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NASCAR Auto Racing Sponsors, Merchandise And Advertising
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Published: June 6, 2007
What do Allstate, M&M's, and Old Spice have in common? They are among the many official NASCAR sponsors for the 2007 racing circuit. Beneath this top tier of official sponsorship are NASCAR Promotional Partners, Automotive Aftermarket Companies, and Entitlement Sponsors. NASCAR sponsors spend an exorbitant amount of advertising dollars to fund the $15 million dollars a year needed per National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing team. In return, corporations are able to brand their name into the consciousness of 125,000 spectators and 5.5 million TV-watching households each race.
NASCAR sponsors are well aware that U.S. TV-ratings for professional sports rank NASCAR second only to the NFL. Americans aren't the only die-hard NASCAR racing fans, either. One hundred and fifty countries receive international broadcasts of the races. The 2006 NASCAR racing season included 36 races, the most popular (and lucrative) events being the Nextel Cup, the Busch Series, and the Craftsman Truck Series.
Some critics complain that NASCAR sponsors have over-saturated the sport with advertising. They hearken to more pure, love-of-the-game sports like baseball and soccer; they gawk at uniforms, cars and racetracks plastered with logos celebrating corporate NASCAR sponsors. They wonder if NASCAR racing can be respectable in and of itself when it has been so holistically commercialized.
Particularly controversial auto racing sponsors have occasionally popped up along the road. A survey conducted by Performance Research concluded that the most inappropriate NASCAR sponsors were considered to be condoms, Penthouse magazine, Absolut vodka and (by an overwhelming 83%) politicians. One surprisingly crude slogan by Boudreaux read, “Butt paste can handle bringing up the rear.”
Despite the jeers, advertisers seem to be successful in reaching their target audiences—generally middle-aged, middle class married men. According to the same Performance Research study, 71% of the NASCAR audience said they frequently or almost always chose a product that was a NASCAR sponsor over one that was not, solely because of its involvement in the sport. Racing merchandise is another way to extend the branding of auto racing sponsors beyond the race track. Fans faithfully pay their dues to take home commercialized racing merchandise costing up to $300 for a jacket decorated with a favorite driver's sponsor logo.
Successful advertising is not the only perk NASCAR sponsors receive. In fact, some companies couldn't care less about marketing to NASCAR fans. Instead, they are sold on the idea of building business to business relationships with other NASCAR sponsors. The three goals of NASCAR's strategic B2B council are to discover reciprocal relationships, condense the business to business sales cycle, and learn how NASCAR sponsors can wield their position of influence. This synergistic alliance has proved very rewarding for NASCAR, as they seek to retain sponsorship contracts, and for NASCAR sponsors who benefit from each other's services and patronage.
With top teams asking at least one million dollars for associate sponsorship, that only leaves very successful companies in the prospective advertisers' pool, but NASCAR sponsorship is a hot rod of a deal for corporations who can afford it. Considering the number of fans who watch NASCAR racing and the loyal response they show toward NASCAR sponsors, as well as the bonus of business to business relationships among NASCAR sponsors, Allstate, M&M's and Old Spice are in good company.
Sources:
Archibald, Whitney. “Why Sponsors Keep Renewing.” Exhibitor Online. 4 June 2007. http://www.exhibitoronline.com/corpevent/article.a sp?ID=908.
Baum, Jeff. “Soaking Up Sponsorship.” Yahoo! Sports. 15 Oct. 2004. 4 June 2007. http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=jt-sponge bob1015&prov=yhoo&type=lgns.
Independent Studies: Loyal NASCAR fans Please Stand Up. Performance Research. 2005. 4 June 2007. http://www.performanceresearch.com/nascar-racestat .htm.
Jenkins, Chris. “Sponsors Make NASCAR's Wheels Go ‘Round.” USA Today. 12 July 2002. 4 June 2007. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2002-0 7-12-acov-sponsors.htm.
“NASCAR.” Wikipedia. 5 June 2007. 5 June 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nascar.
Official Sponsors. NASCAR.com. 2007. 4 June 2007. http://www.nascar.com/guides/sponsorship/.
NASCAR sponsors are well aware that U.S. TV-ratings for professional sports rank NASCAR second only to the NFL. Americans aren't the only die-hard NASCAR racing fans, either. One hundred and fifty countries receive international broadcasts of the races. The 2006 NASCAR racing season included 36 races, the most popular (and lucrative) events being the Nextel Cup, the Busch Series, and the Craftsman Truck Series.
Some critics complain that NASCAR sponsors have over-saturated the sport with advertising. They hearken to more pure, love-of-the-game sports like baseball and soccer; they gawk at uniforms, cars and racetracks plastered with logos celebrating corporate NASCAR sponsors. They wonder if NASCAR racing can be respectable in and of itself when it has been so holistically commercialized.
Particularly controversial auto racing sponsors have occasionally popped up along the road. A survey conducted by Performance Research concluded that the most inappropriate NASCAR sponsors were considered to be condoms, Penthouse magazine, Absolut vodka and (by an overwhelming 83%) politicians. One surprisingly crude slogan by Boudreaux read, “Butt paste can handle bringing up the rear.”
Despite the jeers, advertisers seem to be successful in reaching their target audiences—generally middle-aged, middle class married men. According to the same Performance Research study, 71% of the NASCAR audience said they frequently or almost always chose a product that was a NASCAR sponsor over one that was not, solely because of its involvement in the sport. Racing merchandise is another way to extend the branding of auto racing sponsors beyond the race track. Fans faithfully pay their dues to take home commercialized racing merchandise costing up to $300 for a jacket decorated with a favorite driver's sponsor logo.
Successful advertising is not the only perk NASCAR sponsors receive. In fact, some companies couldn't care less about marketing to NASCAR fans. Instead, they are sold on the idea of building business to business relationships with other NASCAR sponsors. The three goals of NASCAR's strategic B2B council are to discover reciprocal relationships, condense the business to business sales cycle, and learn how NASCAR sponsors can wield their position of influence. This synergistic alliance has proved very rewarding for NASCAR, as they seek to retain sponsorship contracts, and for NASCAR sponsors who benefit from each other's services and patronage.
With top teams asking at least one million dollars for associate sponsorship, that only leaves very successful companies in the prospective advertisers' pool, but NASCAR sponsorship is a hot rod of a deal for corporations who can afford it. Considering the number of fans who watch NASCAR racing and the loyal response they show toward NASCAR sponsors, as well as the bonus of business to business relationships among NASCAR sponsors, Allstate, M&M's and Old Spice are in good company.
Sources:
Archibald, Whitney. “Why Sponsors Keep Renewing.” Exhibitor Online. 4 June 2007. http://www.exhibitoronline.com/corpevent/article.a sp?ID=908.
Baum, Jeff. “Soaking Up Sponsorship.” Yahoo! Sports. 15 Oct. 2004. 4 June 2007. http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=jt-sponge bob1015&prov=yhoo&type=lgns.
Independent Studies: Loyal NASCAR fans Please Stand Up. Performance Research. 2005. 4 June 2007. http://www.performanceresearch.com/nascar-racestat .htm.
Jenkins, Chris. “Sponsors Make NASCAR's Wheels Go ‘Round.” USA Today. 12 July 2002. 4 June 2007. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2002-0 7-12-acov-sponsors.htm.
“NASCAR.” Wikipedia. 5 June 2007. 5 June 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nascar.
Official Sponsors. NASCAR.com. 2007. 4 June 2007. http://www.nascar.com/guides/sponsorship/.
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