Wheels & Deals: Izod Title Sponsorship Good For IndyCar Series

The IRL last week signed a deal with Izod making the company the title sponsor of the IndyCar Series, and in Indianapolis, Curt Cavin wrote the "most significant" thing the apparel company brings "is a sense of calm to the marketplace." Cavin: "This will give other companies the confidence to explore IndyCar as a viable marketing venue, and as many people said at the news conference, you can't put a price on that" (INDYSTAR.com, 11/9). SPEEDTV.com's Robin Miller wrote of the deal, "Unlike Pep Boys and Northern Light, this isn't a shotgun wedding, it's a long courtship. Between billboards, TV commercials, magazine and newspaper ads and special IndyCar clothes and promotions at Macy's all over the country this past season, Izod has fallen for Indy cars like nobody thought possible in this economy." Izod parent company Phillips-Van Heusen Exec VP/Marketing Mike Kelly: "Why was IndyCar a good fit for Izod? I say, have you ever been to a race? It's an amazing sport with so many different stories and we see it as an under-developed asset and brand." Miller noted the deal is believed to be for six years and $10M annually, with $5M "going directly to promotions and marketing" (SPEEDTV.com, 11/6).

TEXAS TWO STEP: In Ft. Worth, Anthony Andro notes both Bombardier and Dickies "will not be back as title sponsors" for next year's June IndyCar Series race and November Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS), respectively. However, TMS President Eddie Gossage "doesn't expect the races to be nameless for long." Gossage: "We're real close. I don't have any anxiety over that. I know one of them is wrapping up and the other is close." While many Sprint Cup races have "struggled to find sponsors and seen huge attendance hits, that hasn't been the case at TMS." Attendance "was down for Sunday's" Sprint Cup Dickies 500, but the "dip from 171,000 last November to 167,000 was nominal" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 11/10).

Chevy, Toyota Pleased With Marketing, Brand Image-Building In NASCAR

MARKETING VEHICLE: In Phoenix, Michael Knight writes NASCAR today is "mostly a marketing and brand image-building arena for automakers, not a place to develop passenger vehicle technology." Ford Dir of North American Motorsports Brian Wolfe: "The main selling point in all of motorsports is marketing. We have a couple of different metrics we use. J.D. Powers has a survey and we also have an internal survey. What we find in both is somewhere between [45-50%] of people that are market-active are race fans." Toyota Racing Development President & GM Lee White said, "One of the things we watch very closely is what's called 'consideration for purchase.' What I'm told is from the time we started Cup racing, and we're in our third year, among NASCAR fans ... we have gained on our competition 25 points." GM Racing Manager Mark Kent noted the manufacturer’s market share within NASCAR is "almost double that of our national market share" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/10).

EXIT RAMP: The London TELEGRAPH reports Brawn GP Team Principal Ross Brawn said that he "does not expect his team's cars to carry the sponsorship" of Virgin Group next season. Brawn: "We had a great year with Virgin but they have different ambitions next year so it's unlikely you will see their name on the car next year." Virgin "agreed to sponsor the team just before the season began in March" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 11/10).