Indianapolis-based QSR Steak 'n Shake "aims to milk" its deal with Verizon IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal -- its first sponsorship in the series in company history -- "for all the positive pub it can get," according to Jeff Swiatek of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. The deal occurred despite the fact that Rahal Letterman Lanigan's pitch to the QSR "didn't occur until February and that Steak 'n Shake's 2015 marketing budget hadn't set aside a penny for race sponsorships." The QSR "has bought space on 14 billboards in the Indianapolis area to picture the Steak 'n Shake car next to a giant milkshake." It lined up Rahal to "sign autographs and display his car at two area restaurants," and the Steak 'n Shake logo and name "are plastered over everything from the car to the garage and the team uniforms." The restaurant chain "even supplied one of its plush toys, Shaker, to serve as the protective cover on the car's radio antenna when it's not on the track." And a Rahal-branded chocolate milkshake "is on the menu locally." Steak 'n Shake owner Biglari Holdings "is getting a two-fer out of its Indy car sponsorship, adding the name of its men's magazine Maxim as an associate sponsor of the Rahal car." Company Senior VP/Marketing James Flaniken said that while Steak 'n Shake "hopes to see a return on its Indy car investment in the form of increased sales and brand awareness, supporting the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar is a worthy end in itself." RLL co-Owner David Letterman recently "used his late-night TV show to put in a national plug for Steak 'n Shake after Rahal took second in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 26 and in the Angie's List Grand Prix last weekend" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/17).
RAHAL OF LIGHT: In Indianapolis, Gregg Doyel wrote a confluence of "timing, sponsorship, social media and race results has created the perfect storm for Graham Rahal as the guy who could nudge this race, and this whole series, off the back burner and closer toward the front of the American sporting stove." Rahal is engaged to NHRA driver Courtney Force, and Doyel wrote, "It's David Letterman. It's Steak 'n Shake. It's Courtney Force and Twitter." IndyCar "needs more moments like Thursday," when an Indiana resident visited a Steak 'n Shake location, "pulled around the drive-thru and was greeted at the window by [a] grinning" Rahal. It "was Marketing 101, let's not pretend it wasn't, but it was fun and it was effective." Letterman bringing up Rahal's recent good performances on his show was "cross-promotional marketing at its best, and you can roll your eyes at it, but you cannot deny that it works" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/17).
