In the same week in which one major tech company left NASCAR, another one is entering, as California-based IT firm Avaya this afternoon will announce a deal with Team Penske that also extends to the organization's IndyCar team. As part of a joint venture with HP, Avaya will sponsor Sprint Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski's No. 2 Ford for one race this season -- next weekend's SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway -- plus Verizon IndyCar Series driver Simon Pagenaud's No. 22 Dallara/Chevy for at least four races this season. Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source valued the deal in the low-seven figures. HP, which has a longstanding relationship with Roger Penske dating back to the early '90s, is entering the deal jointly with Avaya despite the fact that it will not have any consumer-facing assets like paint schemes. It is doing so because last August, the two companies teamed together to go to market on cloud-based communications and contact-center services, which Avaya will be pushing through its motorsports marketing. Therefore, HP stands to gain from any successful ROI on Avaya's part. Avaya's other sports marketing assets include naming rights to the MLS venue in San Jose.
REACHING FOR THE CLOUDS: Avaya Chief of Staff to the CMO Andy Steen said, "We want to create awareness at a higher level and do that through digital marketing and trying to create consumer awareness. The notion of B2B is great, but I think we're looking at B2B differently in that we're packaging our marketing around B2C, with B2B messages threaded through it. This is a way for us to leverage that." To that end, Team Penske will now evaluate ways to integrate HP and Avaya products into Roger Penske's other businesses, including Penske Truck Rental and Penske Automotive. Avaya also will have hospitality assets at two races this season. Activation details are still being developed, but Steen noted the company is considering using a sort of fan-engagement wall that it has used in some of its other sports marketing ventures. Steen added, "HP is one of our most important partners, and as we were meeting on other initiatives, we started to chat about this particular opportunity. As we aligned what we're trying to do, we recognized this would be a great opportunity to work together." GMR Marketing put the deal together for Avaya and HP.
