Toyota Motor Sales USA Corporate Manager of Motorsports & Engagement Keith Dahl said during Day 2 of the '14 NASCAR Motorsports Marketing Forum that 10 years after Toyota's entrance into NASCAR, the move continues to pay off for the manufacturer. Dahl: "In 2004, when Toyota was entering NASCAR, there might've been a little bit of a gap between purchase consideration for NASCAR fans between us and our colleagues at Ford and Chevy. That was to be expected. Have we been successful in 10 years? Absolutely. I can tell you that our research has shown (as much). We are at a point now where brand opinion and purchase consideration is commensurate with Ford and Chevy, and we're very proud of that." He added, "That's important for us because the shopping process for a car is a lengthy, complex one -- it's not easy to necessarily (correlate) a car sale to an engagement activation, so our job is to change hearts and minds so that it will ultimately result in (a car sale), and we feel we're making some inroads in that." Dahl noted that Toyota will sell about 2 million cars in the U.S. this year, with about 70% made here. Dahl: "We had a story to tell about how deeply woven Toyota is in the United States, not just in terms of the economy and employment, but in community and philanthropy and all the jobs we create directly or indirectly. These are all stories that exist, and we wanted people to know that."
MEETING THEIR GOALS: Dahl noted that the company takes its marketing expenditures seriously, as it "didn't get successful by writing checks blindly." To that end, he said the company's four goals for its NASCAR deal were to drive showroom traffic; increase opinion and purchase consideration; demonstrate and reinforce Toyota product leadership; and maximize efficiency and marketing investment. He called his company's NASCAR deals "a significant part of our marketing investment," but added that because of the successful ROI, it is "a business case that is easy to make."
RISING WITH THE TIDE: This past season, Dahl was particularly pleased that Toyota's Tundra line got a lot of exposure by virtue of being the car on which NASCAR's new track-drying system was attached. There were a spate of rain delays at NASCAR races this season, and Dahl called this "bittersweet.” He said, "As marketers, we'd like it to be out there every day, but as a fan, you never want to see that." Looking forward, Dahl seemed particularly eager to start leveraging Toyota's status as the first founding partner of the Daytona Rising project. That 11-year deal will see Toyota earn naming rights to one of Daytona Int'l Speedway's five new entrances. Dahl: "Being the first founding partner at Daytona Rising -- we're delighted to be a part of it, but (the deal happened) because it's not just about sponsoring a part of the speedway. First of all, it's part of a larger investment with ISC with their other facilities. So why that's important is because it allows us a lot of flexibility and opportunity to leverage our investment across a number of facilities. No. 2, I think what you'll see here -- not just from our real estate but the others -- is really a part of the future of fan engagement. There will be things there that are more than parking your car." Toyota, which was named NASCAR's marketer of the year in '11, has six title sponsor deals in NASCAR.
QUICK HITS
* On getting senior execs to buy into the sponsorship: "Another thing that has been key to us being successful, not just on the track but in the business market -- and this is not to be underemphasized -- is to have engaged senior leadership. (Toyota execs), when their schedules permit, make the point to go to races and interact with the teams, owners and fans. They are truly engaged. If you don't think they're engaged, you should ask some of our drivers who are on the receiving end of our president's call. While this doesn't make anything a slam dunk, it's a lot easier to be able to talk to senior leadership about something they're familiar with and understand. I may work in marketing, but a big part of my job is sales. My sales calls are internal and I am selling -- more often than you may imagine."
* On having buy-in from Toyota distributors: "These (deals) would not be possible -- nor would we proceed with them -- if we did not also have the support and buy-in of other stakeholders, which include our regional offices and local dealer groups and local dealers. A great example of that is one of our title races, the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. That is a co-investment with us, our dealer group and our regional office there. That wouldn't be possible if we didn't have that additional buy-in. But that's also an example of efficiency, because that also gives that dealer group and regional office a platform that they can leverage with their own individual customers."
