How to attract the attention of sponsors and press to your project

This is the second part of the interview with Sergey Severin, the head of the planning team Plan X. In the first part, we talked about the internal kitchen of the project: where to take ideas for the expedition and how to implement them into practice. Now let’s talk about how not to spend juvenile on such a journey. Everything is simple – you need to find a sponsor and attract the press.

Expedition on the Northern Dvina

Tell about sponsors. As usual they help – provide equipment and equipment or there are examples of material assistance? Whether sponsors see the return on cooperation with you and how the media support helps?

In the first project "Baikal Loda" we tested work with the media, and the brands were found on acquaintance. They were mentioned that we were going to such a trip, and the guys gave us clothes – they needed photographs of the samples of equipment in the case.

With the press case was more difficult. Then we produced daily diaries. Imagine, every day you screw 80-100 km on a bicycle in the snow, and in the evening, frozen on the tablet on the tablet on the tablet.

Actively with sponsors began to work in last year’s expedition "Poles under the sail" . We had about 10 companies that helped us. The loudest brand here, of course, Gazprom Neft, who became the general partner of this project and helped with the organization and press.

With potential partners, we act on such a scheme. Come and ask: "Guys, what your business needs? »It happens that even serious companies have a problem in feedback: the goods goes to the client, and how it is used nobody knows. The company does not understand how their product is developed. Then we say that we will take their products, we will test it very hard and give a full report: what the goods have advantages and disadvantages, which improve. Often companies are more interesting than the mention in the press. Someone needs not publications, but photos or video for internal use. So we come with suggestions based on business needs. Everything is aimed at the benefit of getting both sides.

We always come with a project that is half ready. When there is already half of the equipment, announcements and publications in the media. From this year for partners we do media report. Show all publications about us as they collected views. So companies may consider the effectiveness of their marketing costs and compare the exhaust from our cooperation and contextual advertising, banners.

How do you choose partners?

Under current projects, we proceed from what we need and do not take useless gear. We look at what we lack and looking for companies that can help in this. First of all we appeal to the market leaders. I remember, we needed the modernization of the catamaran and we went to the "Timtrial", since the work was custom and no one would have done such.

Was there a lot of failures?

We did not have a single refusal to partnership. Sometimes companies appeal to us directly with the proposal to test the goods in real conditions. So it was with an expedition this year on the Northern Dvina.

We came to the company-producer of plastic kayakov. They offered to take boats for testing and check them in difficult forwarding conditions. Then we became under the specific task of developing the route.

Chose the Northern Dvina, because the kilometer of the river was 700 km from the source to the mouth (from the Great Ustyug to Arkhangelsk). This distance we just had time to go for the allotted time. And there is still an additional sense: this expedition seems to be logically continuing the expedition "full-of-sail" . Because then we came to Arkhangelsk from the sea, and now came from the river. It was convenient because we already had contacts with Arkhangelsk journalists since last year.

What kind of expedition reports are published?

We have two options for weekends: press releases and expedition diaries. Press Releases I write. So that they disperse, they need to write in a simple style, and from the guys I take only the necessary quotes and facts.

Expedition diaries – articles on 10-30 thousand characters. This is a popular genre in our blog. In the Arctic we did such notes Weekly, the readers liked. I also write them, but if the guys have bright thoughts – I just give them a laptop. Sometimes removing the video in the news style.

What is the secret of success plan x? Like a project for 3 years?

Initially, we combined, because none of us live travel and does not devote it all year round. We arranged large ribs once or two per year. And yes, they wondered about the project. But to promote the brand alone is hard, and when it is common – much easier. There is no special secret. We do what they do not do every day and pay attention to the press.

The project, of course, has grown. In the first expedition, practically worked with one partner and one newspaper, and now we work with Gazprom Neft companies, and TASS writes about us, VGTRK, NTV and others come to us. The next level, probably, when we are on the cover of Men’s Health magazine, conditionally (laughs – ed.). Now we think about working with state structures and what benefit we can bring them.