NASCAR doesn't just rely on big names to endorse and promote their organization. Rather, they create and promote 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 internet, it is 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 can 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 build your celebrity status that way. Every little bit counts.
NASCAR Understands the Power of Cross Promotions
You may be a little guy in a big dealer pond, but you definitely do not have to market like one. Actually, you could play a bigger game in this area simply by associating yourself and your business with other well known entities in your area. When done right, this can aid bolster 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, cross advertising means teaming up with other businesses and advertising each other. At times 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 combine their marketing bucks to bring shoppers to the general vicinity.
But if you want to cross promote similar to NASCAR... you'll want to do what these other businesses are doing and take it to the MAX.
So forget auto malls and tiny marketing collaboratives... doing it the NASCAR way means partnering with popular (celebrity-like) businesses directly from the start. For instance, Tag Heuer, the watch brand, already has Tiger Woods secured as a celebrity endorsement. Possibly you could hook up with a local jewelry store that is a Tag Heuer retailer, to provide a Tag watch to one fortunate winner on Father's day. Your marketing can feature you and the jeweler (and Tiger). You can either share the cost of the marketing, or ask the Jeweler to provide 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 (of course, you can even tie in a golf course or country club for this, divide the marketing 3 ways!), you give away the watch, you sell some cars, and everyone goes home happy.
Realizing that there is power outside of yourself is the key element here. You should expand your thinking to allow for the opportunity of working with others and leveraging their existing celeb connections. Not to mention, you'll be paying less money for greater exposure as you learn to pull your resources and share the costs of these incredible campaigns. Here are few of the great ideas that you may need to take into consideration.
You could tie with local celebrities such as newscast personalities, local authors, radio DJs, local musicians, etc. Again, promote them and ask them to promote you. Perhaps 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 lately 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 visit the contestants, signed autographs, tasted his coffee and declared, "Best Ever." Now he has a photo of Miss America drinking his coffee that he could use forever.
As you expand your thinking on this, you would literally see opportunities everywhere. You just have 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 certainly come up with 10 good ideas. Or, plant 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 would pop right into your head whilst driving in traffic, or standing in the shower, or after waking up in the middle of the night.
Focusing on this element of your business truly is the kind of influential, leverageable activity which can make you rich. Whilst most people 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
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