Ford generated more than $200 million in sales in 2010 from fellow official sponsors of NASCAR.
The total was driven by corporate fleet sales and sweepstakes promotions with other NASCAR partners. The results earned the company the 2010 NASCAR Driving Business Award, which it was scheduled to receive last Friday during a NASCAR Fuel for Business Council meeting in Las Vegas.
“There’s a process in place with NASCAR that adds a lot of discipline and accountability,” said Tim Duerr, Ford’s motorsports marketing manager. “At the end of the year, it paid off in some tremendous sales volume and return on investment.”
Ford went into the 2010 NASCAR season focused on maximizing the return on its investment in the sport. Its motorsports division communicated weekly with car brand teams and other corporate divisions about opportunities.
Duerr credited that internal communication with allowing Ford to work with the Ford Fiesta division to partner with 3M on a vehicle giveaway sweepstakes. The sweepstakes allowed Ford to capture data from some 200,000 entrants and also enabled it to sell more than 150 vehicles to 3M for the promotion.
In addition to 3M, Goodyear and Sunoco ran sweepstakes that gave away Ford vehicles. Those promotions delivered the most business-to-consumer sales Ford had ever generated through the NASCAR business council.
Ford also saw an increase in corporate fleet sales in 2010. 3M bought 700 Ford Edges from the automaker in 2010. Safety Kleen, which hadn’t bought from Ford in the past, bought 160 Ford Transit Connects.
