Extending its new overarching brand campaign down to its racing sponsorship, 3M this week will unveil a bevy of special tie-ins with NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon that play off the company’s refreshed motto.
The campaign, titled “3M Science. Applied to Life” and developed in conjunction with BBDO, was revealed last month. It comes amid a marketing push from the Minnesota-based company designed to give consumers a better idea of how they interact with 3M products on a near daily basis, often without their knowledge.
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The Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 will carry a special paint scheme.
Photo by: 3M |
“Whenever you read something in the media about 3M, it will say, ‘The maker of Scotch tape and Post-it notes,’ so we are known for our consumer brands,” said Don Branch, vice president and chief marketing officer of 3M. “But about 80 percent of our business is actually business-to-business, and that all falls under the 3M brand. Since the largest portion of our impact on people’s daily lives is hidden, the campaign is all about making people realize that.”
As part of the new racing activation, 3M, which sponsors both NASCAR and Gordon, driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet, will run a special paint scheme the rest of the season that displays the new slogan. The company also will release a short-form, light-hearted, digital video series that shows a whitecoat-donning Gordon learning about how 3M’s technology is used in cars.
The company will underscore its hidden-in-plain-sight theme by using — and then highlighting — 3M products on Gordon’s car. For example, the No. 24 car will now keep 3M’s fire-protection fluid brand, Novec, inside the car’s fire extinguisher. It also will run its Gold Catalyst air-filtration product in Gordon’s car to help filter out carbon monoxide.
Underscoring the extent to which 3M’s myriad brands fly under the radar, Branch said that about 150 of the company’s products are used either in Gordon’s race car or in the garage.
“The average DIY guy who goes to the Home Depot, [the campaign is about] making them aware of other stuff that we’ve done. It’s a great platform for that.”
Branch said the chief target of the campaign is decision-makers in the B2B space. Through research, the company has found a high correlation between B2B decision-makers and the NASCAR fan base.
3M has been involved in motorsports sponsorship since 1998, and Branch said that the deals with NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports currently make up the company’s largest corporate marketing expenditure. 3M, which launched the 2015 Sprint Cup season with 11 primary paint schemes (or 10 minus the one it donates to the American Red Cross), has eight races remaining this year as Gordon’s primary sponsor.
Branch said the company, which is in the final year of its deal with NASCAR, is negotiating an extension with the governing body, and also is in talks with Hendrick to plan for next season when Gordon plans to retire from full-time racing.
