starts there, he said yes: "It will go through contingency." ▶ Watch the clip

Win, and King will find you

Perez treats scouting as part of his job. "If I don't know who you are and I don't see that you're winning, I'm not doing my job," he said. "I want to have my eye on every single class to see who's up there, who's up and coming, who's done well for themselves." He goes to events himself to do it. ▶ Watch Perez on scouting

Everybody in off-road already knows the brand, so exposure isn't the main thing King buys. Results are. "We want winners. We want the guys that win. We want the guys that are in front," he said. That outlook goes back to his time at Toyo: "We want the guys on top." ▶ Watch the clip

Racers who run up front and want more than the racer program get a closer look, with more product and help on social media and other areas. But the final call isn't his. "Ultimately it will be the decision of Mr. Brett King himself. He is very involved in everything that happens in the company." ▶ Watch the clip

Bring a project, not just a request

Because King doesn't have "giant corporate budgets," Perez said, "we got to get a little creative with our support, whether it be again through product and video assets." King has backed video projects with off-road names such as BJ Baldwin and Blake Wilkey, and it is open to more. "You come to us with a really cool project. We'll take a look at it and... we'll contribute to the best of what we can give to the driver." ▶ Watch Perez on video projects

What he wants is a package: a driver who is winning, has a good social following, and brings a good idea. King looks for projects where "we try to do the most with the least amount of budget, per se." ▶ Watch the clip

Where King wants to grow

King is actively adding teams. "We're looking to expand more into the UTV market and more into the short course market right now," Perez said. When an attendee asked which side-by-side classes, his answer was broad: "Everything. It doesn't have to be desert. It could be desert, short course, it could be rock, whatever. We want a bigger footprint in the UTV market." ▶ Watch the clip

Put effort into your proposal, and stop him at the track

Perez's final advice was about effort. "Take the time to put some effort into it, and try to make it about you and your personality. Don't send me an email and two, ten pictures." He has seen everything from video presentations in 3D to bare emails, and the difference shows. King does read them: "We look at every single one of those requests." ▶ Watch Perez's advice

He also invited racers to approach him in person. "If you see me on the race or on the trade show or whatever, stop me. I'll talk to you. I'll give you my advice on how to go about getting help, getting sponsored." ▶ Watch the clip

Your checklist for King Shocks

• Run King Shocks and sign up for King's contingency in your series. That's the front door.
• Win. Perez scouts every class and promotes the drivers running up front.
• If you race UTVs or short course, say so. Those are King's growth markets.
• Pitch a specific video or content project that gets King a lot for a modest budget.
• Make your proposal personal and complete, not an email with a few photos.
• Find Perez at races and trade shows and introduce yourself.