The ubiquitous motorcoach brand Prevost is wading into the world of sponsorship for the first time.
The Volvo-owned company signed a deal with NASCAR to become the sport’s official luxury motorcoach. The multiyear agreement is a mix of cash and value-in-kind use of motorcoaches. Financial terms weren’t available.
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Prevost, owned by Volvo, takes over for Featherlite Coaches in the sponsor category.
Photo by: PREVOST |
Prevost previously contributed to the NASCAR sponsorship fees that its predecessor in the category, Featherlite Coaches, paid. Featherlite, which is one of five motorcoach conversion companies that build out the interior of Prevost vehicles, dropped its deal at the end of last year to reduce its marketing expenses.
“What it does for Prevost is it opens up the opportunity not just for our brand to promote motorcoaches, but also promote the passenger buses we build,” said Steve Zeigler, Prevost’s director of business development.
Zeigler said passenger bus customers are “very blue collar,” and Prevost plans to bring them out to NASCAR races for hospitality weekends. In addition to that, the company plans to promote the sponsorship in its advertising in places like the Family Motor Coach Association’s magazine and design NASCAR rallies for Prevost owners at select NASCAR tracks during the season.
One of the opportunities that excited Prevost the most about the deal was the chance to join NASCAR’s Fuel for Business Council, a series of business-to-business gatherings that takes place quarterly throughout the season. Zeigler said that Prevost plans to tout the company’s leasing business to other NASCAR sponsors and alert them to the fact that they can rent motorcoaches for individual race weekends.
NASCAR used one of Prevost’s motorcoaches to host clients during the race weekend in Phoenix earlier this month. It will continue to use Prevost motorcoaches at races throughout the season.
Prevost worked with Michigan-based PCGCampbell on the deal. Norris Scott, NASCAR vice president of partnership marketing, and account manager Matthew Braydich negotiated the deal.
