Pepsi uses its HMS relationship to push new initiatives, such as special flavors of Mountain Dew like Baha BlastGETTY IMAGES
Hendrick Motorsports has signed a two-year extension with Pepsi brand Mountain Dew, an important renewal for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team. Financial terms were not disclosed for the deal, which lasts through ’20 and will see Pepsi and HMS’ longtime association reach 24 years by the end of the term. Mountain Dew will continue to get four primary sponsorships annually on the No. 9 Chevy driven by Chase Elliott and serve as an associate sponsor in all other races. Pepsi has been with HMS since ’97 and has used the team as one of its most foremost marketing platforms in sport where rival Coca-Cola activates in heavily. Elliott said of the extension, “Mr. H and Jeff Gordon were always Pepsi people, and for me coming into my role and growing a partnership with Mountain Dew, I feel like I’ve fit in well to that picture.” Mountain Dew has used Elliott in lifestyle content like showing him riding ATVs in the desert and snowboarding in the mountains. Pepsi also uses its HMS relationship to push new initiatives, such as around special flavors of Mountain Dew like Code Red, and occasionally even some of its other beverages like Aquafina. It also has been using one race a year where it passes through its rights to Little Caesars as part of its pouring relationship with the pizza chain.
LATEST POSITIVE SIGN FOR HMS: The renewal continues HMS’ solid recovery sponsorship-wise since Lowe’s confirmed earlier this year that it will exit its longtime deal sponsoring Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 car after this year. HMS has signed new deals with Hertz and Ricoh while renewing with Bank of America, Siemens and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of North Carolina. The team still has at least one more important renewal this year to complete in the form of Nationwide and has yet to announce new primary partners to replace Lowe’s next year. The Mountain Dew extension comes a day after Pepsi reported Q2 earnings, which beat analyst expectations, but showed that the company’s salty-snacks business offset weaker demand for sodas. Pepsi said it would invest more in marketing -- specifically on the overarching Pepsi brand plus Gatorade and Mountain Dew -- as a result.
