NASCAR does not merely rely on big names to endorse and promote their organization. Rather, they create and market their own celebrities to carry the brand. Mike attributes DALE EARNHARDT JR. and his development into the sport's first true cross-over star as one of the factors for NASCAR's dramatic growth in the first part of this decade.
Based on that idea, if you can't find a celebrity to endorse your dealership, you could just become one yourself. Think it is impossible?? Well in the age of YouTube, Social Media and the net, it's really not.
Make yourself a local celebrity by starting a blog, writing articles for your local publications, speaking to local groups, hosting seminars about smart car buying or credit strategies, hosting your own weekend radio show, etc. You could get a book or take class on DIY PR and begin getting your name in the press as a featured expert. Use social media to garner "fans" and develop your celebrity status that way. Every little bit counts.
NASCAR Understands the Power of Cross Promotions
You might be a small guy in a big dealer pond, but you certainly do not need to advertise like one. Actually, you could play a bigger game in this area simply by associating yourself and your business with other famous entities in your area. When done right, this can aid strengthen the effectiveness of your message and insulate you from being hurt financially and emotionally in the case of a failed promotion.
To break this down further, more advertising means teaming up with other companies and promoting one another. Occasionally you see this in an auto mall, where multiple dealerships would pool their marketing dollars to create a larger splash in the market. At times you see this with multiple, non-competing businesses in a tight geographical area, where they pool their marketing dollars to bring shoppers to the general vicinity.
But if you want to cross promote like NASCAR... you'll want to do what these other companies are doing and take it to the MAX.
So forget auto malls and tiny marketing collaboratives... doing it the NASCAR way means partnering with famous (celebrity-like) companies directly from the start. For example, Tag Heuer, the watch brand, already has Tiger Woods secured as a celeb endorsement. Maybe you could connect with a local jewelry store that is a Tag Heuer retailer, to offer a Tag watch to one lucky winner on Father's day. Your marketing could feature you and the jeweler (and Tiger). You could either share the expense of the marketing, or ask the Jeweler to supply the watch. You then have a big event, the jeweler is on site with a cut out of Tiger wearing a Tag watch, you have a putting contest (obviously, you can even tie in a golf course or country club for this, divide the marketing 3 ways!), you give away the wristwatch, you sell some cars, and everyone goes home contented.
Realizing that there is power outside of yourself is the main element here. You ought to expand your thinking to allow for the opportunity of working with others and leveraging their existing celebrity connections. Not to mention, you would be spending less money for greater exposure as you learn to pull your resources and share the expenses of these incredible campaigns. Here is some other nice ideas you might need to consider.
You could tie with local celebrities like news personalities, local authors, radio DJs, local musicians, etc. Again, promote them and ask them to promote you. Possibly propose to pay for a printing of the next batch of CDs produced by a local popular band... with your logo and offer on the CD or inserted inside. A pal of ours recently offered to host a reception in his coffee shop for a group of young pageant contestants. The result was the present Miss America came by to meet the contestants, signed autographs, tasted his coffee and declared, "Best Ever." Now he has a photo of Miss America drinking his coffee that he can use forever.
As you expand your thinking on this, you will literally see possibilities everywhere. You just need to look through the lens of the power of celebrity to start seeing them all. In less than an hour of focused concentration on this subject you could definitely come up with 10 good ideas. Or, place the desire in your subconscious by writing it down on a piece of paper and carrying that in your pocket for a week. In time, the ideas will pop right into your head whilst driving in traffic, or standing in the shower, or after getting up in the middle of the night.
One of the most powerful and leverageable activities that could make you rich is focusing on this element of your business. While most individuals are moving cars around or writing on windshields or brewing coffee, you could be working on SPEED and rapidly moving your business into the fast lane, while drafting behind the existing success and celebrity of somebody else. That is the true power of NASCAR!
Author Resource:-
Jimmy Vee & Travis Miller are the authors of Gravitational Marketing: The Science of Attracting Customers and founders of the Rich Dealers Institute. They help dealers double their profits in as little as 118 days. Receive a free copy of their special report & video presentation, The New Rules of Automotive Marketing by visiting http://www.RichDealers.com/special Get a Unique Version of this ArticleArticle Marketing
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/feed-icon.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites