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 ot sun, hot motorsports technology, and even hotter drivers: It’s no wonder NASCAR is a Sunday tradition for millions of fans. But even the NASCAR juggernaut is facing issues common to any mature brand. In 2006, for the first time in its 60-year history, NASCAR experienced slight declines in viewership and race-weekend attendance from its record-high 2005. But the organization didn’t blink, roaring back to bring new fans into the fold. So just what is in NASCAR’s secret attendance sauce? Turns out it’s not such a secret.
Corporate EVENT spoke with Jim Obermeyer, NASCAR’s managing director of brand and consumer marketing, to learn how the organization maintains its focus to overcome the same attendee-engagement challenge that bedevils event marketers, how it is working to keep the experience fresh and relevant to old and new fans alike, and what event marketers can learn from the organization’s tremendous loyalty and success.
Corporate Event: What is it about NASCAR that engenders such loyalty? Why do people care so much?
Jim Obermeyer: A big part of our success is that NASCAR is more than just another passive spectator sport. It’s a “lifestyle” sport. That evolution happened as fans made the sport part of their lives and family traditions — attending a race as a family, for example, year after year builds memories, and that is a big part of what has built the incredible, multi-generational fan passion for NASCAR. Our audience feels a real sense of belonging in following the sport. It’s a community, just as all marketers want to create for their own brands. It also helps that our drivers — who are literally the face of NASCAR — personify a set of attributes that we want people to think about our brand: “genuine,” “authentic,” “courageous,” and “people like me.” It’s what fans think of when they think of NASCAR. In business-to-business terms, that means thinking about the public faces you put on your events: your speakers, executives, and such. Can your audience relate to them? Do they look and sound like what your brand should stand for? Do they come across as active participants in the community, or just as lofty observers?
CE: Drawing repeat attendees is a significant goal for event marketers. How does NASCAR do so well to engage such a wide demographic and keep them coming back year after year?
JO: Our event venues know that the fan base — despite their common roots as motorsports fans — is tremendously varied. And they work hard to offer amenities up and down the spectrum. Tracks like Auto Club Speedway in California and Phoenix International Raceway now have upscale, top-shelf restaurants along with great camping areas for our RV crowd. There is something for everyone, from the executive fan in a suite eating shrimp to the families grilling ribs on their campground barbecues. Look for ways to build this kind of variation into your events when you have a varied demographic. It doesn’t have to be over the top; it can be as subtle as high/low kinds of hors d’oeuvres at a reception, as long as you have a central theme or objective that brings it all together.
CE: How can an event marketer create a feeling similar to the passion of race day in any face-to-face event?
JO: By finding ways to bring things like pageantry, competition, and celebrity to the mix. NASCAR sponsors do a great job in making the most of their involvement in the sport on Sunday and beyond. For example, Unilever is a major sponsor, with nine brands including Ragú, Country Crock, and Hellman’s tied to their NASCAR vehicle and driver Kasey Kahne. On site, they do a terrific job connecting with NASCAR fans — particularly moms — in the tracks’ campground areas. They hand out recipes and race flags, and offer activities for the whole family, like racing simulators and emceed tasting events. Off track, they tie the sponsorship into their advertising, promotions, and sampling efforts. Coke Zero, through the My Coke Rewards program, gave winners the ultimate face-to-face opportunity: a Coke-sponsored and -branded fishing event with driver Greg Biffle in Mexico. Who’s going to forget that event — or the company that made it possible?
On the B2B side, DuPont is a great example. Their extensive hospitality program entertains more than 20,000 employees and customers each year at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events. Four-time champion and DuPont driver Jeff Gordon meets the company’s customers and employees on race day, giving them an unforgettable experience at the track. Off track, they bring those elements to employee and customer events. Jeff appears, bringing several team cars, his racing suit, and trophies.
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 Don’t lose sight of what made your event successful in the first place. Not the theme, not the agenda, but the most powerful takeaway that benefits or excites attendees personally and professionally.
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CE: Event marketers deal with plateaued attendance regularly. After 60 years of growth, NASCAR is facing some similar challenges. How do you successfully reach out to find new attendees while keeping it fresh for a blended audience of old and new fans?
JO: By reminding people of what attracted them to the event in the first place. In our case, it’s the racing product: close, competitive, side-by-side racing among the world’s best drivers. The technologies and promotions might change, but the unique and unmatchable experience at the track stays the same. Don’t lose sight of what made your event successful in the first place. Not the theme, not the agenda, but the most powerful takeaway that benefits or excites attendees personally and professionally.
Don’t get caught up in knee-jerk reacting to a short-term or market-specific decline. We, for example, keep focusing on the fact that NASCAR races are still mega events. Seventeen of the 20 largest sporting events each year are NASCAR races. The average race-day attendance at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events is 120,000. That’s a big success, and a lot of people coming to the track to enjoy NASCAR racing.
CE: On the corporate side, travel and entertainment budgets are among the first things to be cut. How do you continue to attract attendees in the face of travel-budget crunches? How do you prove the value of what you offer?
JO: We actually continue to see very strong demand for corporate travel to races. One of the reasons is our formal B-to-B Council of sponsors and corporate partners that meets regularly, including at the track during race weekends. It’s an incredibly rich networking opportunity, and has resulted in tens of millions of dollars in business among NASCAR sponsors trading with one another. Look for ways to tie these kinds of partner or other business meetings to your events, which helps keep them high on executives’ travel-priority lists.
CE: How do you extend the experience and keep people engaged after the racing weekend is over?
JO: We give fans plenty of places to find NASCAR content outside of the track environment. Our media partners do a great job of providing content in both traditional and new media to engage fans. The avid NASCAR fan spends eight hours a week with NASCAR content. Today that can be watching many hours of NASCAR programming during the week on SPEED and ESPN, on the Internet with NASCAR.com, and on satellite radio through 24/7 programming from our partner Sirius. In short, we deliver them content in ways that fit their lifestyle. If they’re in the car often, they can find us on the radio. If they’re TV fans, we’re on the big sports networks. Find these same kinds of lifestyle-based tie-ins for your own content. Podcasts for the commuter, virtual-world events for the gamer, contests with your event co-sponsors, etc.
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 If you’re considering a celebrity spokesperson, non-traditional event, or entertainment marketing, it’s important to be true to your brand. Find a celebrity or entertainment option that shares your own brand attributes.
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CE: Obviously racing is central to the NASCAR experience. But other than the race itself, how does the event environment support the NASCAR brand?
JO: It plays to all the senses and attendees’ desire for firsthand experience
with our drivers and automotive technology. At the track, fans can meet each other, cook and eat together, shop for merchandise, change tires, and hit the track in simulators. Our sponsors build in myriad touch experiences. The Army, for example, frequently brings a rope-climbing test, like the bootcamp experience, to the track. Fans can observe the cars being worked on in the garage, walk the track, see the drivers, and get autographs. All this reinforces the accessibility and interactivity of the sport and the NASCAR brand — and makes it all real.
Hotel meeting rooms are boring. Filling them with various sensory experiences makes them interesting, interactive, and memorable.
CE: You’re fortunate to have glamour tie-ins: movies (and hot drivers!) that make the experience sexy and appealing, and bring it to a wider audience. No one is going to make a movie about, say, medical-imaging technology. How can corporate event marketers add some glam to their own event programs?
JO: Each brand is different, with its own position and business objectives. The advice I’d give in trying to add glamour, or any kind of brand-marketing overlay, is to make sure you do it in an authentic way. If you’re considering a celebrity spokesperson, non-traditional event, or entertainment marketing, it’s important to be true to your brand. Find a celebrity or entertainment option that shares your own brand attributes. And whatever you do, don’t force it. Sometimes it’s just not right for every brand.
CE: What do you think is the most valuable thing a corporate event marketer can take away from the NASCAR model that will help their own event strategies?
JO: Stick to your core values and mission. While the cars and even some of the places where we race have changed over the years, the sport of NASCAR today is still fueled by the very vision our founder Bill France Sr. defined 60 years ago — competitive racing among drivers everyone can relate to. I know it sounds like a cliché, but knowing and serving your customer will never go out of style. Big Bill France always made sure fans saw a great show and got their money’s worth. That continues to drive us today.e |
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