BUT CAN HE SELL M&Ms?
A couple of weeks ago, Brian Tarcy (“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to NASCAR” and the blog “Free Cheezeburgerz”—at the right) sent me an e-mail in which he posed a very interesting question: Since fans don’t seem to like Kyle Busch very much, how has the sales of M&Ms been doing since that Kyle’s primary sponsor? Brian suggested that perhaps the popularity—or lack thereof—might have a serious effect on the sales of the sponsors’ products? I tried to find some financial data but am still looking for any impact on M&M sales (I’ll get my colleague Mike to research that topic—it’s up his alley).
In any case, the fairly phenomenal success of Kyle in all three series would suggest that Masterfoods is very happy with its primary sponsorship. We all know that Dale Jr.’s sponsor didn’t sign on because it likes the number “88” but because Jr. has such a great following. And we can, no doubt, find many such instances.
But still it begs the question: Does the unpopularity of a driver—regardless of his (her) success—have a negative effect on his (her) sponsor? Or, even more so, does the make of race car have a negative effect? For instance, when JGR announced it was switching from Chevy to “ota”, many fans indicated their displeasure and even suggested they’d stop rooting for Tony.
So, is there a problem for a sponsor if the driver simply turns off fans? Mr. Tarcy raises an excellent question—and one I intend to keep an eye on.
So, that’s the view from here.
Jon