Even though I was transplanted to the South, it took 18 years for me to become a NASCAR fan...and that was by way of my 6 year old son. He saw the movie Cars and that was it, our family was into NASCAR. But I challenge any marketer to watch the 30 minutes leading up the start of the race for some of the shrewdest marketing around. When I started watching it occurred to me that retailers and IT companies can really learn from NASCAR in several ways. Some of these are obvious, but others make you scratch your head and say, "Why aren't retailers doing this already?"
1) Know Your Market - Without question, the NASCAR marketers know their core customers and every part of the pre-race shows it. Here are just some of the ways:
- Let your customers get close to the action - If you are onsite, you get to walk the pits and see the cars. (Retail Parallel - Trials, Apple's Expert Bar). Drivers are also introduced and every FAN gets a close-up look before the race. This lets the fans be FANS. Does your company have FANS? Do you FAN that flame?
- Invoke God and Country - Every NASCAR event provides an invocation (faith component) and military component (fly over), and taps into the faith and patriotism of their fans. They don't run from areas of faith and the military, they embrace those components and their fans embrace that aspect of the sport. (Retailers often take the opposite approach in embracing a politically correct approach so as not to offend anyone.)
2) Positive Humor - Nearly every NASCAR commercial has some sort of humor involved where drivers are pulling pranks or joking around. People like to laugh, and humor opens up acceptance to the brand. Very few retailers promote humor - some products do, but not the retailers themselves.
3) Constant Brand Reinforcement - Spokespeople ALWAYS reinforce their primary brand, whether that is in that brands ads or when interviewed. Jeff Gordon never fails to mention the Dupont Chevrolet and thank his other sponsors Pepsi, Nicorette, etc. It is blatant, but it is part of the sport. Retailers tend to promote themselves only. Also, when was the last time that a celebrity endorser of a retailer promoted that retailer in another brand or on a talk show? When was the last time you saw a celebrity spokesperson show up on the red carpet wearing something that they promote on commercials? It just doesnt happen.
4) It's about the team - Although the drivers get the accolades, it is the team that they give the credit to for a win or even placing well. That praise is public praise for the other employees to the customers, not just to an internal estimate. How often do retailers praise their employees in their ads or promotional materials? It is very rare.
NASCAR and "The Chase" ends in about 3 weeks for 2007. Set your TIVO for the 30 minutes before one of the races and watch the pre-race events up to "Gentleman, start your engines" and think through how your company can employ some of these marketing techniques. You will learn a great deal from a sport that is often considered backwoods.
