When Nextel Communications took over as title sponsor of NASCAR’s top auto racing series, it just wanted to become a part of the community, build brand awareness and sell its service at tracks across the country.
It learned that fans didn’t want to buy service at the track, but it had success with everything else it tried.
“Nextel figured out what sport was all about and indulged itself in it. They got ‘A’s’ all around, and showed they did the job well,” said NASCAR Director-Alliance Marketing Andrew Feit yesterday at Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and The Sports Business Daily’s Motorsports Marketing Forum in New York City. “Winston was a great sponsor, but they could not market the sport the way Nextel did (because of government regulations limiting tobacco marketing).
Nextel activated its sponsorship in time for the Daytona 500 by “painting the town yellow.” In addition to banners on site, it posted banners in urban and suburban locations as well as at the airports in Orlando to promote the race and introduce itself as title sponsor. It also planted trucks in the infield called “SuperCOWS,” which contained portable cell towers used to beef up signals at the racetrack. It also worked with Motorola to develop NASCAR-themed cell phones with the likeness of the circuit’s most-popular racers.
Nextel saw its subscriber base grow from 11 million in February, when the Daytona 500 kicked off the NASCAR season, to 15 million in October, when Kurt Busch was crowned NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion.
Nextel reported that it more than doubled its brand awareness within the NASCAR fan base. The wireless provider also carried over 50 million phone calls at NASCAR tracks, and over 98% were successful connections.
Also, a recent report by research firm Joyce Julius & Associates showed that Nextel received the equivalent of more than $50 million in free media from television, internet and radio, plus an additional $35mm in newspaper stories just about Nextel’s involvement with NASCAR during the season.
The only negative was fans’ hesitance to subscribe to Nextel’s services at the track. However, a coupon promotion early in the season showed redemption in 28 states. Also, ESPN reported that nine of 10 visitors to the Nextel Experience, an interactive tour that parks outside tracks on race weekends, would refer a friend to the mobile tour, and that NASCAR fans are five times more likely to switch to Nextel when their current service contract expires.
“There were a lot of things we wanted to accomplish, but we figured we had 10 years, which is plenty of time to get our act together,” said Nextel Senior VP-Marketing Mark Schweitzer. “We decided we should think things through instead of taking a knee-jerk reaction.”
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