Newswise — NASCAR, and particularly the Nextel Cup, has become an enormously popular sport. Its fan base, ticket sales, and television ratings have attracted the attention of corporations eager to reach this market, often by sponsoring a race car. For the $15-20 million annually a major sponsor spends, they get a 200 mph billboard seen weekly by millions of people. But for that price, is that billboard as good as it could be? Not always, according to a marketing professor at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV.
"A 200 mph billboard seems like a contradiction," says Paul Ostasiewski, professor of marketing at Wheeling Jesuit University, "yet that's an important part of what NASCAR sells. A car's paint scheme has to be designed so a major sponsor's name can be easily read, particularly on television where it's usually seen for a few seconds before cameras cut away to show another car. Television is where the greatest exposure is. It's also where the biggest problems are."
Ostasiewski says some teams don't fully consider how a car looks on television. "They assume that a distinctive paint job is enough, but it's more than that. The car must look distinctive, yet the sponsor's name must be easy to read. "The Interstate Batteries car has a distinctive paint job, a bright green, yet on television, its graphics look muddled. On the other hand, the Budweiser car of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. does a good job of being both distinctive and easy to read on television.
The main areas where a sponsor's name appears are on a Nextel Cup car are the hood, rear fender, and back panel (often called the TV panel). It will also appear on the uniforms of the driver and pit crew as well as the race car hauler. According to Ostasiewski, some teams do a better job of tying these items together. A case in point is the Home Depot team of Tony Stewart.
"The Home Depot car has a bright orange and black paint scheme. The car's graphics are also unique and easy to read. The orange carries through to the driver Tony Stewart's uniform and that of the crew, all of which shows well on television. The scheme was so distinctive that when Tony Stewart graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, the background color of the photograph matched Stewart's uniform. It was very effective."
Yet, according to Ostasiewski, even the best teams can do better. A case in point is putting the corporate logo on the car's hood. "Conventional wisdom says the logo should be high on the hood. Yet with the current cars' sloping hoods and the camera angles used in television production, a better placement is lower, closer to the front. Up high, the name is harder to read."
NASCAR itself also makes it difficult for major sponsors. Many of the smaller sponsors pay teams money if their decal appears on a car. Since the sponsorships are much smaller, the stickers which appear on the car are much smaller too, usually impossible to read unless you're close to the car. However, many teams receive a lot of small sponsorships, and so they display a lot of small decals. NASCAR wants teams to display most of these in the space behind the front wheel. Ostasiewski notes, "The result is a large distracting blob behind the front wheel. Smaller sponsorships have a place in NASCAR and those advertisers have a right to have their names appear, but it might look better if teams could arrange the stickers in a more organized way, like along the rocker panel area. They'd still be visible close up yet might look better." A few teams try to do this. Ostasiewski notes that the Miller Lite car driven by Kurt Busch actually has fewer decals because team owner Penske Racing, which is known for immaculate appearing cars, does not like the visual clutter, so they pass on the smaller sponsorships to focus on their major sponsor.
Ultimately, Ostasiewski says, the rules are simple. "Cars should be distinctive, but not necessarily unusual. They car should reflect the sponsors' identity and image. Graphics should be easy to read on television as well as from the grandstands. The total package of car and team is also a plus.
Ostasiewski feels certain teams are better at showcasing their major sponsor than others. His favorites:
Car #20 Home Depot Driver: Tony Stewart. Home Depot has distinctive graphics on a simple but bright orange paint scheme. They also tie-in driver and crew uniforms well.
Car #17 DeWalt Tools Driver: Matt Kenseth. DeWalt makes power tools which are yellow and black. They use they same colors on their car and uniforms creating a strong link with their products.
Car #8 Budweiser Driver: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Budweiser uses a bright red paint scheme with a logo that is easy to read on television.
Car #32 Tide Driver: Travis Kvapil. The team may not have many top five finishes, but their car is one of the best for visual identity. The colors and logo are those of a box of Tide detergent making a direct and very identifiable link with the product.
Car #2 Miller Lite Beer Driver: Kurt Busch Unlike the others here, the Miller car uses a dark color but with bright easy to read graphics which show well on television. There are fewer contingency sponsor decals that make the Miller logo all the more visible.
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