Ask.com scores big with hurried foray into NASCAR (cont'd)

A fullcourt press

Garell took over leadership of Ask Networks in May after former CEO Jim Safka left the company for personal reasons. Despite the leadership change in the midst of its first major sports marketing effort, Garell said the program hasn't skipped a beat.

Garell was integral in the decision to leap into NASCAR, and because he was with Safka on most of the calls in December, Garell expects renewal talks to go smoothly with Ask's partners, even though he brings a different style.

• Answers at Speed of NASCAR

Associates describe Safka as a shoot-from-the-hip gunslinger whose energy drove Ask to develop a NASCAR plan; Garell is considered more analytical in his approach.

The good news for NASCAR is that the metrics are in its favor.

The Brand Image study shows among NASCAR fans that Ask.com usage is up 12 percent, awareness is up 43 percent and positive impressions are up 14 percent. NASCAR fans also visit Ask.com more frequently.

"They've had blanket coverage," said Brett Jewkes, managing partner at Taylor, which partnered with Ask in December to help form the marketing and public relations plan.

In addition to its team and league deals, Ask developed a special NASCAR.COM toolbar, spent big with FOX on the first 13 Sprint Cup races and activated at the track with its team of Ask Ambassadors. On the cause front, Ask partnered with Web Wise Kids to create an Internet safety program.

Ask, which had no previous exposure to NASCAR, wanted the national platform the sport offered for its first deep venture into a sports marketing campaign.

"We selected NASCAR because of its famously loyal fans and because we thought we could create the best search experience for the fans on the Web," Garell said. "We were looking to appeal to audiences, not so much on a product level, but on a fan experience level."

Safka was new to the CEO job in 2008 and it was late in the year by the time his feet were solidly on the ground and the company had decided to pursue a sports property. Safka attended NASCAR's season finale in Homestead on Nov. 16 with Tom Garfinkel, a co-owner of Hall of Fame Racing, which was struggling to stay in business at the time.

Ask had 65 days from the time it decided to jump into NASCAR on Dec. 12 until the Daytona 500 in February to orchestrate a program that normally takes six months to plan.

"Even much bigger brands hesitate to bite off that much at first," Jewkes said. "But Ask came in very aggressively and took advantage of the opportunities that were there because of the economy."

The impact has been even richer in NASCAR because so many other brands have pulled back during the recession. Ask's league deal, team deal, track deals and media buys amount to $10 million or so, industry sources say.

In addition to the team deal at a little less than $4 million, Ask has spent about $1 million on track deals, another $2 million or so on its NASCAR official status deal and NASCAR.COM buy, and close to $3 million on its ad buy with FOX for the season's first 13 races.

"The market was hungry," said Mike Boykin, executive vice president at GMR Marketing, which has worked with Ask on strategy and activation. "Ask came in when nobody else was buying. There were opportunities to be had."

Superstore

• Bobby Labonte/Ask.com gear!

The fully integrated program has made an impact, said one industry expert, Dave Grant, a principal and co-founder at Velocity Sports & Entertainment. He gave Ask credit for its timing but wondered about its future.

"It's a nice first-year program, but we've seen a lot of nice first-year programs," Grant said. "Can they win over the fan base and maintain that fan base over an extended period of time? That's the question.

"They definitely win Rookie of the Year, but MVP, I'm not so sure."

What impresses Grant is that Ask seems to have built a program that is "performance-proof." Labonte is ranked 28th in points with one top-10 finish, but Ask's thorough-media and at-track activation has made the performance on the track virtually meaningless.

Ask knew performance expectations would be low when it signed with Hall of Fame. In fact, the team deal was one of the last pieces to come together when it was signed on Dec. 30 at 11 p.m. PT.

"The performance isn't there, but they probably didn't spend a lot of money to be with that team, anyway," Grant said. "Winning a race is irrelevant, which is refreshing. You can't control the competition side. But what they're doing is winning the hearts and minds of the fans because they see Ask out there competing." (Continued)