Sunday, March 07, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NASCAR SPONSORS: DRIVE-BY MARKETING

Getting brand or logo anywhere on a race car can boost business

Driver Scott Riggs heads to the track during the NASCAR Nextel qualifying race Friday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The ad-plastered cars build brand awareness for sponsors with every lap. Companies with NASCAR links range from motor-oil seller Valvoline and car-parts dealer AutoZone to McDonald's and Visa. Photo by John Locher. Fans tour the track area Tuesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Photo by John Gurzinski.

Instead, they'll be painted across their cars' hoods, side panels and bumpers.

Race fans routinely flock to tracks across North America to cheer on popular drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and local product Kyle Busch. But make no mistake: Sponsors like Anheuser-Busch, DuPont and Carquest make the stock car world go 'round.

"It's marketing on steroids," Bill King, a senior writer for Sports Business Journal who has covered the sport for the past six years, said of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing's links to the corporate realm.

"When a sponsor spends money, they want a return on their investment. It's really easy to track a return in NASCAR, and that's why sponsors love it," King added.

NASCAR has come a long way from its humble origins that raced a straight-off-the-lot Ford or Chevrolet around dirt ovals in the post-World War II era Southeastern United States. No longer just a regional pastime, the Daytona Beach, Fla.-based racing league has gradually expanded its annual circuit to tracks in once-unimaginable locales such as Phoenix, suburban Los Angeles, Chicago, and, of course, Las Vegas.

The fans -- and dollars -- have followed.

Last year, NASCAR's 36-race Winston Cup Series races attracted an estimated 189 million television households, up 3 percent from 2002. And more than 13 million fans attended NASCAR-sponsored races in 2003, including the more than 145,000 at last year's Las Vegas Winston Cup stop.

Overall, races are televised in more than 115 countries and territories, and a NASCAR-supported study showed its sponsors last year received nearly $5 billion in television exposure. During that same span, fans purchased approximately $2.1 billion in licensed NASCAR products.

Such widespread interest has not been unnoticed by the corporate realm, underscored by the virtual who's who of major businesses with links to the sport, ranging from America Online and AutoZone to McDonald's, Visa and XM Satellite Radio.

And best of all for those sponsors: their logos are displayed prominently before, during and after NASCAR events.

"If your company becomes an official sponsor of the San Francisco Giants (baseball team), the Giants aren't wearing your logo on the field every day," King said. "But Home Depot uses (NASCAR driver) Tony Stewart in its advertising wearing a Home Depot driver's uniform standing next to a Home Depot car. The message is just right there smacking you in the face."

This year is the first time in 33 years NASCAR's signature series hasn't been affiliated with Winston, a cigarette brand owned by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. In June, NASCAR announced it had reached a 10-year sponsorship agreement with Nextel, a Reston, Va.-based telecommunications company. Though neither party would disclose the deal's value, its total amount has been widely reported at approximately $750 million.

Mark Schweitzer, a Nextel senior vice president of marketing, said his company's association with the racing circuit will build Nextel's market share in areas it has previously failed to tap. Coupled with its recent sponsorship of the monorail station across from the Las Vegas Convention Center, Schweitzer added Southern Nevada will soon play a major role in growing the company's West Coast market presence.

"Vegas is such a great hub not only of worldwide and national interest, but of travelers from California and surrounding states," Schweitzer said. "There's a great mix of being right in front of our business (sector) prospects while creating a lot more consumer awareness."

Over the past few days, Nextel has hosted more than 1,800 of its top dealers at a series of race-related meetings and events in Las Vegas, including today's race. Schweitzer said it is Nextel's largest promotional opportunity of its kind in 2004, a step made possible because Las Vegas is such a popular travel destination.

"Nearly 40 percent to 50 percent of our sales comes from these dealers," Schweitzer said. "Vegas as a business location, combined with the race, makes a lot of sense."

San Ramon, Calif.-based ChevronTexaco recently started its 17th consecutive year as a NASCAR team sponsor, a relationship President Mark Nelson said helps drive brand loyalty for its Havoline products. It, too, has scheduled client meetings in Las Vegas this weekend.

Pitching automotive products at a NASCAR event is a no-brainer, but companies such as Nextel also use race fans as a captive audience to showcase their goods and services.

Nextel will transport an interactive experience to each race this year, allowing fans to learn more about the sport in a not-so-subtle marketing environment. More than 30,000 people toured the attraction in Florida the week of the Feb. 15 Daytona 500, Schweitzer said. UAW-DaimlerChrysler and Lowe's also set up interactive fan attractions in town this weekend, giving sponsors more chances to win over consumers.

"Race fans show up hours before an event and stay hours after," King said. "They have down time, and everyone from souvenir companies to businesses like Nextel will take advantage of that."