Oregon-based Reser’s Fine Foods signed a one-year agreement with Joe Gibbs Racing, making it an associate sponsor of the team’s No. 18 Nationwide Series entry driven by Matt Kenseth. The deal, which was announced today, also makes Reser’s the primary sponsor for five Nationwide Series races (Phoenix, Texas, Charlotte, Richmond and Kansas). The company’s execs hope the deal helps them expand distribution of its prepared potato salad and raise its brand awareness across the Southeast and Midwest, where it is less well known. Reser’s Exec VP/Sales & Marketing Peter Sirgy said, “Looking at the sport as a platform for creating additional brand awareness for our brand, there couldn’t be a more perfect fit. There are 100,000-plus fans at a race. They’re barbecuing. They’re grilling. Our prepared salad is a great complement to that.” The company plans to promote the sponsorship by putting Kenseth cut-outs in stores and placing show cars at certain outlets. Sirgy said that Reser’s opted to sign a one-year deal and concentrate on the Nationwide Series because the sport is new to the company. He anticipates extending the deal after the company has had a chance to evaluate its results. JGR President J.D. Gibbs said the team will be working to help Reser’s sell more potato salad at retail during the year in hopes of convincing the company to return in '14. Gibbs added, “You have to show everybody. They’re not going to (sponsor the team) because they like to see cars race. There has to be a business reason. You have to say, ‘Here’s the value of NASCAR.’ That’s nothing new. What is new, is you have to show definitive results of their investment. When you can do that, it sure makes it easy to make future decisions. For us, that’s our job.”
