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Demographics
Why Motorsports
Marketing?
Racing Fan Product
Loyalty.
Racing
Viewer Buying Habits
Demographics Comparison
Road
Racing
Stock
Car Racing
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|
Why Motorsports Marketing?
With so many sports
marketing and sponsorship opportunities available,
why choose motorsports? Why are so many diverse
companies committed to marketing through motorsports?
Why have Business Week, The
Wall Street Journal and Advertising
Age all said that motorsports marketing is
the advertising wave of the future? Why does motor
racing attract over 10 billion dollars in advertising
money annually?
Two simple words: cost
effective. With the combination of large
quantities of live and television viewers and the
high quality of those viewers, motorsports is an
advertising medium that cannot be beat. The following
are some facets of racing that makes motorsports
marketing a winner:
- Auto
racing is one of the oldest forms of
sports marketing. Companies have been
using racecars as "rolling
billboards" for over forty
years.
- Auto
racing is the world's most popular
spectator sport. There were an estimated
2 billion tickets sold worldwide for auto
racing and an estimated 50
billion televised impressions
in 1996.
- Motorsports
had the highest number of live spectators
of any sport in the United States in
1996, over 13 million tickets sold! That
is more than Major League Baseball (MLB),
National Basketball Association (NBA) or
the National Football League (NFL).
- Most auto
racing series are run on an eight to ten
month schedule, giving a sponsor almost
year round coverage.
- Racetracks
are spread all over North America,
exposing the sponsor to a broad cross
section of people in the U.S. and
Canada.
- Racing
sponsorships can be tailored to the
sponsor's unique customer base. For
example, stock car fans tend to be from
rural areas of lower middle class income;
so that is the right market for beer,
tobacco, laundry detergent and the like.
Road racing fans tend to be higher income
suburbanites; so theirs is the right
market for computers, business equipment,
imported beers, financial companies and
the like. This is called target
marketing. This is not saying one type of
fan is better or worse than another, just
different.
- With the
advent of cable/satellite television and
automotive periodicals, media coverage of
motorsports has grown over 1000% in the
last ten years. In 1997 more racing
events will be televised than ever
before. Along with that, there are
literally hundreds of magazines devoted
to cars or motorcycles and/or
racing.
- The media
often refers to the race car and it's
sponsor as a single entity, such as the
Goodwrench Chevrolet or the Marlboro
Penske.
- Auto
racing delivers sales messages with
maximum impact. Racecars offer a highly
visible, exciting, and memorable
advertising medium and can enhance the
corporate image by conveying
competitiveness, innovation and a winning
attitude.
Racing Fan Product
Loyalty
back to TOP
Race fans are
extremely loyal to advertisers who support
motorsports. During a recent exit poll after a NASCAR
race, 85% of the fans said they make
direct purchasing decisions based on which
advertisers supported auto racing.
During a similar
survey of Drag Racing fans, 70% said that they make
the same type of purchasing decisions. These fans
understand that without advertiser dollars on race
cars, there would be no auto racing as we know it. No
other advertising medium can boast such product
loyalty!
Racing Viewer Buying Habits
back to TOP
- People who watch
motorsports are active consumers whose spending
in key areas is greater than that of the general
public. This table shows the relationship of
products purchased by racing fans versus the
purchases of the general public:
| Product
Category: |
General
Population: |
Racing
Viewers: |
Percentage
Increase: |
Automotive
products
purchased past year: |
|
|
|
| Auto tools |
7.0% |
14.0% |
100.0% |
| Car battery |
9.0% |
15.1% |
67.7% |
| Tires |
6.5% |
8.7% |
33.8% |
| Shock absorbers |
4.5% |
7.6% |
68.8% |
| Spark plugs |
19.2% |
29.0% |
51.0% |
| Installed by self: |
|
|
|
| Motor oil |
56.5% |
71.4% |
26.3% |
| Oil filter |
44.0% |
58.1% |
32.0% |
| Anti-freeze |
35.1% |
48.7% |
38.7% |
| Beverage consumption: |
|
|
|
| 8 plus soft
drinks per week |
18.6% |
36.2% |
94.6% |
| 5 plus beers per week |
13.4% |
18.8% |
40.3% |
| Drinks wine or
wine coolers |
20.9% |
27.4% |
31.1% |
| Drinks sport drinks |
25.7% |
44.6% |
73.5% |
| Business
decision maker for: |
|
|
|
| Telephone equipment |
5.8% |
7.7% |
32.7% |
| Computers/software |
2.2% |
6.5% |
195.4% |
| Cellular phones, fax
equipment |
5.6% |
13.5% |
141.0% |
| Miscellaneous: |
|
|
|
| Owns 3+ cars |
22.5% |
37.6% |
67.1% |
| Buys 7+ rolls
of film per year |
20.7% |
26.1% |
26.0% |
| Owns VCR |
43.0% |
72.0% |
67.4% |
| Acquired bank
card past year |
8.5% |
11.1% |
30.6% |
| Eats fast food 10+ times per
month |
33.7% |
43.0% |
27.6% |
Eats delivered
food 10+ times per
month (pizza etc.) |
35.6% |
51.0% |
43.2% |
| Source: MRI/ESPN guide |
|
|
|
Demographics Comparison
back to TOP
| Viewers |
Drag
Racing |
Go-Kart
Racing |
Motorcycle
Racing |
Road
Racing |
Stock
Car Racing |
| Average
Age |
36
|
25
|
45
|
36
|
40
|
| Median
Income |
$40,000
|
$36,000
|
$35,000
|
$53,000
|
$41,000
|
| Sex |
|
|
|
|
|
| Male: |
70%
|
78%
|
76%
|
69%
|
62%
|
| Female: |
30% |
22% |
24% |
31% |
38% |
| Marital
Status |
|
|
|
|
|
| Married |
52% |
N/A |
58% |
53% |
64% |
| Single |
38%
|
N/A
|
15%
|
40%
|
22%
|
| Widowed/divorced |
10% |
N/A |
27% |
7% |
14% |
| Occupation: |
|
|
|
|
|
| Blue Collar |
48% |
48% |
58% |
20% |
44% |
| White
Collar |
36%
|
32%
|
26%
|
76%
|
27%
|
Self Employed
/Other/Unemployed |
8% |
10% |
15% |
8% |
19% |
| Student/Retired |
8%
|
10%
|
1%
|
8%
|
10%
|
| Education: (Highest
grade completed) |
|
|
|
|
|
| Some
High School: |
8%
|
8%
|
6%
|
4%
|
12%
|
| High School Grad: |
42% |
66% |
43% |
28% |
48% |
| Some
College: |
31%
|
20%
|
24%
|
32%
|
24%
|
| College Grad: |
16% |
6% |
15% |
30% |
16% |
| Post-graduate: |
3%
|
N/A
|
2%
|
6%
|
N/A
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Highest
numbers
are in bold |
|
|
|
|
|
| Source: |
NHRA Media Kit |
WKA Media Kit |
AMA Media Kit |
SCCA Media Kit |
NASCAR Media Kit |
Road Racing Demographics
back to TOP
| Age: |
|
|
Sex: |
|
| Under 21 |
6% |
|
Male |
69% |
| 21 to 29 |
29% |
|
Female |
31% |
| 30 to 39 |
32% |
|
Marital status |
|
| 40 to 49 |
20% |
|
Married |
53% |
| 50 plus |
13% |
|
Single |
40% |
| Median age |
36 years |
|
Widowed/divorced |
7% |
| Annual income: |
|
|
Occupation: |
|
| Under $15,000 |
5% |
|
Blue collar |
20% |
| $15,000 to $24,999 |
10% |
|
White collar |
76% |
| $25,000 to
$34,999 |
17% |
|
Student |
4% |
| $35,000 to $49,999 |
22% |
|
Other |
0% |
| $50,000 to
$74,999 |
22% |
|
|
|
| $75,000 plus |
16% |
|
|
|
| N/A |
8% |
|
Education: |
|
| Median income |
$53,000 |
|
Some high school |
4% |
| |
|
|
High school
grad |
28% |
| |
|
|
Some college |
32% |
| |
|
|
College grad |
30% |
| |
|
|
Post-graduate |
6% |
| Source:
SCCA and Toyota Atlantic media kits. |
Stock Car Racing Demographics
back to TOP
| Age: |
|
|
Sex: |
|
| Under 18 |
3% |
|
Male |
62% |
| 18 to 24 |
15% |
|
Female |
38% |
| 25 to 34 |
29% |
|
Marital status |
|
| 35 to 44 |
25% |
|
Married |
64% |
| 45 to 54 |
16% |
|
Single |
22% |
| 55 plus |
12% |
|
Widowed/divorced |
14% |
| Average age |
40 years |
|
|
|
| Annual
income: |
|
|
Occupation: |
|
| Under $10,000 |
7% |
|
Blue collar |
44% |
| $10,000 to
$19,999 |
14% |
|
White
collar |
27% |
| $20,000 to $29,999 |
17% |
|
Student |
10% |
| $30,000 to
$39,999 |
19% |
|
Other |
19% |
| $40,000 to $49,999 |
14% |
|
|
|
| $50,000 plus |
29% |
|
|
|
| Median income |
$41,000 |
|
|
|
| |
| Type
of home: |
Education |
|
| Own |
72% |
|
Some High School |
12% |
| Rent |
28% |
|
High
School Grad |
48% |
| |
|
|
Some college |
24% |
| |
|
|
College
grad |
16% |
| Source: NASCAR
media guide |
|
