How to market to the NASCAR crowd without spending $15 million.

(I-Newswire) November 30, 2005 - ERIE, PA (November 30, 2005) How would you like to take advantage of marketing opportunities that boast a 72% fan base loyalty to the sponsors? Then marketing to the NASCAR crowd is where you want to be, and contrary to popular belief, you don't have to spend $15 million plus to reach over 40 million loyal fans.

You can get involved in the motorsports marketing craze for just a fraction of what major sponsors pay, and still land in the winner's circle of successful NASCAR promotions.

There are several marketing firms that specialize in developing NASCAR promotions by providing retail activation without the high cost of sponsorship. BENSUR Creative Marketing Group (www.bensur.com), a marketing and advertising consultancy with experience in motorsports related campaigns, has put together promotional plans for their clients that unleash the horsepower of motorsports marketing. The strategy is to create value through relentless co-marketing and retail based activation opportunities.

Bill Catania, an account manager for BENSUR, has years of experience in the field. He has worked with a "who's who" list of companies, ranging from the US ARMY, to Valvoline, to PRIMEDIA Automotive Group. Catania is also the author of a motorsports marketing "How To" book that helps race teams, tracks and series learn how to find, manage and keep racing sponsors. As co-founder of Racefan, Inc., Catania brought motorsports promotions to over 450 unique racing venues and launched an industry leading Web site: RaceFan.com.

Today, Catania is leveraging BENSUR's successful track record of food marketing with his motorsports marketing expertise.

"This type of promotion bears out the adage: Work Smarter, Not Harder," Catania said. "In order to maximize the impact of your budget, it's important to look beyond the obvious car sponsorship elements and realize that without activation, sponsorship can't achieve peak performance. At BENSUR, we think of ourselves as creators of value. We look beyond the obvious, and leverage complimentary products, marketing channels and relationships for the financial benefit of all parties involved. It's entirely possible to capture the retail benefit of a great NASCAR promotion without spending a fortune to do it."

While sponsorship is the more traditional aspect of this brand of marketing, it is the activation – the promotions – that really gives the program wheels. A successful campaign has to support the sponsorship by promoting the promotion. Typically, this ratio should be a dollar-for-dollar match to the sponsorship outlay, and could include trackside promotions, product tie-ins and licensing agreements.

Companies that don't adhere to "the rule of 1:1" are destined for the motorsports marketing "wall of shame".

"The landscape is littered with sponsor programs that failed or had a limited success, do to a lack of support at the activation level of the campaign," stated Catania. "Typically, those programs are initiated out of ego, or by a marketing executive that is merely jumping on the bandwagon with no clear strategy. Usually, the effort falls short of expectations and the company never ventures into the land of racing sponsorship again."

While NASCAR has its roots in the south, and a highly dominant male image, neither could be further from the truth. With expansion over the past 10 years into markets ranging from Las Vegas to Texas and California, NASCAR's migration to the west has helped land a $2 billion broadcast contract, and has solidified its position as a marketing darling in the boardrooms of America's Fortune 500 companies. NASCAR's female fan base was a paltry 13% in 1975, but recently has exploded to 42%, according to a recent ESPN sports poll.

Tim Buckman, spokesman for Fox Sports, says the fastest growing segment of the television audience for the 2004 Nextel Cup Series on Fox was women,18-34. Their numbers were up 19% from the same time the previous year. The next fastest growing segment: women 18-24, up 17%. With a recent expenditure of $100 million by an International Speedway Corporation (ISC) subsidiary for the development of a speedway on Staten Island, NASCAR will continue opening markets and exposing America's most brand-loyal sports franchise to new prospective fans.


"People are loyal to the companies that support the sport through sponsorship, and that is an important element of any strategy," Catania continued. "Primarily, though, it is the repeated exposure you can receive at the events that puts your business out in front in the hearts and minds of the consumer who also happens to be a fan. If your goal is to create an emotional, consumer-centric bond with race fans, than sponsorship is for you."

Motorsports events happen in two arenas: national and regional. The national circuit is sexy, but the regional efforts are more grassroots oriented and also capable of a strong impact, but in a more cost-controlled application. The staff at BENSUR has worked in both areas, handling strategic consultation, creative development, research, negotiations, promotion planning and execution.

"What most people don't know is that the aggregate attendance at the over 1,000 regional racing facilities across the United States exceeds 40 million fans per year," Catania said. "This number is huge when compared to a live attendance of 6.8 million for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup events in 2004. Sponsorship and marketing penetration is slim to none at the regional level of racing, and we intend to be a first market mover in the effort to sell the marketing value of regional racing over the next 5 years."

Imagine the span and reach of a company's promotion with activation in 50 key DMA's, all with localized branding and signage, retail tie-ins and product sampling. Trackside promotions are only available on a once per week basis for 36 weekends out of the year with NASCAR's top series. Regional venues are in operation nearly 50 weeks out of the year, and offer simultaneous market coverage and activation opportunities.

The potential applications for motorsports marketing are vast and are well suited to capture the attention and loyalty of an overexposed buying public. Catch a ride on this high speed marketing vehicle and make your promotional efforts work smarter, not harder.



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Bob Natalo