Your client
at the Daytona 500
Coming up Feb. 14, it's the big event in NASCAR racing
By Diego Vasquez
Jan 25, 2010
Getting your courtside logo flashed on the screen for three seconds during a nationally televised sporting event makes for good brand exposure, but at its best outdoor advertising is about actually engaging people in your brand.
And in that respect, there may be no better audience than NASCAR fans, who are extremely loyal to the sport's sponsors, and no better race than the Daytona 500, often referred to as the Super Bowl of racing.
Daytona serves as the annual kickoff to the season, and the 10-day event leading up to the race has a party-like atmosphere, with many out-of-home advertising opportunities.
There are six separate events during the Daytona 500 festivities, as well as numerous practice sessions and qualifying events, all of which combine to attract an estimated 1 million fans.
Outside of these events Daytona International Speedway sponsors set up booths where they interact with fans by handing out product samples, sponsoring musical performances or setting up exhibits.
They truly engage with the fans, who learn more about the sponsor than just what their logo looks like.
To find out how to get your client’s message at next month's Daytona 500, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising to NASCAR fans attending the 52nd annual Daytona 500, which takes place Feb. 14 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Who
Sponsorship at the Daytona 500 and the events leading up to the race is handled by the Daytona International Speedway.
How it works
The Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s most prestigious race, and it’s also the first of the season for the sport. It is one of the biggest events in all of American sports, with an estimated 1 million people attending practices, qualifying, warm-up races and the event itself, which draws in excess of 200,000 fans.
 |
The best opportunity for brands to interact with fans is outside the grandstand where attendees congregate before the action on the track. It’s there that advertisers set up booths, exhibits and stages in what Daytona International Speedway calls a consumer display area.
This year there will be 40 booths, and they open on Feb. 4, 10 days before the race. Booths can be set up all around the speedway, but the majority are located on International Speedway Boulevard and Midway Boulevard, the roads that surround the track.
Advertisers choose different ways to engage passersby. This year, for example, Hershey's will pass out samples of a new milkshake it’s launching. Anheuser-Busch will have the famous Budweiser Clydesdales on hand.
Coca-Cola will have a booth to educate consumers on recycling. And Sprint will sponsor an exhibit that showcases the technology of racing.
As with so many major events, Daytona 500 advertisers are guaranteed a certain amount of exclusivity, and to enforce that the speedway sets up a so-called “clean zone” in a radius around the speedway in which only NASCAR-approved advertising is permitted.
The idea is to prevent non-approved advertisers from grabbing off free air time in the event TV cameras should pan over their particular ad vehicle.
 |
Sponsors at Daytona International Speedway generally get category exclusivity, with the exception of automakers. This year for the very first time multiple carmakers will have a presence.
The speedway decided to make this exception in light of the terrible economic conditions that have sapped the industry's strength. In a show of cooperation for a sport that has lost some auto sponsorship during the down economy, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota will team up to put their latest models on display for Daytona 500 attendees.
Though the best opportunities for advertisers at Daytona are outside the speedway, there is a limited amount of sponsorship available inside, but it's not the sort that's likely to land you on television.
Unlike other tracks on the NASCAR circuit, Daytona International Speedway doesn’t have ad signage that is visible to the TV audience at the track’s turns.
 |
Daytona limits inventory on the race track to avoid clutter and to make what inventory is available that much more valuable.
The ad signage that is visible to fans in the grandstands is on the scoreboards that keep track of driver positions, on the facility’s large video screens, and near the track’s victory lane. There is also signage above the grandstand entrances, which is sporadically visible on TV broadcasts.
Signage inside the facility is available to official sponsors of the speedway. Official sponsors also have other opportunities such as hospitality suites to entertain clients and customers and print ads in race programs.
Market
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Numbers
Daytona International Speedway seats 168,000, with additional in-field seating for some 30,000. The track doesn’t release official attendance figures, but it estimates 1 million people attend events in the days leading up to the Daytona 500, beginning with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 the week before the main race. Four other minor races take place in between.
These fans are extremely brand loyal. A 2007 survey by Turnkey Sports & Entertainment found that 55.7 percent of NASCAR fans are much more or somewhat more likely to consume a product/service if it’s an official sponsor, which puts NASCAR No. 2 in all of U.S. pro sports behind Major League Soccer (68.6 percent).
How it is measured
Event attendance is used to estimate overall impressions.
Brands can also track impressions for the individual efforts by counting how many fans stopped by their booth or accepted samples or opted in to an email distribution list.
What product categories do well
Frequent advertisers include auto, retail, food/beverage, personal care products, beer/alcohol and banking.
Demographics
NASCAR fans are 62.4 percent male and 37.6 percent female, according to Scarborough Research.
Thirteen percent of NASCAR fans are ages 18-24, 18 percent are 25-34, 20 percent are 35-44, 19 percent are 45-54, 13 percent are 55-64 and 17 percent are 65-plus.
Fifty-six percent of NASCAR fans have an annual households income of $50,000 or more, and 19.8 percent make $100,000 or more.
Making the buy
Pricing for booths outside Daytona International Speedway begins at $75,000.
Full sponsorship, which can include track signage, hospitality suites and/or print ads in the race program, costs anywhere from $250,000 to $1 million or more, depending on the elements involved.
The speedway is already accepting sponsors for next year's race. But opportunities are still available for this year and are likely to be so up to a week before the event.
Who’s already at Daytona
Recent advertisers include Coca-Cola, UPS, Bank of America, Hershey's, Anheuser-Busch, Gillette, Home Depot, Crown Royal, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.
What they’re saying
“Consumer display areas are unique to our sport--advertisers have an opportunity to touch fans and customers and add value to the racing experience. It can be an elaborate display that entertains, or you can use it to collect leads or present new products. It’s a crucial part of the race day experience.”–
John Guthrie, vice president of sales for Daytona International Speedway.
Web site info
Daytona International Speedway
http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com
NASCAR
http://www.nascar.com
Daytona Beach Chamber of Commerce
http://www.daytonachamber.com
|
|
|
