Backseat Blonde - Does Anyone Buy on Monday Anymore

February 21, 2005

Does Anyone 'Buy on Monday' Anymore?
By Allison Wagda

I need a new car. And at the risk offending my favorite
readers (the old-timers), I’m not going to buy the brand
several of my favorite driver’s race.

But I have an excuse. I’m not an old-timer. In fact, I am
precisely the type of person NASCAR is so desperate to
attract with all this new stuff. I’m a young, professional, well-educated Californian. An
NFL refugee. No (like) Southern drawl. Easily distracted.

I’m not going to buy a Chevy. No Dodges. I might buy a Ford, despite their support of
our reigning champion, only because I like one of their current models. I currently
have a Jeep and may buy another one of those (although they are part of
DaimlerChrysler, which also owns Dodge). I may even buy a Toyota, since my Jeep
left me stranded in the middle of the Utah desert a couple of years ago and I’m still
mad about it.

But it’ll be a cold day in a very hot place before I allow my admiration for a stock car
driver to dictate how I spend $25,000.

And somehow I doubt I’m the only one, which makes me wonder if the victims of
NASCAR’s explosive growth will be the very sponsors NASCAR executives are trying
to please.

When it comes to sponsorship marketing, NASCAR has long been the envy of most
professional sports. Logos hawking everything from Disney films to erectile
dysfunction treatments cover every conceivable surface a camera might catch. In
interviews, drivers find creative ways to insert their sponsors’ names into casual
conversation. Fans are inundated with brand messages constantly, and for the most
part we don’t seem to mind.

It’s just the way things are done. Sponsors fund the teams, the drivers win the races,
and the fans buy the sponsor’s product. Many fans even change their buying habits
to help support their favorite drivers.

As we enter this new era of NASCAR, can this cycle be maintained?

It’s all well and good that the ratings are up and races are selling out, but will these
new fans prove as steadfast to those who finance their favorite teams? Will yuppies
toss aside their sophisticated microbrews for a good old fashioned Bud because
they’ve suddenly discovered the appeal of Dale Jr.? Will Jason Leffler convince any
soccer moms to switch to FedEx from UPS?

Sponsors have long bought into the sport because they could count on that fan
loyalty. The old auto industry adage “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” illustrates the
importance of brand loyalty in the cost-justification process.

I try to remain loyal to driver sponsors when reasonable. That loyalty does not extend
to NASCAR corporate or track sponsors. I really couldn’t care less who is the official
toilet paper manufacturer of NASCAR.

Then there’s possible backlash. When the big blue Powerade bottle interfered with
driver sponsorships last year I stopped drinking Coke (anyone notice how nice it is to
have all those props gone this year?) I’m particularly irritated these days by that
cheesy little “AOL guy” who runs across the FOX broadcast every time a car heads
into the pits. So maybe I’ll dump AOL as my service provider on the road.

I also stopped using Pennzoil when Steve Park was dismissed by DEI. I planned to
switch my cell phone to Cingular last year before Robby Gordon was sent packing,
and chose Verizon instead. I got more minutes too.

As for car manufacturers, with the “car of the future” looming will they see any value to
continuing their massive investments?

Dwindling loyalty from fans like me may also be related to a perceived lack of
emotional ties between sponsors and the sport. Sponsors used to be fans too. No
one has ever labored under the misconception that corporate execs spent millions
simply to indulge their favorite sport, but at least there was a feeling that these folks
were committed to the success of their driver and the sport in general.

I don’t get that impression from sponsors today. Now it seems like a sponsor’s sole
interest is in parting fans from their dollars. Nextel may offer lip service to this
concept by claiming to be “proud to be fans,” but I highly doubt Tim Donahue (Nextel
CEO) had ever so much as attended a race before his company was approached to
spend about $800 million to buy the loyalty of all those millions of real fans. Had the
NFL offered the same, would we have a Nextel Cup or a Ronald McDonald Cup?

Corporations may be sensing this shift in the fan-sponsor dynamic. Major new
sponsorships are proving to be a rare commodity. Some teams have been forced to
patch together multiple deals in order to run a full season, and even a major team or
two has had to garage a car for lack of support.

These patch solutions may also be inadvertently harming the ultimate value of
sponsorships. We get used to seeing a driver in certain colors, and their very image
is often tied to the logo on the hood of their car. That connection is felt by the fans.

So when we see Elliott Sadler on TV walking toward driver introductions in a blue
Pedigree suit instead of M&Ms yellow, we’re thrown off. And with new fans this might
even be more confusing. Dale Jr. once said he used to dress in blue jeans and a
cap and wander into the grandstands unrecognized. Fans were so used to his red
firesuit they didn’t even notice him. Granted, that wouldn’t be true today, but I bet
Casey Mears or Scott Riggs or Ken Schrader could do it.

New fans don’t have a connection to a major team or a car number, they identify with
a driver. If sitting in the grandstand they can’t figure out what car their driver is racing,
what is there to root for?

NASCAR execs may be basking in the glow of unprecedented publicity. They may be
anxious to take the sport to new international locales and attract millions of new fans.
But to make this all sustainable for the long run, they must help teams attract and
retain major sponsors rather than tie up entire industries with exclusive deals. They
need to keep costs down for teams. They must ensure sponsorships don’t interfere
with the fan experience.

And they better make sure these new fans are willing to buy on Monday. Otherwise
all this growth could come at a price no one can afford.

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