|
A Race To Success On and Off The Track For AIS Media At Grand Am Rolex 24 Daytona
February 18, 2009
Atlanta, GA – AIS Media, Inc., is excited to announce the results of the 2009 Grand Am Rolex 24 Race at Daytona; AIS Media’s sponsored Racers Edge Motorsports car #30 Mazda RX-8 featuring the 18-year-old South African driver sensation Dion von Moltke, competed against 51 other drivers and taking the 13th slot in its class at the 24-hour endurance race which took place January 24-25. The sponsorship is part of a strategic partnership with motorsports management company, P1 Groupe, who represents some of the biggest brands and best motorsport drivers and teams across the globe.
AIS Media CEO, Thomas Harpointner, commented, “We are proud to be involved with Grand Am and very pleased with Racers Edge Motorsports’ results at Daytona this year. They delivered the consistency, discipline, and dedication we were expecting—resulting in some of the fastest lap times for the race and coming in 13th in their class. With the race attendance and viewership increasing this year, aligning AIS Media with the right team and racing series was crucial. Given the current economic situation, the crux of our involvement in the race was providing maximum value to the sponsors and all parties involved with our top notch Internet marketing services. ”
Eric Burch, President of P1 Groupe—responsible for matchmaking the drivers, teams, and their sponsors—profiled the Racers Edge team as having “a very good lineup top to bottom with all four drivers in the car very stout, very competitive, and very quick.” Given the strengths of the team, had it not been for the mechanical complications, Eric concluded that “the team would have had a top 5 finish.”
Competing not only with 51 drivers (only half finished the race) but also with a broken helmet ventilation and hydration system, 104 degree fever and 180 degree cabin temperatures, Dion von Moltke, 18, commented, "Having successfully completed my first 24 Hour race I am ready for many more! It was exciting to have our partners South African Airways and AIS Media bring their guests to be part of this major racing spectacle. Unfortunately I had the extra challenge of a strong flu to deal with, but with the help of a very talented group of co-drivers we completed the race in a very decent position. Getting into the car for several hours during the night was an amazing experience, especially with all the history of Daytona. Seeing the car take the checkered flag was a proud moment for me and for the entire team." Dion also demonstrated his prowess on the business side of things in motorsports racing, recognizing the unique opportunity for racing to “take over the internet by storm” with live blogs, YouTube broadcast, and email marketing.
Off the track, the South African American Business Chamber (SAABC), South African Airways and AIS Media joined efforts in raising money for a small, grassroots charity ‘Hope in South Africa’ through an online raffle. To promote this effort, AIS Media designed, optimized, and executed an email campaign using its Excerpo® Mail solution which allowed the organizers to instantly track deliverability, click through, and ultimately the donation ratios. SAABC’s founder and raffle organizer, Mandy Ellison, who has conducted online raffles in the past, was surprised with the results of the campaign, “This is the best I’ve seen. I’m very happy with the results; considering the economic climate, I would’ve expected it to have been worse. I’ve also done traditional raffles and the online campaign definitely had the viral aspect to it ...it's it's phenomenal... it’s been very successful. The response has definitely been almost double of what we’ve done in the past. AIS Media did a very good job.” A portion of the the money raised from this raffle will go directly to the beneficiaries, a South African community that with charity’s help will build a library to serve a number of local schools, Peter von Moltke (Dion’s father and manager) said. Dr. Cyril Wolfe who heads ‘Hope in South Africa’ “carefully tracks every single dollar” to make sure the funds go directly to the beneficiaries, so accountability and being able to track results from this campaign was key. Peter remarked, “I was so impressed with how quickly AIS Media managed to pull together all the information and come up with creative and functional designs that were super-professional and eye catching.”
AIS Media’s Excerpo® Mail email marketing service provides companies a fully managed email marketing solution. A key feature of Excerpo® Mail that marketers are able to track results in real-time. This “ROI” feature of Excerpo® Mail distinguishes the program and provides a key service that many business owners seek in their marketing operations.
The Rolex 24 was held at the historic Daytona International Speedway January 24-25. The 2009 race marked the 47th anniversary of Rolex 24 at Daytona Beach located in Florida. Attracting some of the biggest names in motorsports, the 24-hour endurance race is one of the most prestigious sports car events of the year. This year, Rolex 24, considered by many as the most difficult 24-hour race in the world, featured the world’s best drivers including Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Jimmie Johnson.
Racers Edge Motorsports is a professional auto racing team with a long history of success dating back to their first competitive season in 1990. Winning championships in every race series they have participated in, including four professional championships and seven amateur titles, Racers Edge Motorsports is one of the premier teams in North American Road Racing, with achievements in both open wheel racing and sports cars. Racers Edge Motorsports will compete in the Grand-Am Rolex Series in a specially built, race-prepared Mazda RX-8.
Founded in 1997, AIS Media is an Internet marketing and web services company that provides businesses award-winning web site development, email marketing, lead generation, e-commerce and search engine marketing services. The company has developed a suite of Web-based applications under the proprietary “Excerpo” brand, which focuses on email marketing and e-commerce. AIS Media’s solutions are available directly and through its global network of certified partners. For more information, visit: www.aismedia.com.
To learn more about the motor race and our strategic partners visit: Grand Am Rolex 24 Daytona, Racers Edge Motorsports, 3Dimensional.com, Idemitsu Racing Oil, South African Airways, Cobalt Racing Brakes, P1 Groupe, Hope in SA, and Piloti Shoes.
###
© 2009 AIS Media, Inc.