That is a great way to explain why a company should be involved in doing good for the community that supports their business. Being involved in helping those around you goes along way.

While the large corporations get a lot of press for their cause marketing, the reality is that cause marketing is all around us and some of the most persistent cause marketers are local mom and pop shops. It makes sense when you consider how connected they are to their customer base.

Scott Henderson
@scottyhendo

I do agree with you that doping really tarnished the “brand” of cycling, which rubbed off to the brands that sponsored cycling. The American companies are actually leading the way on clean programs with zero tolerance.

Also, just a little history lession for you. Do you know why the “king of the mountain” jersey at the Tour de France is polka dots? Back in the day when the king of the mountain jersey was introduced, it was more popular than the yellow jersey. It was a higher achievement to win that then win the whole tour. A chocolate company offered ot sponsor it, but only with their branding … now we will probably forever have a bright pink polka dot jersey.

The “small” sponsor idea is also a big lesson. Sometimes it’s better to get the 5 $10k checks instead of the 1 $50k check.

The team management believed in a cause — clean racing — and makes great efforts to walk that walk with their stringent anti-doping programs. I’m sure that helped them find Garmin, their wealthiest sponsor to date, last year and top-notch cyclists soon followed. If they stay true to their cause and continue racing well, I bet Garmin will renew their contract in coming years.

They designed a cycling kit (team uniform) that hadn’t been seen — argyle. A small detail but one that created some buzz too.

Another Garmin lesson — be friendly with the media, give them behind the scenes and educational stories. Right now I’m watching the pre-race team meeting inside the Garmin bus (brightly painted with the Garmin logo and team colors) on Versus. On other shows, Versus has had cameras inside the Garmin team car during the race. Other teams do segments on new bike technology, for example, teaching us how a time-trial bike differs from the regular road bike.

Between the anti-doping program, hot recruits, snappy kit, Versus-hosted behind-the-scenes features, Garmin has intrigued the media and pleased the public — that’s one happy sponsor.