WOMEN AND NASCAR
There has been a lot of talk about the possible addition of Danica Patrick to the NASCAR circuit next year, but one has to ask does NASCAR need her?
Women make up to 35% of the viewer audience of NASCAR, higher than both the NFL and MLB. With the power of the marketing of NASCAR, would the addition of Danica help to open up some market that seems closed because it is a male-dominated sport?
Now may be the best time for Danica to move to NASCAR and help them open up to new marketing partners. With women controlling more than half of the private wealth in the US by 2010, and women being involved in over 60% of new vehicle purchases, women's purchasing power continues to grow.
With track attendance down, perhaps NASCAR needs to consider expanding its base? But can the men of NASCAR really market products that they cannot use or have no practical experience in? Revlon may not fit the model of the typical NASCAR product, but one can only imagine a potential tie-in or sponsorship with Danica. This partnership would provide a true women's only product that the women who already attend the track could get behind, but this would only work if Danica comes to NASCAR and becomes a true contender; otherwise she runs the risk of being the Anna Kournikova of motorsports.
And that's the view from here.
DS