As I retyped the article from NASCAR Scene in another post, it got me to thinking about some of the other articles in Scene that I had read. So, without further ado, I decided to retype them as well........................
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Coke, Pepsi face off in Daytona
BY JEFF OWENS
Executive Editor
Coca-Cola has the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway and more than a dozen Nextel Cup drivers in its Coca-Cola Racing Family. Pepsi has the Pepsi 400 at Daytona and Jeff Gordon, one of NASCAR's biggest stars.
Each company has other NASCAR sponsorships through products such as Gatorade, Powerade and Mountain Dew.
The companies go head to head nearly every week as they try to market their colas to NASCAR fans. The "Cola Wars" are as intense as the beer rivalries between Budweiser, Miller and Coors.
"They are two very competitive companies," Gordon says.
The battle heated up significantly at Daytona International Speedway when Coca-Cola sponsored eight teams and drivers in the Pepsi 400.
While Coke officials say they picked the event to reach race fans during a holiday weekend, track and Pepsi officials were none too happy, taking their rival to task for what some are calling "ambush marketing."
"I think we respect the other soda, but Pepsi is probably one of the greatest marketing monsters in all of the country," said DIS President Robin Braig. "Their marketing muscle, added to the fact that they have been with this track since day one, will smother any opportunity by our friends from Atlanta."
"We're actually flattered", said Adam Harter, manager of racing for Pepsi Sports. "They obviously didn't think the Coke 600 was a big enough race to bring all these cars and they chose to bring their cars to the Pepsi 400, the best race of the summer. We think it's flattering to have them chase us around a little bit."
Both companies were using the Daytona race to push new low-carb, low-calorie products - Pepsi Edge and Coca-Cola C2.
Pepsi is holding a national sweepstakes offering race fans a chance to win $1 billion by watching the Pepsi 400 telecast. Gordon's Daytona car featured a Pepsi paint scheme promoting the contest.
Coke, an official status sponsor of NASCAR, countered with its C2 campaign, which put eight drivers in cars painted with a Coca-Cola C2 scheme. Both companies blanketed the track and the Daytona Beach area with free product samples. Coke also had souvenir rigs selling C2 merchandise, with part of the proceeds going to the Victory Junction Gang Camp.
As part of their marketing campaign, Coke bought four full page ads in NASCAR Scene that wrapped around the cover of the July 1 issue. Daytona officials were so sensitive about the matter, that they removed the wraps from the papers in the track's media center.
Bea Perez, vice president of sports marketing for Coke, said the marketing campaign focused on NASCAR fans and holiday weekends, making the July 3 Pepsi 400 an obvious choice. She said there was no attempt to upstage Pepsi.
"This weekend alone just really gave us a huge opportunity to bring together something that has never been done before in the sport," Perez said. "It really had more to do with the bigness of the race. It's one of the highest-rated races, it also has a lot of fan attendance. People come here not only for the race, they come for the weekend."
Pepsi officials, though, aren't buying it.
"From a marketing standpoint, I'm a little bit surprised," Harter said. "It feels a little bit desperate, but I can understand that, too. We've been doing a lot of great things in the marketplace and they are feeling the pressure from Pepsi."
Harter said Pepsi typically did not make a big marketing push during the annual Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
"We have always felt we are a little bit above that," he said. "To be quite honest with you, to see a company the size of Coke, a brand that size, come to our race, feels a little bit second-rate in our mind."
Perez just calls it good, healthy competition.
"I love competition. I think competition drives everything up," she said. "It drives the whole category up, so I think we all win in this, to tell you the truth. I believe it creates excitement and energy, the fans get engaged, the drivers get engaged and, at the end of the day, I really think we are going to drive the whole categor up witha program like this."
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This is also on page 22 of the July 8, 2004 issue of NASCAR Scene
I do have another article that I will try to post later. I would like to see what your thoughts are on this article.
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Coke, Pepsi face off in Daytona
BY JEFF OWENS
Executive Editor
Coca-Cola has the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway and more than a dozen Nextel Cup drivers in its Coca-Cola Racing Family. Pepsi has the Pepsi 400 at Daytona and Jeff Gordon, one of NASCAR's biggest stars.
Each company has other NASCAR sponsorships through products such as Gatorade, Powerade and Mountain Dew.
The companies go head to head nearly every week as they try to market their colas to NASCAR fans. The "Cola Wars" are as intense as the beer rivalries between Budweiser, Miller and Coors.
"They are two very competitive companies," Gordon says.
The battle heated up significantly at Daytona International Speedway when Coca-Cola sponsored eight teams and drivers in the Pepsi 400.
While Coke officials say they picked the event to reach race fans during a holiday weekend, track and Pepsi officials were none too happy, taking their rival to task for what some are calling "ambush marketing."
"I think we respect the other soda, but Pepsi is probably one of the greatest marketing monsters in all of the country," said DIS President Robin Braig. "Their marketing muscle, added to the fact that they have been with this track since day one, will smother any opportunity by our friends from Atlanta."
"We're actually flattered", said Adam Harter, manager of racing for Pepsi Sports. "They obviously didn't think the Coke 600 was a big enough race to bring all these cars and they chose to bring their cars to the Pepsi 400, the best race of the summer. We think it's flattering to have them chase us around a little bit."
Both companies were using the Daytona race to push new low-carb, low-calorie products - Pepsi Edge and Coca-Cola C2.
Pepsi is holding a national sweepstakes offering race fans a chance to win $1 billion by watching the Pepsi 400 telecast. Gordon's Daytona car featured a Pepsi paint scheme promoting the contest.
Coke, an official status sponsor of NASCAR, countered with its C2 campaign, which put eight drivers in cars painted with a Coca-Cola C2 scheme. Both companies blanketed the track and the Daytona Beach area with free product samples. Coke also had souvenir rigs selling C2 merchandise, with part of the proceeds going to the Victory Junction Gang Camp.
As part of their marketing campaign, Coke bought four full page ads in NASCAR Scene that wrapped around the cover of the July 1 issue. Daytona officials were so sensitive about the matter, that they removed the wraps from the papers in the track's media center.
Bea Perez, vice president of sports marketing for Coke, said the marketing campaign focused on NASCAR fans and holiday weekends, making the July 3 Pepsi 400 an obvious choice. She said there was no attempt to upstage Pepsi.
"This weekend alone just really gave us a huge opportunity to bring together something that has never been done before in the sport," Perez said. "It really had more to do with the bigness of the race. It's one of the highest-rated races, it also has a lot of fan attendance. People come here not only for the race, they come for the weekend."
Pepsi officials, though, aren't buying it.
"From a marketing standpoint, I'm a little bit surprised," Harter said. "It feels a little bit desperate, but I can understand that, too. We've been doing a lot of great things in the marketplace and they are feeling the pressure from Pepsi."
Harter said Pepsi typically did not make a big marketing push during the annual Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
"We have always felt we are a little bit above that," he said. "To be quite honest with you, to see a company the size of Coke, a brand that size, come to our race, feels a little bit second-rate in our mind."
Perez just calls it good, healthy competition.
"I love competition. I think competition drives everything up," she said. "It drives the whole category up, so I think we all win in this, to tell you the truth. I believe it creates excitement and energy, the fans get engaged, the drivers get engaged and, at the end of the day, I really think we are going to drive the whole categor up witha program like this."
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This is also on page 22 of the July 8, 2004 issue of NASCAR Scene
I do have another article that I will try to post later. I would like to see what your thoughts are on this article.
Whiskey and ginger ale is tolerable - I guess.
