How to Get Sponsored by Toyota

Toyota is one of the most active manufacturers in American racing. In some seasons it has backed "40 to 50, 50 plus drivers a year" across NASCAR, NHRA, drift and off-road, according to Andre Jackson, who spent more than 13 years in Toyota Motorsports and has been on my Meet the Sponsors show and Sponsorship Summit panels many times. He has seen hundreds of decks. What separates the few that become partnerships is not design or page count. It is one question most racers never ask.

Ask how you can help Toyota sell cars

"For me, I'm looking for the person, male or female, that comes and says, okay, basically says, Andre, how can I help Toyota sell cars?" Jackson said. The opposite approach is far more common: "Many come with their hand out. Hey, what can you do for me, Toyota? Well, what about the other way around?" ▶ Watch Andre Jackson explain this

That is also how he reads a deck. "I'm a driver. I want Toyota to pay my bills? Or is it, hey, Toyota, you know what? I've got this idea. I think I can help sell cars through my motorsports program. That's gonna pique my interest," he said. "It doesn't matter if you've got a 50-page deck or a 30-page that's black and white color. That doesn't matter to me." ▶ See the full answer

Before you pitch, do the homework Toyota does on you. When the company decides where to race, it studies who is in the grandstands: "What do they currently drive? What do they want to drive? Are they in the market for buying something?" A truck-based off-road series fits the Tacoma and Tundra. Know which Toyota product your audience buys, and build your idea around it. ▶ Watch the interview

Put Toyota in your everyday life

Jackson's favorite example of a racer who sells for Toyota is NHRA champion Antron Brown, whose social media is full of his Toyota trucks, his Sequoia and his family. "You don't have to go out on the street and sell them, but you include us in your day-to-day life, professional life, your racing life, your personal life," Jackson said. ▶ Watch Jackson on Antron Brown

Support is "a mixed cash product," Jackson said. Vehicles are usually an internal lease to the team, with first option to buy at year's end. ▶ Watch the interview

What Toyota does not want is a racer who skips the conversation. Putting a Toyota logo on your helmet without a deal is not a favor. "That sends a huge message because that's almost making assumptions that we actually have a partnership," Jackson said. Toyota would rather have "a contract, we've got a true partnership because we want it to be long-term, not one season, not one race." ▶ Watch the clip

Toyota is looking for partners, not sponsorships

At a PRI seminar, Jackson explained how Toyota evaluates a driver. "We don't look for people to sponsor. We look for partners, you know, Toyota doesn't do anything intentionally for short term," he said. "So we look at the person, we look at their potential. We look at the sponsors they already have, do we have a relationship with them." ▶ Watch the seminar

The long-term view runs both ways. Jackson told the Motorsports Sponsorship Summit how the Antron Brown relationship began: "In the beginning we couldn't pay him, you know, we gave him like one vehicle, I think, we gave him a truck or a Tundra or something. He stuck with us." Sixteen years later, Brown had his own team. What Toyota asks of every partner is simple: "Who's going to protect our brand, who's going to help sell cars." ▶ Watch Jackson tell the story

Johnny Greaves, whose family has raced Toyotas in short-course off-road for decades, earned his deal by proving he already believed in the product. "I've been a Toyota guy since I was 16 years old. That was my first vehicle. I believed in the product," he said. "I believed in it so much that I was the only one out there racing a Toyota, and I just, I sent them, believe it or not, VHS tapes back then, right, and I stuffed Johnny Greaves down their throat until they had to take notice of me." ▶ Watch Johnny Greaves on how it started

Be patient and be present

Toyota moves slowly on purpose. "Toyota doesn't do anything fast," Jackson told a summit audience. "It's going to be a slow and deliberate decision, so I would say, if I would have put a word on it, I would say be patient." His example was Steve Torrence, who approached Toyota about four times over several years before the timing was right. Torrence, now a world champion, is part of what Jackson calls the Toyota family. ▶ Watch Jackson on networking with Toyota

For smaller teams, he puts showing up ahead of emailing. "Be present, be where Toyota is, be at the races and the events that we're at, be it auto shows, be it races, be it promotional events, and just kind of make yourself known first, because that first impression will have far more impact, even if you're small, versus an initial email." ▶ Watch the clip

Time your approach to the race season

Toyota's fiscal year ends in March, but the motorsports group works on the race calendar. "For motorsports, we're basically Thanksgiving through, we'll say mid-January is where all of the bulk of our stuff has to happen," Jackson said. New drivers have to be reviewed, branded and integrated in "maybe a 60 to 75-day window." His advice on when to send a proposal: "August, September, October-ish is what I would say, you know, and because you're not going to be the only one." ▶ Watch Jackson on timing

A regional program can still get a look. When a proposal fits one market better than the whole country, Jackson said, "Sometimes we'll get a proposal and say, hey, this would be good for the New York region, or we can look at, you know, dealer groups and things like that." ▶ Watch the seminar

Your checklist for Toyota

• Open with one specific idea for how your program helps Toyota sell a vehicle, not with what you need.
• Know which Toyota product your fans and fellow racers drive or want to buy, and build the pitch around it.
• Make Toyota part of your daily life and your social media before and after you sign.
• Never run a Toyota logo you haven't been given the right to use.
• Show up where Toyota is, introduce yourself, and expect it to take years, not one meeting.
• Send proposals in August through October, ahead of the Thanksgiving-to-January decision window.
• If your reach is regional, say so. Toyota can steer a good fit to a region or dealer group.