TOBY ROBERTSON, the son of late R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s Sports Marketing Enterprises President T. WAYNE ROBERTSON, “seems to have his father’s golden touch and has started his own promotions company this year,” according to a profile by Richard Craver of the WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL. That the company, Specialized Mobile Exhibits, “could land … a high profile exhibit” such as a floating marketing dock as part of Coca-Cola’s Coke Zero 400 marketing pitch at Daytona Int’l Speedway “within seven months of starting production is a testament to his networking savvy.” It also is a “sign of the respect still shown in NASCAR circles for his father more than 15 years after his tragic death in a boating accident.” The company has “17 employees at operations" in Concord, Hickory and Mooresville, N.C., and Robertson commutes from his Winston-Salem home. The firm “supplies exhibit design, engineering services, fabrication, graphics, exhibit refurbishment, exhibit service, event logistical support and vehicle sourcing.” Other clients “include USAA, DirecTV and Sprint.” Robertson said, “NASCAR is not my whole world when it comes to my business, actually about 30 percent of our 25 projects so far.” When asked to sum up his company’s early success, Robertson said that the plan is “simple, but hard to achieve.” Robertson: “Pay attention to the conversation you are having all the way through. Don’t overpromise what you can do, but express confidence in what you know you can do with quality and save the customer money” (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 7/21).
