Soft drinks producer Coca-Cola has renewed its sponsorship agreements with North American stock car-racing series Nascar and the International Speedway Corporation.
The new six-year deals will run until 2023. Coca-Cola’s Nascar partnership will cover the championship’s three national series, with the ISC deal to cover 12 race tracks. Coca-Cola will retain its status as the official soft drink of Nascar.
The first-of-its-kind, three-way agreement is designed to provide Coca-Cola with value across both Nascar and ISC properties.
Coca-Cola products will continue to be sold at Nascar-sanctioned tracks. Its drinks will be available at 21 race tracks in 2018 through partnerships with the ISC and Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Stuart Kronauge, senior vice-president of marketing and business unit president of USA operations at the Coca-Cola Company, said: “The association with Nascar, iconic tracks across the country, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Coca-Cola 400, and the drivers of the Coca-Cola Racing Family creates an ideal relationship between the brands, the sport and fans. It allows for a fully integrated experience that connects Coca-Cola with Nascar fans at every level – locally, nationally, at the track, in store, at home and elsewhere.”
Coca-Cola has been involved in stock car-racing for 50 years and became an official Nascar partner in 1998. A signature part of the brand’s marketing strategy is the Coca-Cola Racing Family – a group of top drivers that includes Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez and Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. The Coca-Cola Racing Family, which has been around for nearly 20 years, makes appearances and is featured in advertising, promotions and packaging.
Steve Phelps, executive vice-president and chief global sales and marketing officer of Nascar, told the USA Today newspaper: “It’s a mainstay of our partnership. The relationships they have with the drivers, they do on their own, but it is important for us to have Coca-Cola and others to take the helmets off our drivers, get them in stand-ups in stores, do things with them digitally and socially, and that’s important to us because we want to make sure our drivers’ personalities, and their authentic nature and who they are comes across not just on the race track but off the race track, too. Our drivers are great brand ambassadors for Coca-Cola.”