Motorsports Marketing is More Than Stickers on a Race Car
Posted by: Andrea Ross

For the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, I had the opportunity to manage the Navy’s sponsorship of the No. 88 Navy “Accelerate Your Life” Chevrolet. Yes, there is such a job in the Navy and I was called up from the Reserve to do it. I traded in my Vox|Red suits for Navy summer whites and headed out on the circuit. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby, shake and bake.

Prior to starting, a quick Google search of “Navy Racing” told me I had my work cut out for me. I expected to see stories about Navy Racing “pride” programs, marketing tie-ins, stories that demonstrated a proactive PR presence — anything. Instead, I saw race results and a quote from a Navy official that said, in so many words, that the No. 88 car was just a billboard going around a racetrack.

Pretty expensive billboard.

Companies get into sports marketing sponsorships for a host of reasons, the main one being brand awareness. Or your CEO really, really likes to hang out in the infield at Talladega. We don’t judge.

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday, the car companies say. You can sell to consumers a number of ways — but the bottom line is innovative ideas that turn your sponsorship money into a measurable, positive return on investment are the best.

My job was to turn the Navy’s sponsorship into a comprehensive initiative that met the Navy’s identified goals: putting butts on the seats of those buses headed for boot camp at Great Lakes, Ill., building Navy brand awareness and supporting Navy retention.

Your company’s goals may be a bit different (although some of your employees may benefit from a boot camp attitude adjustment), but I bet we can help you get there. Here’s what worked for us.

We revamped our Fleet Honoree Program, soliciting Navy commands for eight of their best and brightest Sailors for a VIP Navy race-day experience at 33 Nationwide Series races. The diverse group of Sailors had a blast and some actually said the words, “I will reenlist because of this trip.” Hanging out with Dale Jr. and Brad Keselowski on Navy TDY is pretty cool — I don’t care who you are.

We were proactive, friendly and helpful in providing facts and footage to media. In fact, the 2008 race season on ESPN2 started out with a video shot by a Navy crew in Iraq, featuring a Seabee detachment there welcoming viewers to the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series on ESPN2. It was a great kick-off to the season. Hoorah Seabees, indeed.

Our goal each weekend was to tell the Navy story through our NASCAR sponsorship, and if the car ran well, that was a plus. Bottom line: we increased our measured leads for recruiting, and our brand awareness went from an equivalent ad value of $5 million in 2007 to a 2008 equivalent value of $33.1 million. The NASCAR sponsorship was discontinued at the end of 2008 by Navy leadership, not based on poor performance but a shift in marketing priorities.

I would have loved to see what we could really accomplish in year two, but I’m thrilled to be back at Vox|Optima to take on new challenges with existing and new clients. Plus, Merritt doesn’t make me wear an evil white polyester blend to dirty race tracks.

Unless I really want to.