Coca-Cola citrus soda brand Mello Yello today announced that it has extended its title sponsorship of the NHRA’s premier series through ’23, a significant and stabilizing business win for the drag-racing series. The sides are not releasing financial details of the agreement, but sources said it is worth around or even slightly above $5M annually. Previous reports pegged the last agreement, which was set to run from ’13-18, as worth $3-4M annually. The NHRA and Coca-Cola started their entitlement relationship in ’02, and Mello Yello is the third brand that has been pushed over the years. Powerade served as title sponsor from ’02-08, with Full Throttle holding the rights from ’09-12. Coca-Cola Dir of Motorsports Marketing Ben Reiling said that the company extended with the NHRA and kept Mello Yello as the lead brand because the drink has seen growth in market share, among other key performance indicators, since the switch from Full Throttle. Reiling said that Coca-Cola mainly uses the platform for B2C marketing, but that it has found some B2B deals as part of the entitlement. He cited as an example a possible wider business deal that Coca-Cola is looking to strike with DHL that was sparked by the beverage giant sponsoring a Kalitta Motorsports car that counts the global shipping company as a sponsor. “We’ve seen some really good things happen for the brand since our entrance into the National Hot Rod Association," Reiling said. "Strong market share growth and the building of relationships with race fans -- and that’s the most important thing at the end of the day.” Mello Yello works with Charlotte-based Red Moon Marketing to activate the entitlement at all 24 national events, where the citrus brand has an activation zone with free sampling among other activities. Mello Yello is heavily weaved into NHRA events, as winning drivers are routinely handed bottles to drink while getting interviewed after rounds.
WELCOME TO THE STRIP: NHRA President Peter Clifford said among the new details of the renewal will be Mello Yello having a leading role in new “welcome centers” that the sanctioning body will have near the entrance of all races next year. The welcome centers will be designed to get fans accustomed to the layout of the venue and various things going on during the event weekend. Clifford reported that attendance and TV ratings are up this season, which is the second year of Fox’ media-rights deal with the NHRA. Mello Yello tomorrow will debut a special one-off paint scheme that it will run on Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel driver Antron Brown’s Toyota this weekend to commemorate the renewal. Mello Yello was initially launched in ’79 and Coca-Cola began making a concerted effort to revive the brand around the time it took over as title sponsor in ’13.
