That was the question I asked myself as I sat in the main grandstand of New Hampshire Motor Speedway two weeks ago, watching as the inaugural running of the CNBC Prime ‘The Profit’ 200 got underway.
Now anyone who watches NASCAR knows that there are myriad companies who choose to spend their marketing dollars on the sport, sponsoring the racing series, the teams, and race title sponsorships — like this one. The businesses that have involved themselves and invested in the sport to build their brand awareness range from blue chip brands like Anheuser-Busch, 3M, Coca-Cola, and Exxon Mobil to regional brands like Jimmy John’s, Dollar General, and Menards. These companies spend millions a year to align their brands with the sport’s top stars and major events on national television.
Two weeks ago the NASCAR Nationwide (Insurance) Series, which is essentially a developmental racing league to the Sprint Cup Series, held their race in New Hampshire. At the start of the week, they had no title sponsor, but got a call from a new show premiering July 30th on CNBC’s new prime time slot called “The Profit”. The show is a reality business series where Marcus Lemonis, CEO of a growing multi-billion-dollar national specialty retail chain, Camping World, puts his own reputation and $2 million of cash on the line to help small businesses get out of slumps, restructure and become profitable. Interesting TV, right?
It might just be a great new show, but did it make sense to spend $1 million to sponsor a race for one day, especially when the majority of fans in the stands, watching on TV, or listening on the radio don’t even watch CNBC or know what channel it is on their cable box? The fact that the show is on CNBC, a channel that targets a higher earning, business-minded individual, and was sponsoring a NASCAR event just didn’t make sense to me. Were there folks watching on TV or at the track who owned businesses, big and small, and considered themselves in this group? Sure. But the majority of fans do not fall into this category, making this sponsorship choice an odd one.
As professional marketers, it is not just our job, but our duty to our clients to make sound recommendations and advise them (sometimes at great lengths) to make the right marketing investment, including brand sponsorship decisions, and take their brand to the right audience.
Personally, I love NASCAR, and the sport has evolved by leaps and bounds over the recent years in terms of who is watching it, and who is showing up each week at the track. But this title sponsorship just didn’t make any sense, and CNBC and “The Profit” may have wasted precious marketing funds two weeks ago at the track.
It’s always important to consider who your target is before making any marketing investment. Always ask: “Will this investment improve the visibility of my brand among my target audience?”
I’m not sure if CNBC asked themselves this important question before signing on the dotted line to sponsor this race. But I guess will find out when the show airs tomorrow night.
You can find out more about The Profit here.