1. A “New” Form Co-Branding -- The NASCAR Phenomenon
By Ken Radzyminski
Introduction
Billions upon billions of people watch sporting events each year, whether it be more local events such as
one’s home-team playing in a regular season matchup, or larger events such as the Olympics or World
Cup soccer. Sports in general bring with them a large group of followers, spanning large geographic and
demographic qualities.
Sporting events have become a playground for competition, beyond the athletes themselves. They have
become a competition against different companies and their brands.
Sporting events have become a place for companies and organizations around the world to capture an
audience in order to mass market products. Advertising is everywhere at every sporting event. Athletes
are sponsored by brands, events and stadiums are named after brands, soccer jerseys and race cars are
covered in images that represent their individual team’s sponsor.
This type of advertising though is not just a form of branding for a specific product or service, but could
be seen as more of a co-branding effort. When a company decides to sponsor an individual or sports team,
they are doing so in a way that acts as a relationship with the individual or team. Just as the sponsor is
representing the individual or team, the relationship is also flipped in that the individual or team is also
representing the sponsor.
The interesting phenomenon of co-branding between sports athletes and their sponsors will be covered in
the following pages of this report. It is important to learn about the relationship between the two brands,
what brings the two brands together, and how each brand can use the relationship to create additional
value for themselves as a whole and individually.
To narrow down the focus of this study, this report chose to focus more intensely on one sport that relies
on sponsorships to continue its growing success, mainly in the U.S. Market. In 2012, this sport brought in
$3 billion in sponsorship money, more than twice what the NFL earns. This sport is racing, specifically
NASCAR.
Short History of NASCAR
There are many different racing series across the globe, but we will focus on NASCAR, or the National
Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, for this specific study. NASCAR, founded in 1948, includes
multiple series of racing, ranging from the “minor league” series, to the more prestigious, or “major
league” series. Single races include drivers that participate by competing against a field as large as 43
cars. Simply said, drivers are awarded points for their finishing positions, and at the end of the season,
whoever has the most points wins the Series Cup (nascar.com).
In relation to advertising and sponsorships, each NASCAR driver has multiple sponsors that cover a large
portion of their race cars. Taking the car driven by the most popular driver as voted by the fans (USA
Today), Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car has a large, primary sponsor decal on the front hood of the car, and
various secondary and smaller sponsors on the sides, top of the car, and the back (appendix). In addition,
drivers have sponsor decals on the insides of the cars, for when the television broadcast cuts to an in-view
car shot.

2. Beyond the cars themselves, a driver’s fire suit, or the article of clothing they wear during the race, is also
covered in the sponsor’s design and paint scheme (appendix). Basically, fans of the sport identify each
driver specifically with the sponsor that they represent.
Defining and Understanding Co-branding Within Racing
According to de Chernatony and McDonald (2003, p.21), the brand “is the result of a coherent
organizational and marketing approach which uses all elements of the marketing mix.” A brand,
controlled by not only the brand managers but also the consumers themselves, creates an added perceived
value to the product or services. Brands are represented and interpreted by using symbols, sometimes
leaving them up to the viewers’ perspectives.
Co-branding then is an attempt to maximize the value of two brands by creating additional value by
mutually strengthening the combined value of the two brands (Askegaard and Bengtsson, 2005). The
focus is to create not just the sum of the value of the two brands, but an additional value based on the
mutual strengthening of the two brand’s assets (Rao and Ruekert, 1994). In the area of sporting
sponsorships, specifically NASCAR, the sponsoring brand of a race car team can reach a large audience
that might have otherwise been much more difficult to reach.
When it comes to the types of brands that decide to sponsor a racing team, there is a variety of different
products that look to gain an audience. Yet, the most dominated sponsorship brands, by overall percentage
of brands in the sport, are associated with cars in some way. This includes oil and fuel companies (Mobil
1, Sunoco), tire companies (Goodyear Tires), and car brands (Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota) (Jayski.com,
2015). These brands range from being specific sponsors of the sport as a whole (an example being
Sprint), while other will simply put up billboards near the track or sponsor a specific racing team
(appendix).
While there are many different types of co-branding, Uggla (2004) perfectly addresses the specific type of
co-branding that is associated with this subject: Reach/awareness. This level of shared value creation
“refers to collaboration where a partner increases awareness by quickly gaining access to the other’s
customer” (Uggla, 2004). Sponsors, wanting to quickly gain an audience of millions, look to sponsor a
race car team for either one race, or multiple races. Unlike other sports broadcasted specifically in the
United States that show two teams competing against each other, and sometimes broadcasted only in the
region of the sports team, NASCAR has one event per week that features 43 different race teams.
Therefore, anyone investing in watching or following the weekly race will watch the one NASCAR race,
giving the sponsors a guaranteed large showing.
NASCAR drivers, like other athletes, are considered the partnering brands to their sponsors, which is
labeled as the primary brand (Uggla, 2004). In this co-branding relationship, the drivers have the ability to
create a symmetrical collaboration, referring to “a more balanced relationship between the partner and
leader brand”, where the drivers themselves are an important factor in the consumers final purchase
decision (Uggla, 2004). A well known example that exists outside of NASCAR would be Michael
Jordan’s relationship with Nike.
As co-branding can be defined as bringing two different brands together, some similar and some different
in image, there are always risks involved. As stated by Askegaard and Bengtsson (2005), “[brand]
managers must refrain from having too high expectations of the degree of strategic management control
that can be exerted.” This illustrates that with the relationship comes partial responsibility of each brand
for the other, and that a negative action can hurt the other associated brand. Also explaining this risk is
Uggla (2004), who states that a negative action, more so by the drivers themselves than the sponsoring
brands, could spiral into a “loss of control over the brand’s identity, core values, and associations.”

3. Characteristics of a NASCAR Fan
The number one characteristic of NASCAR fans are that fans are proud of their favorite driver, and
therefore become proud of their favorite driver’s brand. Fans of the sport look to construct their own self-
identity by identifying themselves as a fan of a certain driver (Askegaard and Bengtsson, 2005).
Interesting enough, creating an identity through one’s favorite driver is a way to identity with the entire
group of fans of the sport. NASCAR fans not only know the sponsor of their favorite driver, but most
NASCAR fans know the number and sponsor of many of the main competitors in the sport; thus,
sponsors that decide to sponsor a single driver not only gains an increase in association based on the
driver themselves, but for being involved in the sport and the fan community.
In relation to consumer-brand identification, or “the degree to which the consumer feels connected to a
brand and defines him/herself in terms of that brand (Bhattacharya et al., 1995; Ashforth and Mael, 1989),
there are different levels of NASCAR fandom and levels of association from the fans, and therefore
different degrees of brand identification. Like any sport, there are the extreme enthusiasts (high in
consumer-brand identification) who know every athlete in not only their team, but opposing teams. There
are also those fans who occasionally catch a game, match, or race, but otherwise are not as enthusiastic
towards the sport as the extreme enthusiasts (low in consumer brand identification).
When fans identify themselves to a specific driver, they do so in two main ways: the driver’s sponsor, and
the driver’s race car number. In relating to the driver’s number, this number has become a symbol, or an
arbitrary sign based upon convention (Uggla, 2004) in the racing world. By just a simple number of one’s
merchandise hat, or stating the sponsoring brand when talking about one’s favorite driver, the number
becomes the foremost way to represent the driver.
Institutional association, as stated by Uggla (2004) denotes an association that has meaning and
recognition in a given cultural context. This institutional association heavily exists in the NASCAR
universe. The association that NASCAR fans alike make with each brand that is part of their sport creates
additional meaning to each brand that is represented.
Before we look into the relationship created by the co-branding of NASCAR teams and their primary
sponsoring brands, it is important to understand the two most notable aspects of the relationship. These
are that the racing team needs the sponsor to be able to help fund the racing team and their sporting
activities, and that the sponsor is looking for a positive return on investment from the relationship. These
aspects are what help plan the specific advertising methods that are used to increase the return on
investment.
This report will discuss three specific aspects of the co-branding relationship that exists between
NASCAR teams and their primary sponsor. The first aspect is in-store promotion and advertising, which
focuses on the co-branding relationship and how it is used to create additional value outside of specific
racing events. The second aspect focuses on the specific event advertisements and includes a discussion
of the advertisements on the cars, track billboards, and word-of-mouth from the sponsored drivers and
race teams. The third aspect focuses on the online communities and social media efforts that assist in
targeting a mass audience and creating interaction to drive brand awareness.
Before going much further in the discussion, it is important to note that the finding of this research was
mostly observation-driven, and the details have been highlighted mostly by qualitative research as
compared to quantitative research.
In-Store Advertisements
It is said that “people buy things not only for what they can do, but also for what they mean” (Levy,
1959).

4. In store advertisements are a huge factor when it comes to the pursuasion of customers to buy a specific
product. As Ben DiSanti and Kenneth Hicks, employees at the advertising firm DiSanti Hicks + Partners,
stated in their presentation titled “The Emotional Shopper”, brands have three seconds to catch a buyers
attention before they continue on their shopping path.
For the focus on co-branding in the realm of NASCAR, there are three specific examples that will be
shown to explain the behavior and symbolism that is created through the co-branding relationship.
The first example to be discussed is a set of banners that hang over the entrance at a local Lowes
Deparment store in Henrietta, New York. It should first be pointed out that many who consider
themselves “fans” of NASCAR are located in the southern states, and that it is interesting to see such an
advertisement in a relatively unpopulated NASCAR fan area. This banner, being large and in site of much
of the front of the store, consists of many messages and semiotics, or symbols, that increase the value of
the co-branding relationship. First, is the middle of the three banners. This banner consists of the
sponsor’s driver, Jimmie Johnson, along with his car. The front of the car is being shown to give full view
of the Lowes sponsor design that is plastered on the front of the car. The usage of the driver’s autograph
gives the feeling of a more personalized approach (similar to that of the in-person autograph feeling), to
show the communication of the closeness to the driver’s sponsors. The left most banner focuses mostly on
the driver’s number, which is a large representation semiotic symbol for NASCAR fans. As mentioned,
not only does the sponsorship become a differentiating factor among drivers, but also their race car
number. The right most of the three banners consists of an additional call-to-action. Many methods of
advertsing, including more traditional methods, now include a way to go beyond the initial interaction to
create more of an intimate relationship with the consumers in order to build brand loyaly and recognition.
This third bannor includes the website that can be visited to either learn more about sponsor’s
organization, the racing team, or possible special promotions.
The second example is set in a typical food market. The image presented shows a specific NASCAR
packaging shelf that rests in the middle of the aisle. Unlike the first example of the banner within the
Lowes department store, this form of advertising specifically arranges itself in the shape of the race car,
and would instantly be recognized. This shelf iself acts as a symbol of NASCAR, simply by being
designed as a race car. While there is no large text discriptor of what this object is, not only would
NASCAR enthusiasts know what the car represents, but also others who might not be too aware of the
sport. Therefore, this form of advertisement attacts a large amount of viewers and will differentiate itself
from other brands within the food market.
The third and final example is slightly different than the first two. Kevin Harvick, the driver of the #4 car,
has multiple primary sponsors throught the 2015 season. One of these sponsors is Outback Steakhouse.
While there are no large advertisements seen in Outback Steakhouse locations, there is an appetizer
special that is vocally transfered from waiters and waitresses to individuals that dine-in. This works as an
advertising method for both the racing team and the restaurant, in that if the individuals have knowledge
of the deal because of the Outback Steakhouse Racing Team, they might be more willing to dine out,
benefiting Outback Steakhouse. Those that decide to dine out and might not be familiar with NASCAR as
the sport, or specifically the driver, Kevin Harvick, will hear about the deal and could become more aware
of the sport and specific race team.
This method of advertising and co-branding is affiliated directly with the aformentioned reach/awareness
form of co-branding, where as those that eat at Outback Steakhouse but have never paid much attention to
NASCAR now might be more curious to learn a bit about the sport, while those who do not consider
eating at the restaurant now may be encouraged more than before to eat out.
As mentioned in the introduction to co-branding, there is always the risk associated with creating a
relationship with another brand. When it comes to the co-branding strategy of in-store advertising, it is
observed that there is minimal risk associated with the strategy. The reward is obvious: those who
associate with NASCAR will have a high chance in at least noticing the advertisement, increasing the

5. likelihood of purchase. But for those who are not NASCAR fans, they either may notice it and still pass
by, or not pay much attention at all. Neither of these acts as a negative effect from the advertisements, just
overall have less of a positive effect.
Track/Event Advertisements
If one has ever been to a NASCAR race, they know exactly how many advertisements are posted on
every inch of material. From the walls of the race track, to billboards, to specific VIP events.
Besides the indivdual advertisements shown at the race track, each race is sponsored by a brand. The
name of each race consists of the sponsoring brand or company, and the number of miles or number of
laps in the race. A few examples of names of NASCAR races that are being held in the 2015 season are
Campingworld.com 500, at Phoenix International Speedway, Geico 500 at Talledega Speedway, and
Spongebob Squarepants 500 at Kansas Speedway (nascar.com). These specific examples were chosen to
show the variety of brands that chose to sponsor a race to try to achieve a larger fan base of their own.
Some of these brands, just like with race car drivers, have built a long-term relationship and continue the
sponsorship every year, while others come and go.
This type of co-branding again creates an effort to increase the audience for the sponsoring brand in
exhange for financial assistance. Unlike the individual driver’s sponsors, this type of relationship is meant
to purely be associated with the sport as a whole, which may increase the total reach when mentioned in
any advertisement or promotional material designed for the event.
Besides the race itself, NASCAR events also include other promotional fan involvements, or “fan fairs”
which include interactive promotional activites for race fans to participate in. These events consist of
“free” giveaways, where fans can recieve t-shirts or other gifts when giving their contact information,
remote control races, and trivia contests (I say “free” because it could be seen as a price to give away
contact information) Some areas will even hold a question and answer session with drivers, and possibly
an autograph session. Speaking from experience, holding a driver autograph session could increase brand
awareness in that many fans of the sport, sometimes not specifically a fan of the driver, will buy
merchandise of the driver purely to get it autographed.
Overall, these fan fairs and driver interactions personify the sponsoring brand’s image, creating deeper
meaning to the consumers. The more personal interaction these fans have with the brand, the more likely
they are to at least consider the brand when making their next purchase.
The next co-branding strategy can be seen through merchandise that is purchased by the fans themselves.
As slightly touched on in Frontline’s film, “Generation Like”, although in a different mindset, these fans
can be seen as “walking advertisements” (appendix). While they collect their merchandise, they begin to
cover themselves in advertisements. From head to toe, fans can be seen representing this driver, by
directly representing the sponsor of the driver. In this fashion, the sponsor becomes the recognized
symbol of the driver, therefore becoming the representive image.
As explained by Askegaard and Bengtsson, the brands are “no longer the mere legal and intellectual
property of the owning corporaton, they become cultural material at large.” Sponsoring one’s driver, in
addition to the sponsoring brand, is a part of the dominating culture that is NASCAR.
The final form of advertising that appears in relation to NASCAR sporting events are television
advertisements. Not only does this speak in the form of specific commercials for each brand, usually
including their favorite driver as an “actor” in the commercial, but the race itself can be considerd as a “4
hour commercial”. While race car fans at the track are introduced to dozens of advertisements everywhere
they look, the same can be said for those at home viewing the race on their television set. This strategy
functions as a mass marketing effort that reaches accross the U.S. and, unlike sports that are only shown

6. regionally, these race events are shown on national television and connect the views of anyone watching
the sport on any given weekend.
Throughout the entire race, brand managers of the sponsoring brands are looking to increase awareness
and to make lasting impressions that are effective in what is considered a usually cluttered marketplace
(Askegaard and Bengtsson, 2005).
One last focus when it comes to track and event sponsorship is by word of mouth by the driver. As those
who have ever watched a race before, NASCAR or really any other racing series, one notices that during
any interview the driver will mention all of their main sponsors and their sponsor’s dedication to helping
the driving team operate. As Anthony Schoettle, a writer for the Indianapolis Business Jounral puts it:
“Anyone who has been around motorsports for any length of time, especially the drivers
themselves, realize how critical corporate sponsors are to the sport. No sponsors, no racing. It’s
that simple. That’s why NASCAR drivers have been conditioned like Pavlov’s dogs to mention
their sponsors every five seconds. The good old boys of NASCAR have become experts at
throwing their sponsors' names into the answer of almost every question—even when the question
in no way shape or form calls for it.”
What Schoettle states here is very true. The sponsors support the racing team in order to ultimately
achieve a return on investment; therefore, the driver puts in every effort to achieve this for the sponsor,
and contributes by mentioning a sponsor at any opportune moment.
Online Communities and Social Media
The last example of the benefits of a co-branding relationship between NASCAR and their sponsors are
the existance of the online community, or a group of consumers who share a set of social relationships
based on usage or interest in a product (Solomon, 2011). Online advertising has played an increasing role
in the marketing realm, and allows for a different interaction between different parties, such as the drivers,
the sponsors, and the fans. As it was before, only fans that would attend the races and meet their favorite
drivers in person would get a chance to interact with their driver. With online communities and social
networks, fans now have a chance to connect with their favorite driver in a more accessable way.
NASCAR teams and their sponsors have come together to create such online communities and social
networks to increase the consumer awareness of their existence. Using social media and online
communities, drivers will promote their primary sponsors through contests, discounts, special events, and
volunteer work (appendix). To complete the mutually beneficial relationship, sponsors will be seen
advertising their driver on their website, as Lowes promotes “Team Lowes Racing” on their website’s
home page and Outback Steakhouse promotes their Bloomin’ Onion deal with Kevin Harvick.
This co-branding relationship, like previous examples, is meant to bring what would be two different
groups of people, and connects them in an environment that helps gain recognition for both parties in the
relationship. With the online interaction, Lowes fans are able to express curiousity to what “Team Lowes
Racing” represents, while race car fans can be more interactive with the driver and sponsor, and therefore
possibly becoming more brand loyal, or at a minimum giving the brand top-of-mind awareness, meaning
when people purchase a brand’s products or services because they know the brand’s name and perceive it
as the marketplace leader (Lontos, 2009).
Again in referencing Frontires’ “Generation Like” documentary, the usage of social media allows fans to
become a way to pass along a message in the form of word-of-mouth in order to gain a larger audience.

7. This segment of co-branding is much more beneficial for the sponsor in that the sponsor increases their
value by the communities and popularity that surround the drivers of the sport. Along with this though is
an increase in risk. If for any reason the driver happens to get involved in a sort of act that may gain
negative attention, that attention will include the sponsor which could then lower the value of the co-
branding relationship.
Areas of Future Research
Keeping the Sponsors Coming Back
“From a purely financial standpoint, successful brand collaboration can accelerate and enhance cash flow
and increase shareholder value” most specifically through multiple consumer bases (Uggla, 2014). In
taking the statement from Henrik Uggla in association with the business purpose of co-branding, and as
mentioned early on in the report, NASCAR and other racing sports would not be able to exist like they do
now without their sponsors. These sponsors offer them the finances to continue their operation. So when
it comes to the continued existance of the sport, the sport needs its sponsors. This ultimately means that
from the co-branding relationship, the sponsor needs to gain a return on investment, or the measure of
what sponsors receive from the relationship.
While this report shows strategies that currently exist between race teams and their sponsors, there is no
mention of specific return on investment for any sponsors that participate. While it can be understood that
some brands leave based on their own brand strategy or product lifecycle, such as moving from the
growth stage to a more mature stage (James, 2015), it is not fully understood why other brands would
decide to leave such a method to project their brands to a mass audience . For example, the driver who has
been voted the fan favorite for the past eleven years, and son of a legend in the sport, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
has a set of new primary sponsors for the 2015 season. While Nationwide, Mountain Dew, and Kelley
Blue Book have all signed agreements for races for this current season (according to NBC Sports), it was
because of Jr’s past National Guard sponsor discontinueing the full-time co-branding partnership. This
case is interesting in that National Guard, while spending about 27% of its overall advertising budget on
its NASCAR related advertising programs, that according to a 2013 National Guard study, “90 percent of
those who enlisted or re-enlisted since 2007 were exposed to the Guard through recruiting or retention
materials featuring NASCAR cars and/or drivers” (Pockress, 2014). This seems to be a significant return
on investment, and offers an opportunity to dive into an area and try to understand the significance of
whether to sponsor a racing team or not.
Importance of “Fit” in Co-branding
When it comes to traditional forms of co-branding relationships between companies, while the overall
goal is to increase value beyond the sum of the individual brands, they do so by sharing competencies and
skills, and define the “fit” required to maximize the value as needing emotional brand fit, product fit,
functional brand fit, and brand personality fit (Uggla, 2014). But does this idea of “fit” relate to the
relationships between sponsors and their drivers. Sponsors and their drivers do not value functional fit, or
the sharing of processes and competencies, at least in relation to the primary sponsorship and not
considering team partnership through the racing garage. Instead, their co-branding relationship acts as a
way to increase representation and reach in a large market, which would fall under the brand personality
fit.
For possible research, it would be interesting to see if brand personality fit exists in this context, and if
there would be or if there are currently any sponsors that choose not to sponsor an individual driver, or the
sport as a whole, because of a lack of brand personality fit.

8. Conclusion
Advertising in sports has been, and will continue to play a large role in the experience of viewing sports.
Whether it be to gain a larger audience or to build brand identity, certain sponsors continue to put
advertising money into sporting events in the hope of increasing overall brand value.
Overall we have come to an understanding of the ways in which value can be created by using co-
branding in the realm of NASCAR. By building the relationship, sponsoring brands are able to obtain a
large group of the population they might not have been able to obtain previously. They are in addition
able to increase their value by association to another brand- the driver- and become more personified by
the relationship. Lastly, they obtain the opportunity to not only increase their reach, but obtain a certain
brand loyalty that is unseen from other forms of advertising.
For NASCAR as a sport and the individual drivers, the co-branding relationship allows them to exist. It
allows the drivers to continue to compete at the highest level, and allows them to use their talents and to
entertain millions upon millons that follow the sport evert year.

9. Appendix
Jeff Gordon’s Fire Suit - Drive To End Hunger, 2011
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Race Car - National Guard, 2015

10. Jimmie Johnson/ Lowes In-store Advertisement
Henrietta, NY, 2015
Greg Biffle/ Cheez-it Advertisement in-store (PriceRite)
Henrietta, NY, 2015

11. Traditional NASCAR Race, With Sponsorships
Watkins Glen, NY 2013
NASCAR Fans, or “Walking Advertisements”

12. Kasey Kahne Facebook Post, Including Great Clips - May 1st, 2015.

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