An Attitude of Counterculture

[ebarker]

Originally Posted by ghostmachine360

Examples: Oakley, Mountain Dew, Playstation, adidas, multitudes of beverage and drink companies, Nike, and the list goes on.

( broad comments below, exceptions abound )

Something to keep in mind. These sponsors produce mass market consumer items. Their marketing people have to get their name in front of as many eyeball viewings as possible. They are working in their own self interest. And that is fine.

Most of the companies that sponsor FIRST teams are also protecting their own self interest. That is fine too. They are building a recruitment pipeline, working to make sure they are competitive in the future.

It would be great to have a beverage or apparel company participate in FIRST, just to help support FIRST.

What we really want to see, and is more likely to happen, is the "cultural transformation" occurs, it draws enough 'public eyeballs' and the sponsor wants to associate themselves with the activity. That will be a good place to be when we get there.

But how do we get there ? That is a strategic leadership challenge. There are a lot of ideas floating around. a) more visually appealing robot challenges, b) better public outreach by teams, c) and more.

food for thought........................
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