Johnson Unlikely To See Marketing Bounce After Third Cup Win

Several Marketing Execs Feel Johnson To See Little Marketing Effect From Third Championship

Several marketing execs said that it is "not likely" NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson will "finally break through and become more marketable than his fellow drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and even Carl Edwards" despite winning his third consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship, according to Sarah Talalay of the South Florida SUN-SENTINEL. Baker Street Partners VP & Exec Creative Dir Bob Dorfman: "Call him the Roger Federer of NASCAR. Maybe Johnson is too cool and laid back on camera to the point of seeming a little stiff and aloof, and a question mark as a compelling pitchman." Talalay noted Earnhardt tops the Davie Brown Index list of NASCAR drivers "among both avid NASCAR fans and the general population," while Gordon and Stewart "also beat out Johnson." WAXY-AM host Joe Castello: "Fans don't like the vanilla guy. Fans like the Tony Stewart, fans like the guy who's going to do something against the grain" (SUNSENTINEL.com, 11/18).

KEEPING THINGS AT A DISTANCE: SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's Lars Anderson profiles Johnson in this week's issue's cover story and writes fans do not know him as a "world-traveling, multidimensional, surprisingly loquacious sports star." Johnson's wife, Chandra, said to him, "You're too nice. Maybe if you were an arrogant ass, you'd get more attention." Jimmie Johnson said of his "pretty-boy image," "It used to keep me up at night. But not anymore." Anderson notes among NASCAR beat writers, Johnson is "considered boring and vanilla and robotic." Johnson: "I can be freaking out inside, but then I open my mouth and I sound calm. ... It helps me in racing because you never want to lose your cool, but it's also probably kept people from getting to know the real me" (SI, 11/24 issue).