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High-Performance Glove Maker Mechanix Wear Signs Five-Year Renewal With NASCAR

California-based high-performance glove maker Mechanix Wear has renewed its NASCAR sponsorship in a five-year extension that is valued in the high six figures annually. The company will announce the news today. Mechanix Wear Brand Manager Michael Hale said that the company, which has sponsored NASCAR since '02, elected to extend its performance partner-level deal because it has seen double-digit sales growth every year it has been officially associated with the sport, including a 13% spike in '14. Hale: "It's hard to say, 'Oh, OK, (the NASCAR sponsorship was responsible for) this exact percentage.'" But the fact that our sales are growing year over year and that 2014 was our largest year ever, I think it speaks volumes to our relationship with NASCAR." This deal's high-six-figure cost was not an increase from the prior deal's terms. As part of the extension, the glove maker will continue to be title sponsor of the end-of-season award for the most valuable pit crew. Hale said that with the NASCAR deal, the company has benefitted equally between consumer-facing sales and B2B efforts. He added, "Our business has evolved in going after so many different market segments with our gloves -- the military segment, the hardware segment, the industrial segment, the automotive segment -- and NASCAR being this sport that touches millions of Americans, it allows us to have that brand recognition right away. And there's this other benefit to our organization where a lot of our customers that we sell Mechanix Wear to see the same benefit in NASCAR -- whether it's Fastenal, Grainger, all these big companies -- they see the same thing we do and we're able to communicate our value as a provider of growth for them to their people. So it's this hub and spoke where NASCAR is dead center."

DEBUTING FIRST NATIONAL AD CAMPAIGN: To coincide with the deal, Mechanix Wear will launch its first nationally distributed TV spot by virtue of a six-figure media buy. The 30-second spot, which will air on ESPN and ESPN2 throughout '15, intersperses scenes from pit road while touting the company's motorsports roots and pitching some of the activities that its gloves can be used for, ranging from auto racing and work around the house to military combat missions. Mechanix Wear handles most marketing in-house but used Charlie Co., California, for the TV spot. Hale: "In 2014, we took a hard look at where our marketing dollars are spent. And we did some re-allocation and, at the same time, we were renegotiating our NASCAR contract. There's a lot of branded performance-wear gloves that are not Mechanix Wear, and we were the first. When all this competition is coming out and we're naturally on defense, our offensive move had to be big. So it was TV because we know that, in an industry like this, not everyone can do that."

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