“Absolutely,” Goist said April 25. “And it goes way beyond the race markets. We are going to put 20 vehicles -- we actually are putting them on the road as we speak over the last 30 days, sampling vehicles in all major markets. Obviously, the race markets are going to be our focus.
“They've got pictures of the NHRA cars on them. They say, ‘Go Full Throttle or Go Home.’ We'll sample over five million people this year. That's five million full cans of Full Throttle.
“We've got media advertising, which really won't hit fully until 2009 . . . but what you'll see immediately is retail activation in the markets, with point-of-sale that's very impactful . . . So this is a complete 360 brand activation.”
Trade publication Beverage Digest reported FT had eight percent of the energy drink market in 2007. Monster Energy raced past Red Bull for the top spot, 28 vs. 25 percent. Rockstar had 15 with Amp – which has bet big on Earnhardt Jr. – at 6.5. BD said energy drinks sell at a high premium – sometimes FOUR times more per ounce than soft drinks!
The amended NHRA-FT contract has been extended two years, through 2013. Compton said category competitors – Monster (Kenny Bernstein/Tommy Johnson Jr.), Rockstar (Don Schumacher/Jerry Toliver) and Vis Viva (Dexter Tuttle/Alan Bradshaw) – are grandfathered in and can be renewed. BUT . . . those sponsorships can’t move to another team. (POWERade’s sports drink rivals can become primary team sponsors next season.)
Bernstein offered a politically correct: “NHRA did a great job of protecting the existing energy drink sponsors. From our Monster Energy perspective, our program continues on as it has been.” Schumacher and Toliver, though, declined to comment.
As for Coca-Cola and IndyCar, I’m not worried -- unless they really do implement robust retailer-based consumer promotions. That might tell us something about the ability of IndyCar executives to negotiate GUARANTEED marketing activation elements into their contract.
Next year, we’ll find out if Coca-Cola really believes in NHRA as a vehicle to help increase sales. To paraphrase Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire: Show me the marketing.
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NHRA continues to fashion itself, post-HD Partners, with a significant “strategic alliance” with sports marketing giant IMG. Although I’ve had mixed dealings with various IMG people over the years, I have no problem with NHRA engaging the worldwide powerhouse to help it develop its business, and secure new corporate sponsors. IMG is now headed by former NASCAR senior executive George Pyne.
Included in the news release was this key detail: “IMG will place an executive within NHRA’s offices in Glendora, Calif. to oversee all day-to-day activities and resources IMG will engage.”
Revealing this person’s identity, and specifics of his/her professional credentials, would help the NHRA community evaluate how successful this venture might be. So, I asked. Gary Darcy, NHRA’s senior VP of sales and marketing, told me in an E-mail he’d prefer that to come from IMG. Fair enough.
The problem is the IMG contact listed on the release, a Jim Gallagher, has failed to respond to two requests from me for this information. Memo to Mr. Gallagher: That demonstrates a lack of professionalism – and common courtesy. (Not that the IRL’s agency is any better. Manners is “Just” as important as “Marketing.”)
This is a bad sign – and a needlessly negative way to begin the relationship with the straight-line sport.
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Steve Johnson was quick to E-mail me after last month’s column on NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class. He said “there were many parts that were spot on . . . other parts were upsetting to know that over the 11 years or so, I never got a chance to properly promote PRO2 and our positions and issues to all the media.”
Before the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals, Steve
stepped down as head of PRO2. “I still dig the concept of a business person representing the class and the $10 million plus spent by teams putting on a show . . .”
Thanks, Steve. I’ll continue to monitor developments . . .
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I’m not much into rumors. One, however, drifted my way recently I figured I better check out:
Toyota’s success with Joe Gibbs Racing has been a major story in NASCAR this season. I caught up with team president J.D. Gibbs at the Phoenix Sprint Cup race and, since Scott Kalitta and Jim Head run Solara bodywork, asked if the new Toyota relationship might lead JGR back to Funny Car.
“We love NHRA,” Gibbs told me. “My dad built a Top Fuel dragster in college, blew up, couldn’t afford to fix it, and went coaching. I told him, ‘Best career move you ever made.’
“We did it (previous NHRA team) as a satellite office out of Indy. It’s hard not having it in Charlotte (JGR headquarters). I’ll never say never, but for now, we’ve got enough on our plate.”
