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Schick signed a deal with Martin Truex Jr. and plans to do product samplings at a handful of tracks. |
Schick is stepping up to challenge Gillette’s reign in the razor category in NASCAR.
The Energizer Holdings razor brand has signed a deal with Martin Truex Jr. and will put its decal on Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 56 car for as many as 10 races, according to sources familiar with the agreement. It also plans to do product sampling in the coming months at a handful of tracks owned by International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc.
Terms of the agreements were not available. Schick, whose Canadian division signed on to sponsor Canadian-born Nationwide Series driver J.R. Fitzpatrick two years ago, is expected to announce the U.S. sponsorships and promotions at Michigan International Speedway, which hosts a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race June 19.
The deals move Schick into a territory that’s been dominated over the years by Gillette. The Procter & Gamble razor company has been an official partner of NASCAR since 2003 and promoted its sponsorship by signing young NASCAR drivers and developing a “Young Guns” campaign around them.
Schick’s move into NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series this summer puts the two biggest razor brands on the same motorsports turf. Gillette enjoys a much larger market share in the razor category. Its share is 82 percent in replacement blades category and 60 percent in razors, while Energizer’s share is 14 percent in blades and 35 percent in razors, according to Nielsen data. Schick’s percentage of the razor market increased 12 percent over the last year.
The deal with Truex and Michael Waltrip Racing gives Schick ties to a driver and race team for promotions and marketing. The 30-year-old driver is 21st in the Sprint Cup standings. His best finish this year was sixth at the Kobalt Tools 400 in Las Vegas.
Schick plans to supplement that deal with sampling at the track. It is in conversations with ISC about sampling at a minimum of two tracks, and SMI to sample at Kentucky Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. At Kentucky and New Hampshire, it is considering including samples in registration packets at campgrounds and setting up an entertainment area with music and games before the races on July 9 and 17, respectively.
Schick works with Amplitude Marketing Group, a Connecticut-based agency, on its activation and promotion in sports and entertainment.
