What’s New?
NASCAR Finds New Business during Pandemic
New business is the lifeblood of any radio station. You have to keep the sales funnel full. When I worked in local radio sales, even if we did everything right, we lost about 20% of our customers annually. It’s natural turnover.
With the pandemic, I have spoken to only a handful of stations that have been able to keep moving forward without double-digit losses. The average for 2020 was about a 40% decrease in revenue.
Unexpected times like 2020 are why we should always be looking for new business.
NASCAR, the race teams, and the sport’s broadcast partners have been very successful in mining new business after the return to racing last May and that success has continued into this season. Fox TV alone signed 35 new partners for the new season.
Since new business is so vital, I thought I would share some of the new brands that have partnered with the sport so you can mine those businesses or advertising categories they represent locally.
T-MOBILE – With the recent merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, it makes sense for the company to use NASCAR in its marketing plans. After all, Sprint was the title sponsor of the Cup series for 13 years. That messaging is important to get out to their customers.
AMERISAVE MORTGAGE CORPORATION – The pandemic has been a real estate boom in many areas, plus interest rates are at historic lows.
WEATHERTECH DIRECT – Car accessories…of course.
BLUE EMU – Our own Rusty Wallace does TV and radio commercials for them. The topical pain reducing cream that “doesn’t stink” is an official partner of NASCAR and targets Boomers. 49% of NASCAR fans are Baby Boomers.
DOORDASH & GRUBHUB – Food delivery saw a 23% increase in the four years prior to the pandemic. During 2020, Uber Eats alone saw a 152% increase in New York.
HAGERTY INSURANCE – "Auto Insurance for people who love cars,” sponsoring auto racing? No-brainer! Not to mention that 2 of 3 NASCAR fans are homeowners, both reasons are why Progressive and GEICO are big players in the sport as well.
RED BULL – Monster Energy hit all of its marketing goals during its title sponsorship with NASCAR, why wouldn’t Red Bull want a piece of the action?
BODYARMOR – Although not necessarily in the energy drink space, the sports performance drink is mining NASCAR fans.
DISCOVERY+ – Video Streaming boomed during the pandemic and this is one of the newest entries in that space.
NETFLIX – Is using NASCAR to help defend its position as top video streamer against a growing Disney+ with the help of a NASCAR-themed sit-com starring Kevin James called The Crew. It’s a joint project where you will see product placement for NASCAR official sponsorship partners in the show. A nice 360 deal where the show adds value to NASCAR’s partners on a platform that doesn’t air commercials as Netflix mines the NASCAR fan base for subscribers.
DISNEY+ - Yup, them too.
TACO BELL, CKE RESTAURANTS, FIREHOUSE SUBS – NASCAR fans have traditionally embraced eating at QSRs when they sponsor the sport.
DRAFT KINGS & FOX BET – Sports gambling is one of the hottest ad categories in sports media marketing. When NASCAR fans are almost 40% more likely to visit a casino than the general public, it’s a good bet they probably bet on sports too.
MITSUBISHI – If you don’t compete on the track, you can advertise against the OEMs on TV.
ARK ENCOUNTER – As states open up, tourist attractions like this will be starting to advertise again.
SIMPLISAFE – As stated above about insurance, 2 of 3 NASCAR fans are homeowners and security systems are a great way to earn a discount on your home insurance.
JAZZ PHARMACEUTICALS – A long list of medications I know nothing about, but as we age, we need them and NASCAR is a great way to reach Boomers.
SCOTTS LAWN CARE – The Blue Collar sensibility of the NASCAR fan embraces do-it-yourself projects like lawn care.
HOTELS.COM – Much like ARK ENCOUNTER above, people are beginning to move about taking long-awaited vacations.
As you can see, these brands represent many advertising categories you can find in your local market and could pitch your NASCAR programming for the same reasons listed above. And although these brands aren’t necessarily new, they do represent a willingness to try something new with their marketing by investing their advertising dollars in NASCAR.
Finally, two reminders: 1) There are no exclusive clients or categories with our programming. You are welcome to sell to anyone you hear on our air if you can find a local tie-in. 2) Time is getting short to take advantage of the windfalls from tax returns and stimulus checks your audience is receiving now. Remind your advertisers that your listeners have money burning holes in their pockets.
Happy Selling!
Bob Quick - Manager, Radio Partnerships - Sales
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