I love the Fall for lots of reasons – cooler temperatures, fall colors, less traffic, football and the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup. I have been watching NASCAR since I was a kid with my dad. And while NASCAR is on TV almost all year, it has gotten more exciting in recent years as we watch and wait for Richmond to see which drivers are going to make the Chase. I love the racing, drama around the drivers, and the pure marketing phenomena that is NASCAR.
As someone who has worked in marketing for a long time, I see NASCAR as a viable marketing venue not only for the large sponsors like Office Depot, Aflac and Lowe’s but for the smaller guys too. Yeah, maybe a smaller company can’t afford to have their logo on a race car, driver suit, hauler, or be the title sponsor of a race, or have their driver travel all over the country promoting their brand. For example, last week alone Chase driver, Kurt Busch did everything from live radio appearances and call-ins and TV tapings to an appearance at a fan question-and-answer session at the Hard Rock Café, sessions with print media and an appearance, with five other drivers, on Live with Regis and Kelly all while promoting Miller Lite. But a small company can do many things to get their product in front of the 100,000 plus fans that attend the races each week. You could do a product demo at one of the many outparcel facilities that surround the tracks, hand out products to fans as they go into or leave the track or sponsor smaller scale races and/or events that go on throughout a race weekend. The possibilities are endless you just need an idea, and be open to having a lot of fun as you rub elbows with the fans as they cheer on their favorite driver at the track. You will never find anyone more loyal than a race fan. Did I mention we only drink Budweiser products at my house?