AZ Motor Racing is seeking sponsorship for its motor racing team. Fig. 1.1 shows its advertisement for sponsorship with their international sports star. Race away and sponsor the AZ Motor Racing team Fig. 1.1 Use Fig. 1.1 to help you answer the following questions.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2025). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] Hero worship / celebrity / fame/famous people / idol/idolisation / success/achievement/status/ ambition
2. [1] Consumers who worship the sports star will want to use/buy the same products
3. [1] International sports stars have global/worldwide fans// large following/follow their hero/attract their fans / they have/attract a large audience / watched by many people
4. [1] International sports stars seen as people that consumers look up to/seen as heroes/famous / consumers will trust their recommended product
5. [1] Enables media coverage; e.g. television images/newspaper photos showing company's logo
6. [1] Brand awareness/brand value; reach global / wide audience / use of logo displayed/printed on shirts/on billboards/on sports cars so that it will be recognised/identified/known / increase sales
7. [1] Builds brand reputation; leading to brand loyalty / customer loyalty
8. [1] Gain/attract new customers; increase profit / increased market share
9. [1] Promote their products; enables the product to be sold/sampled at a sports event/store/stall / increases income / more profit / boost growth
10. [1] Promotes a positive and healthy image of their company; by linking it with a popular sports activity / increases reputation
11. [1] To stand out from the competition; attempts to create a brand which distinguishes it from others in the market
12. [1] Can target customers; so that it reaches relevant consumers / e.g. energy drinks company sponsoring extreme sports to younger consumers
13. [1] Customer relations; sports sponsorship can open dialogue between companies, showing the sponsor as suitable to do business with
14. [1] Employee relations; sports sponsorship can encourage company pride / loyalty to help attract/retain staff
15. [1] Community relations; sponsorship can show that a company cares about its community / improves public image
16. [1] Yes - Can attract large audiences / wide reach/coverage; most people have a smartphone / e.g. to watch Formula 1
17. [1] social media can generate leads / find or attract more sponsors
18. [1] can post content for free / low cost / cost effective
19. [1] can use influencers to reach more sponsors; which can lead to viral marketing from motor racing fans
20. [1] can use multiple platforms
21. [1] use of posts/likes/comments/feedback
22. [1] can target people; allowing brand awareness/recognition / reputation
23. [1] making it faster / information spreads fast; than other methods, such as newspaper
24. [1] can drive traffic to their website
25. [1] 24/7
26. [1] use of videos/movement
27. [1] No - Receiving negative feedback; having negative feedback can be shared with other social media users hindering a business from generating leads
28. [1] lack of trust / bad reputation
29. [1] speeding up a campaign needs more social media adverts; which may require an influencer / which increases costs
30. [1] time consuming; need to constantly update contact / engage with audience
31. [1] hard to measure results
32. [1] may have low following
33. [1] it can be difficult to know how social media affects sales
34. [2] A racing car mechanic is an occupation in secondary production. Digital billboards are used around motor racing tracks to advertise sponsors.
35. [1] Speed/time – air transport is the quickest form of transport so the equipment can arrive in good time for sports teams to prepare for an event
36. [1] Distance/duration – air and sea transport can deliver the equipment to any country where it is required / might be too far to use road transport
37. [1] Cost/budget – air transport is expensive although costs are decreasing owing to competition between airlines. Sea or road transport are cheaper if the racing team want to reduce costs or have a limited budget
38. [1] Urgency - if the racing equipment is needed for an upcoming racing event
39. [1] Security/safety – there will be greater supervision of the equipment when using air or road transport leading to less theft / damage
40. [1] Reliability of carrier as the equipment is going to be moved on a regular basis, it is important that the carrier has a good record for getting the equipment to the right place at the right time
41. [1] Quantity/bulk of equipment – if the equipment, such as racing wheel parts, is in small quantities, it is suitable to be carried by air as there will not be a problem with capacity. Otherwise, if a racing team has a large number of components to be carried, sea or road is preferred
42. [1] Weight of equipment some airplanes have weight restrictions so restricting some equipment loads
43. [1] Value of equipment – needs to have enough insurance, to cover losses in transit
44. [1] Location of event – if the event is in a country with mountainous areas, then air transport will be more suitable
45. [1] Environment – air transport pollutes the most of all transport so the sports team will have to decide how ethical it wants to be / might consider using rail transport
46. Evaluation: Motor racing teams will have to consider all factors before choosing their method of transport. Although most businesses would want to choose cost as the most important factor, motor racing team equipment usually needs to arrive at its destination before the event takes place, and cannot be late, so speed is the most important factor for a motor racing team.