About Us
We have combined 60 years experience in sports and motorsport marketing, from karts to F1.
Who we are
Asia Motorsport Development (AMD) is a multi-service sports marketing agency, focused on developing, supporting, promoting and servicing the Asian motorsport industry.
With a base in Singapore, AMD has built a valuable network of contacts within the Asian motorsport industry, with promoters, race series, teams, drivers and sponsors, to generate and facilitate business opportunities within Asian motorsport for companies wanting to expand their brand in the region.
The core areas of AMD are media, commercial, business development, experiences and driver development, and the team has combined knowledge and experience of over 60 years in marketing, advertising, motorsport and business development.
Benjamin Potter
Founder Ben Potter has over 20 years in sponsorship and event management starting in the late 1990’s raising sponsorship for Formula 3000 teams and organising tennis tournaments in Australia.
Formerly from the stockbroking industry, holding the PS146 Financial Services License in Australia, Ben arrived in Asia as COO of a boutique hedge fund in Singapore. Prior to his professional motorsport career Ben was providing fund-raising and facilitation services to the Asian hedge fund industry, raising over $80 million in AUM for hedge funds.
Ben was successful in bringing Autosport magazine into Asia as publisher and Editor-In-Chief of Autosport Asia. He has also helped develop grass roots racing, was commentator for motorsport events including the SKC and Singapore Grand Prix support races, and appeared on a segment on Fox Sports’ “Engine Block”.
Ben has developed Pit Talk Asia into the premier motorsport online news portal dedicated to motorsport throughout Asia which is now widely recognised as “The Authority on Asian Motorsport”.
Peter Burns
Peter Burns has over 30 years experience in the global motorsport industry including 17 years with McLaren in the pioneering days of F1 sports marketing.
Having graduated with a degree in law, Peter started his professional motorsport career with the organisation of the original Dubai Grand Prix in 1981, the first ever motor race in the Middle East.
In Formula One, Peter worked for the McLaren team and was responsible in developing relationships with the sponsors and working with them to achieve their objectives. He also helped create McLaren’s F1 corporate hospitality to entertain and educate the sponsors on the sport with the objective of converting them into supporters of F1, McLaren and to reinforce the relationships with the sponsor.
“Motorsport is all about passion, excitement, adrenaline and precision. The more you learn about the sport the more you want to be involved, which is a powerful combination when mixed with business objectives.”
How We Work: Strategic Partnerships
As we enter the sixth year of operation for Asia Motorsport Development (AMD), we are by no means a major player in the world of sports marketing, but because we understand what companies look for in sponsorship opportunities, and have a clear process of developing partnerships, we have built a strong network of companies and decision makers who have invested with our clients, and AMD for fruitful long-term partnerships.
The process we adhere to when developing strategic partnerships is simple and very much common sense. Or at least common business sense. It guarantees that both parties- the sponsor and the sponsee- mutually benefit from the partnership and will continue for many years to come.
Sponsorships are very much relationship based partnerships. Regardless of the attractive benefits on offer, there still needs to be positive synergy and a mutual understanding and tolerance between both parties. The company must be comfortable with who they are investing their money in.
It is important to distinguish between who the client is. The driver seeking sponsorship is the client of AMD, but they are not the client of the partnership. And this is the wrong mindset that many drivers have. Because they need a certain amount of money at a certain time and are offering the benefits to the sponsor, they think they are the ones in control of the partnership. This is a dangerous mindset, one that can ruin a potentially good partnership, and one that needs clarification.
The company is the one making the investment in the driver. They control the budget, and decide whether the investment is right for them or not. They also control what benefits they want and how to structure the partnership. The driver is the one asking, and it’s the driver’s side that needs to customise to the investor’s needs. Not the other way around.
Targeting prospective partners
AMD may have a strong and valuable network of companies, but it doesn’t mean they will invest in everything we present to them. Strategic partnerships are all about customising to the company’s needs.
From the outset, it is relatively easy to determine whether a client of ours would be a good fit for a specific company. Does the client’s persona, image, attitude, career path fit that of the company? Would it be a productive marriage?
Before any sponsorship proposal is drafted it is important for AMD to learn more about the targeted company and fully understand their marketing objectives, and anything else that would help us successfully closed the deal. A preliminary meeting with the company before a proposal is drafted is imperative.
Understanding the marketing objectives of the company is vital to knowing whether or not the client has the ingredients to help the company achieve their objectives, thus resulting in a mutually beneficial partnership.
Customising the proposal
The client may have a generic sponsorship proposal that they send out too many contacts, hoping that one will bite. This is usually how drivers who don’t have professional representation operate. It’s a dangerous and unsuccessful game.
Upon understanding who the company is and their marketing objectives, this will usually result in a more constructive brainstorm session with the client. Delving deeper into what we can offer to the company to help them achieve their objectives.
It is important to be entrepreneurial and creative at this stage, exploring every aspect of the client, their team, the race series and everyone’s connections, to come up with exciting opportunities that will help the partner achieve their objectives and give a return on investment. Get every idea down, so you can fine tune.
It is then that the sponsorship proposal to the company is customised to fit the prospective partner’s needs. The benefits and opportunities for the company would have changed, and now you have a strong business plan that will give confidence to the company that they will get an attractive return on investment.
Many of the benefits that give partners a good return on investment (ROI) come in the form of business to business (B2B) opportunities within our network which is why we call it the AMD Business Exchange. Every company we have dealt with is part of the network and can still benefit from B2B, business to consumer (B2C) or business to government (B2G) opportunities even if they are not actively partnering with a client.
The return on investment doesn’t necessarily mean financial. It can be a certain brand activation activity or networking opportunity that contributes to the partner’s needs.
Negotiation
AMD never mention dollar amounts to the prospective partner before the initial meeting. And we will only talk about the level of financial investment when asked. This is due to the risk of having the deal closed before it’s open. And this is another mistake many sponsorship seekers make.
We know the budget needed for our client, but we don’t know the budget of the partner before the initial meeting. And the figure you mention at the start might be way over their budget. Even though this one prospective client may not be able to afford the full budget on their own, it is better to customise the proposal into the budget of the company than not to receive anything at all.
A successful partnership will be a minimum of three years. The first year is a steady rise, setting the foundation of the partnership and starting the brand activation strategy. Year two the strategy will be in full force and reap the majority of the ROI, with the third year usually starting to decline the ROI until a fresh new strategy is implemented to keep the curve steady.
Strategy & Brand Activation
Upon closing the partnership deal, a full business plan and brand activation strategy will have been agreed upon.
This can include on-track activities which are executed at the circuit during race weekends, and off-track activities that are implemented away from the race such as promotional activities at the client’s location, appearances at events and so on.
It is important that the partner is well looked after at the track and gain the most out of their partnership. AMD will assist the partner in executing their brand activation, making sure they are getting the most out of the on and off-track activities, and making sure the B2B opportunities are professionally facilitated.
