DRAGS, DOLLARS & SENSE: NHRA MISSES ITS ACTIVATION
Tue, 2011-02-08 18:54
Man, does NHRA miss Budweiser.
No, I don’t mean because of the free beer.
I mean because of the massive activation Bud bought and brought to its sponsorships of Kenny Bernstein and the sanctioning organization. As I explained in my January column, activation is what a sponsor does to capitalize on having its name on a car, race or series. I’m amplifying activation this month because it’s the essential Business of Racing word you need to understand to be a more knowledgeable fan.
Yes, my friends, those were the days. Those 30 record-setting years when the King of Beers helped make Bernstein the King of Speed. You knew the NHRA circus was coming to town because, if for no other reason, those colorful Bernstein cutout-standups would be positioned where the Budweiser was in supermarkets, convenience and liquor stores, bars and restaurants. And who can forget the TV commercials showing Bernstein’s Top Fueler launching off an aircraft carrier and Shuttle-like from Cape Canaveral?
No, I don’t mean because of the free beer.
I mean because of the massive activation Bud bought and brought to its sponsorships of Kenny Bernstein and the sanctioning organization. As I explained in my January column, activation is what a sponsor does to capitalize on having its name on a car, race or series. I’m amplifying activation this month because it’s the essential Business of Racing word you need to understand to be a more knowledgeable fan.
Yes, my friends, those were the days. Those 30 record-setting years when the King of Beers helped make Bernstein the King of Speed. You knew the NHRA circus was coming to town because, if for no other reason, those colorful Bernstein cutout-standups would be positioned where the Budweiser was in supermarkets, convenience and liquor stores, bars and restaurants. And who can forget the TV commercials showing Bernstein’s Top Fueler launching off an aircraft carrier and Shuttle-like from Cape Canaveral?
Once upon a time, Miller did some of that too -- not as well or as much -- but it all helped to drive beer sales and traffic to the local quarter-mile.
“That’s a part of the business that is extremely important and Budweiser did that,” said Bernstein, whose historic association with the St. Louis brewer was ended by new owner InBev after the 2009 season. “That’s why our associate sponsors loved them. They got all that exposure in 7-Elevens and all those supermarkets and liquor stores for three weeks prior to the event and three weeks afterwards. It’s a big loss from that standpoint.”
A BIG loss, indeed.
As Frank Sinatra used to sing, NHRA desperately needs its sponsors to “start spreading the news.” More, much more than this, the typical trackside displays and 30-second spots on the ESPN2 cablecasts.
In good times, activation is a useful tool to expand the sport’s popularity. In the current economic climate, it’s reinforcement to keep the fan base from eroding. A recent check at my local supermarket revealed NASCAR-related ID on products and in print advertising for soft drinks, beer, ice cream, cookies, cereal, crackers, pizza and other frozen foods.
“NASCAR is on a different plain than we are,” admitted Bob Tasca III, driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Funny Car.
I’ll be extra polite and just say it’s “disappointing” series sponsor Full Throttle (with the resources of Coca-Cola’s sports marketing department) hasn’t followed in the tracks Anheuser-Busch laid down. It’s a flat-out fact FT’s lack of mainstream activation has been a huge letdown for many briefcase carriers within the industry.
It’s quite possible activation budgets have been the single-biggest category cuts in all of motorsports the last three years.
“It’s important for us that we have sponsor activation,” admitted Gary Darcy, NHRA’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “It’s one of our key initiatives, both among our existing partners, and when we reach out for potential new partners. Often our programs include a provision that there has to be some level of national activation or promotion.”
When I talked with Darcy last October at The Strip in Las Vegas, he cited NAPA and Geico as pro-active partners. He explained Full Throttle helped facilitate the Ashley Force Hood drink cup promotion at Indianapolis-area McDonald’s during the 2009 U.S. Nationals.
“While we may encourage, cajole, them to implement a national activation program, whether at retail or national mass media, that may not align with what they do or why they’re involved,” continued Darcy. “What we need to do is help them accomplish their goals. We can’t force someone to do something that doesn’t align with their objectives.”
Before he became drag racing’s Roger Penske/Rick Hendrick, Don Schumacher was something of a sports marketing pioneer in the early 1970s, with the Wonder Bread sponsorship.
“We put the Chevy Vega panel wagon trucks, the mini-trucks, on each one of my Funny Cars,” Schumacher recalled. “The truck tie-in was very important. We utilized the program to have their salesmen, who were really the truck drivers who dealt with the store managers, to use the program to take Wonder Bread from the bottom shelf to the very top shelf, the eye-level shelf. We did that through getting them involved in coming out to the races and feeling like they were part of the team.”
Schumacher doesn’t think such a bottom-up program is possible today.
“Really, the activation has to come from the top management group,” he said, “the marketing and communications people, reaching down to the individual markets and convincing CEOs this is where we have to go with our dollars.
“We certainly talk about it (activation) in our initial negotiations and on a yearly basis but . . . it hasn’t been able to reach anywhere close to the degree what NASCAR has. We’re just not to that level. That’s always a goal but we have to get sponsors to commit those additional dollars.
“Of course, it concerns me. It’s something we talk about all the time with NHRA and our sponsors, track owners, and we try to activate more and more in the towns. The owners, drivers and NHRA are working harder today than we ever have to grow this sport and take it to the next level.”
Bernstein, now in his second year with Copart.com on son Brandon’s car, agrees it’s urgent to boost NHRA away from the track.
“It’s a must for the sport in general and a must that if you spent $100 on the team you better spend $100 (promoting),” he said. “You’ve got to make the people, your customer, understand you’re with a winner whether they are a winner that day or not.
“That’s the key. But the sponsors don’t always have that extra money to do that.”
NHRA VP Darcy gave his bottom line:
“The economy is a backdrop to everything. It’s a goal of ours is to have strong activation and get the leverage that provides. We can’t spend our way to the level of exposure that our sponsors can help us by leveraging their involvement. It’s a goal to make it happen.”
John Force’s new traveling Road Show should help. If all of NHRA is to truly go forward, however, it MUST make more activation happen.
A lot more.
No, I don’t mean because of the free beer.
I mean because of the massive activation Bud bought and brought to its sponsorships of Kenny Bernstein and the sanctioning organization. As I explained in my January column, activation is what a sponsor does to capitalize on having its name on a car, race or series. I’m amplifying activation this month because it’s the essential Business of Racing word you need to understand to be a more knowledgeable fan.
Yes, my friends, those were the days. Those 30 record-setting years when the King of Beers helped make Bernstein the King of Speed. You knew the NHRA circus was coming to town because, if for no other reason, those colorful Bernstein cutout-standups would be positioned where the Budweiser was in supermarkets, convenience and liquor stores, bars and restaurants. And who can forget the TV commercials showing Bernstein’s Top Fueler launching off an aircraft carrier and Shuttle-like from Cape Canaveral?
No, I don’t mean because of the free beer.
I mean because of the massive activation Bud bought and brought to its sponsorships of Kenny Bernstein and the sanctioning organization. As I explained in my January column, activation is what a sponsor does to capitalize on having its name on a car, race or series. I’m amplifying activation this month because it’s the essential Business of Racing word you need to understand to be a more knowledgeable fan.
Yes, my friends, those were the days. Those 30 record-setting years when the King of Beers helped make Bernstein the King of Speed. You knew the NHRA circus was coming to town because, if for no other reason, those colorful Bernstein cutout-standups would be positioned where the Budweiser was in supermarkets, convenience and liquor stores, bars and restaurants. And who can forget the TV commercials showing Bernstein’s Top Fueler launching off an aircraft carrier and Shuttle-like from Cape Canaveral?
Once upon a time, Miller did some of that too -- not as well or as much -- but it all helped to drive beer sales and traffic to the local quarter-mile.
“That’s a part of the business that is extremely important and Budweiser did that,” said Bernstein, whose historic association with the St. Louis brewer was ended by new owner InBev after the 2009 season. “That’s why our associate sponsors loved them. They got all that exposure in 7-Elevens and all those supermarkets and liquor stores for three weeks prior to the event and three weeks afterwards. It’s a big loss from that standpoint.”
A BIG loss, indeed.
As Frank Sinatra used to sing, NHRA desperately needs its sponsors to “start spreading the news.” More, much more than this, the typical trackside displays and 30-second spots on the ESPN2 cablecasts.
In good times, activation is a useful tool to expand the sport’s popularity. In the current economic climate, it’s reinforcement to keep the fan base from eroding. A recent check at my local supermarket revealed NASCAR-related ID on products and in print advertising for soft drinks, beer, ice cream, cookies, cereal, crackers, pizza and other frozen foods.
“NASCAR is on a different plain than we are,” admitted Bob Tasca III, driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Funny Car.
I’ll be extra polite and just say it’s “disappointing” series sponsor Full Throttle (with the resources of Coca-Cola’s sports marketing department) hasn’t followed in the tracks Anheuser-Busch laid down. It’s a flat-out fact FT’s lack of mainstream activation has been a huge letdown for many briefcase carriers within the industry.
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It’s quite possible activation budgets have been the single-biggest category cuts in all of motorsports the last three years.
“It’s important for us that we have sponsor activation,” admitted Gary Darcy, NHRA’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “It’s one of our key initiatives, both among our existing partners, and when we reach out for potential new partners. Often our programs include a provision that there has to be some level of national activation or promotion.”
When I talked with Darcy last October at The Strip in Las Vegas, he cited NAPA and Geico as pro-active partners. He explained Full Throttle helped facilitate the Ashley Force Hood drink cup promotion at Indianapolis-area McDonald’s during the 2009 U.S. Nationals.
“While we may encourage, cajole, them to implement a national activation program, whether at retail or national mass media, that may not align with what they do or why they’re involved,” continued Darcy. “What we need to do is help them accomplish their goals. We can’t force someone to do something that doesn’t align with their objectives.”
Before he became drag racing’s Roger Penske/Rick Hendrick, Don Schumacher was something of a sports marketing pioneer in the early 1970s, with the Wonder Bread sponsorship.
“We put the Chevy Vega panel wagon trucks, the mini-trucks, on each one of my Funny Cars,” Schumacher recalled. “The truck tie-in was very important. We utilized the program to have their salesmen, who were really the truck drivers who dealt with the store managers, to use the program to take Wonder Bread from the bottom shelf to the very top shelf, the eye-level shelf. We did that through getting them involved in coming out to the races and feeling like they were part of the team.”
Schumacher doesn’t think such a bottom-up program is possible today.
“Really, the activation has to come from the top management group,” he said, “the marketing and communications people, reaching down to the individual markets and convincing CEOs this is where we have to go with our dollars.
“We certainly talk about it (activation) in our initial negotiations and on a yearly basis but . . . it hasn’t been able to reach anywhere close to the degree what NASCAR has. We’re just not to that level. That’s always a goal but we have to get sponsors to commit those additional dollars.
“Of course, it concerns me. It’s something we talk about all the time with NHRA and our sponsors, track owners, and we try to activate more and more in the towns. The owners, drivers and NHRA are working harder today than we ever have to grow this sport and take it to the next level.”
Bernstein, now in his second year with Copart.com on son Brandon’s car, agrees it’s urgent to boost NHRA away from the track.
“It’s a must for the sport in general and a must that if you spent $100 on the team you better spend $100 (promoting),” he said. “You’ve got to make the people, your customer, understand you’re with a winner whether they are a winner that day or not.
“That’s the key. But the sponsors don’t always have that extra money to do that.”
NHRA VP Darcy gave his bottom line:
“The economy is a backdrop to everything. It’s a goal of ours is to have strong activation and get the leverage that provides. We can’t spend our way to the level of exposure that our sponsors can help us by leveraging their involvement. It’s a goal to make it happen.”
John Force’s new traveling Road Show should help. If all of NHRA is to truly go forward, however, it MUST make more activation happen.
A lot more.
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