Situation
The Steak-umm brand made the decision last year that NASCAR would be a great way to introduce their new frozen burger product, in addition to their already popular sliced steaks. The NASCAR fan is extremely brand loyal, is in excess of 50 million, and tailgating is a part of the NASCAR culture. Most importantly, Steak-umm's products were not currently on-shelf in any food retailer. To integrate the product and spend their money wisely, they enlisted Leverage Sports.

Criteria to consider for the program included the following:
- The need for instant credibility
- Create sponsorship package that is sustained but provide primary brand awareness
- Take into account Steak-umm's top selling months and geographic locations
-Develop an activation method that would increase Steak-umm's ability to earn shelf space in food retailers.

Solution
Leverage Sports researched, reviewed and negotiated with more than 10 NASCAR teams on the basis of a full-season associate sponsor with a two-race primary sponsorship.  Leverage chose Dale Earnhardt Incorporated with Mark Martin and the #8 Chevrolet and Regan Smith in the #01.  Martin’s legendary history in racing, highly recognized brand and likeable personality was the perfect fit instant credibility with the fans.
The two races would coincide with Steak-umm’s most important selling periods, leading up to Memorial Weekend and Labor Day.  In addition, Leverage selected tracks that were viable to both timing and geographic location for sales, the mid-Atlantic (Richmond) and Northeast (Pocono). To influence the retailers to carry the product, Leverage designed a “transformer” show car that has a retractable working grill to cook burgers at retail locations.  To help sell the program, Leverage created a 30-second commercial spot with Mark Martin for the burger products and a time-elapsed one-minute piece on the show car operation for retailers to see in action before billing. 

Results

Although the program was just launched last month, through presentation of their NASCAR program supporting their frozen burger products, Steak-umm was able to secure shelf space at a southeast food retailer it has been unable to secure as a retailer for the last 20 years.  This before any activation has taken place.  Further results are pending.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s main goal was to increase awareness and to gain exposure for the hospital within the NASCAR industry. They were looking to utilize the fact that Memphis Motorsports Park was right in the hospital’s backyard as well as increase their involvement with NASCAR. 

Leverage Sports drafted the idea to have the kids at St. Jude's design the paint schemes for every car in the field for the Sam’s Town 250.  This would be a massive task, and Leverage would be responsible for getting NASCAR on board, as well as the track, too. Team owners would have to agree and, most importantly, team sponsors would need to sign off on the race.  As ambassadors for the program, Leverage Sports was responsible for procurement and support, ad-campaign development and support, public relations, exposure to the St. Jude Crew program for participation from fans, sponsors, communities.

Leverage Sports successfully recruited participation from 16 nationwide series drivers.  The exposure generated from the event was a huge success.  The story ran in over 50 publications including print and web.  ESPN covered the program as well, even doing a follow up piece on the child the designed the paint scheme for the winning car.

Kevin Nienhuis, Sports Marketing director for the hospital wrote, “I wanted to thank you all for the hard work that went into this past weekend.  The kids that were involved will certainly remember the experience for the rest of their lives.  The exposure that was generated for our NASCAR program will be seen through donations over the coming weeks.”

Doug Franklin, Memphis Motorsports Park wrote, “We told ourselves that we were doing it for the kids, and we did. And we hope that everything that the Leverage team put into this event will become –like barbeque, the blues and Beale Street –
another race-week tradition in Memphis for the NASCAR Nation!”

       

         

Situation
WFG was unsure what its NASCAR marketing program were delivering in terms of measurable results and did not have any benchmarks to gauge value.  In addition, they weren’t sure they were spending their money on sponsorship the right way.

Solution
Leverage Sports teamed up with CAMSS to develop instruments to gauge current brand benchmarks, establish a database of program usage and results, and research current and potential sponsorship platforms for the brand.

Results
After an eight month study, we provided WFG a 54 page report that outlined research results, benchmarks values and instruments to continue to evaluate brand strength. WFG also changed how it marketed its NASCAR sponsorship based on the reports generated from our research. As a result of the report, WFG changed its sponsorship package. They are spending less on team sponsorship and using Carl Edwards in a more prominent spokesperson role.

Situation

Although the Coast Guard already had an agency, they asked Leverage Sports for help.  Their goal; Align with a team and driver that has strong performance, marketability and character. Leverage Sports changed their RFP criteria and provided three alternative options, with our suggestion: A driver tandem, full-year program with Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton in the #21 RCR entry.

Team Coast Guard won 10 races, 26 top 5’s, 32 top 10’s, set two NASCAR records, won the Busch Series Championship and garnered more media exposure than the four other armed services combined!

 

Situation
Pediatrician Dr. Richard Brant has always loved racing. How can he combine his professional and personal interests?

Solution
After pinpointing the need to focus on children in NASCAR, Leverage sports designed a mobile marketing center that incorporated fun, entertainment, education and with the help of Dr. Brant, non-invasive screening centers that would cater to the nearly 4 million families who attend NASCAR events. Zeroing in on both interactivity and mass media during the race broadcasts, we developed a platform that could reach the desired demographic.

Result
Pedi@Tracks is currently available for sponsorship opportunities with a five year program with metrics for initiation in 2006. We were able to turn Dr. Brant's passion into a real business opportunity for himself and his program’s sponsors.

Situation
Although Rockwell’s products are not mass retail, can NASCAR sponsorship impact business?

Solution
We developed a cooperative marketing and entertainment platform that involved Rockwell’s distributors. Accounting for more than 60% of national gross sales, distributors would invite decision-making customers to Rockwell racing hospitality events. Rockwell sales and product managers would host and educate guests on key product attributes and competitive advantages. In exchange Rockwell provided sponsorship signage and event coordination.

Result
Twenty-eight of the 36 NASCAR events were purchased by distributors, with more than 1,500 key decision makers attending yearly. This strategy helped forge pass-through consumer relationship and strengthen brand loyalty.

Situation
Both retail purchasing agents and end-users are fans of NASCAR. How can Closetmaid become involved with room in the marketing budget for a full-fledged national program?

Solution
In conjunction with Closetmaid, we identified their key emerging markets for agent relations. We developed a full-season associate sponsorship, which allowed sales representatives and key customers to attend each race while providing a two-race sponsorship in Florida and Alabama. Market growth was apparent and interest was viable.

Results
Through the season long program and two race primary, we were able to develop a turn-key sponsorship program that targeted specific market objectives and satisfied national participation at a low investment cost, with substantial return on investment.

Situation
LG Electronics’ brand identity in the U.S. market is below global norms. Would a NASCAR sponsorship enhance brand position and status?

Solution
We gave a comprehensive presentation to LG’s global marketing executives and U.S. advertising agency on NASCAR branding and consumer preference advantages compared with other sports. We also created a national branding platform through sponsorship, retail activation programs and at-track displays to inform fans on product attributes.

Result
LG Electronics agreed that sponsorship in NASCAR would accent brand identity, core business goals and objectives and is positioned within consumer demographic. The program has been circulated in both Korean and U.S. headquarters for consideration. As a result of Leverage’s presentation, the current traditional branding activity in U.S. is also under assessment.