No doubt he is returning the favor after what Sarah did for him.Originally Posted by warped worm
No doubt he is returning the favor after what Sarah did for him.
Please re-read the Kenny Bernstein/Budweiser pitch story again... IMO, Sarah Fisher has select people at Walgreen's interested in replacing her departed Dollar General. Just like Wal*Mart had told Hendrick Motorsport that they were exploring sponsoring Jeff Gordon in 2011 (before AARP signed up...)? Just like Kenny had the King of Beers interested in his NHRA deal.
Walgreen's hasn't ordered jack... SFR is the one whooing them! SFR mocked up a show car + organized a fan zone at local Walgreen's in their attempt to reel the drug store chain in for 2012 & beyond. Its short sighted to execute such a lame show car livery... especially since their Dollar General cars always looked pretty striking/well presented. Again, JMO.
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I was caught in the same pissin match. I actually switched from FEP to Carefirst BC/BS beCAUSE WE GOT HAMMERED by the FEP last year. Walgreens are no longer on the preferrred pharmacy list for my area and the prices for their Mail order service is more than CVS, Rite Aid or Target. We still shop at Walgreens on a regular basis.
My extremely cynical side says you don't do something like this without some type of guarantee. SFHR would look amateurish if they don't land this sponsor after this activation, and Walgreen's would face some level of backlash. Personally, I think this deal D-O-N-E, but everyone involved wants a way to announce it, build publicity, and energize the fan base of a well-liked and fan-supported team. What better way then to make fans think they actually have a role in landing the sponsor?
If they did it this way, then that's f-ing brilliant, IMO.
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We agree to disagree on this one piercey....
...my bet is that this SFR/Walgreen's deal is far from complete. Indycar ratings are dog poo & just using Paul Tracy's experiences getting his variety of corporate backers to drop proper $$$ on ICS sponsorship should give us some insight into the up hill battle SFR is facing getting Walgreen's to "close". Add Team Penske's numerous part time sponsors to this battle as well. "Mega fish" Penske & "minnow" SFR
Kenny Bernstein didn't have any guarantee, but he gambled he could win over Budweiser. SFR is doing the same thing with Walgreen's When Sarah Fisher lost Dollar General did that chain feel a backlash? Why would Walgreen's feel any negative vibe if SFR staff can't close a deal? Motorsport is full of stories of "TSINO's" (Title Sponsors In Name Only) LCI, Budweiser, & McDonald's all looked mega but were glorified trade deals. SFR might sport Walgreen's logos in 2012 but how much $$$ is the deal really paying? IMO, they are trying to get more $$$ from Walgreen's by getting their loyal fans active...
I have a CVS pharmacy 1/4 mile from my house.
I will GLADLY drive 10 miles to the nearest Walgreens to support my sport.
Fair enough, but for the sake of me not wanting to do my homework I'm going to argue for a bit :P.
...my bet is that this SFR/Walgreen's deal is far from complete. Indycar ratings are dog poo & just using Paul Tracy's experiences getting his variety of corporate backers to drop proper $$$ on ICS sponsorship should give us some insight into the up hill battle SFR is facing getting Walgreen's to "close".
The hardest thing with Tracy is the fact he has, at best, 3 more years (and I think we can all agree that is a very generous #). SFHR just signed a young American rookie to a 2 year deal. Throw in the fact that Fisher has won more recently than Tracy and, let's face it, has the female card to play. Probably has a (slightly) easier time then PT on pitching sponsors.
I would be shocked if Walgreen's puts in that level of cash. Probably the reason SFHR is in play for their consideration.Add Team Penske's numerous part time sponsors to this battle as well. "Mega fish" Penske & "minnow" SFR
The one big difference I see was that Bernstein went to the corporate offices unannounced and the "event" was relatively private. While it makes sense for SFHR, why would Walgreen's have this public of a maybe in front of a store re-opening?Kenny Bernstein didn't have any guarantee, but he gambled he could win over Budweiser. SFR is doing the same thing with Walgreen's
I never said it would be big, but with something this public there is the possibility of receiving some negative PR.When Sarah Fisher lost Dollar General did that chain feel a backlash? Why would Walgreen's feel any negative vibe if SFR staff can't close a deal?
To be fair, we don't even know how "high" Walgreen's will go. They could be an Indy-only associate for all we know. I just don't think the company would allow something this public if there isn't ink somewhere.Motorsport is full of stories of "TSINO's" (Title Sponsors In Name Only) LCI, Budweiser, & McDonald's all looked mega but were glorified trade deals. SFR might sport Walgreen's logos in 2012 but how much $$$ is the deal really paying? IMO, they are trying to get more $$$ from Walgreen's by getting their loyal fans active...
Then again, all IMO from a college student who likes wearing backward flat-billed baseball caps and apparently hated by corporate America. :P
It appears to me Sarah is more than a self invited gate crasher: "This Thursday at 9:30 AM, I will be at the Walgreens store at 1530 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN. taking part in a ribbon cutting on a Grand Re-opening for the Walgreens store brand and supporting their new initiatives." Clearly a relationship exists.
As far the show car goes, the livery's purpose is to highlight the new design and color scheme of the Walgreens stores. In this mission it is quite effective. That this thread discusses the store makeovers and new color schemes proves the design is doing its job.
In the trivial debate about the car' livery, the main point is being missed. The big deal here is the unique social media marketing aspect which SFHR is promoting that will swing the deal. It will be the Tweets, Likes, Shares and emails about Sarah Fisher participating in Walgreens marketing efforts which will have the impact and not how pretty the show car is.
Instead of worrying about how well the new Walgreen's color scheme looks on a show car let's take this opportunity to vote with our high tech gadgets and convince Walgreens to sponsor SFHR.
Jeff Downer
Indianapolis, Indiana
I think everyone's getting overly excited over this. I think the likely story is that a local Walgreen's owner paid Fisher about enough to wrap the car to show up at their Grand Opening. Hopefully this leads to more, but I'm guessing it's a longshot.
And as for Graham Rahal, he's got a long way to go to make up for being a d-bag after Indy last year.
There is still time. Support the sport and SFHR!Live in the Indianapolis area? Then get your butt to the Walgreens store at 1530 N. Meridian Street at 9:30 AM tomorrow (Thursday). No excuses!
Check Graham's tweet again....first message was....don't forget Walgreens was already a sponsor in 2010 with quicktrim...or, I brought them here first when I ran on Dads team at Indy!
Graham is getting better, I'm a supporter, but there is still a lot of "look at me too" in the guy....not bad though for a guy pushing 23 years old!
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There is no such thing as a "local Walgreen's owner". Their locations are all company owned and operated.
I don't think he was doing the "look at me too" thing I think it was a matter of showing that they have supported the series before and he is returning the favor to Sarah because she helped him get the service central sponsorship.
Someone please enlighten me on this!
This is much more than a walgreens re opening. Jazz band, valet parking, heated tent, food and coffee laid out.
"experience WELL at Walgreens" sign painted exactly like the car. If this isn't a full sponsor announcement I'll be surprised
Could be huge news. Good luck to Sarah and team!!!
Interesting (paint scheme aside, which is sad) the only other time I remember Walgreens being involved in racing was on a Carl Haas, Kyle Krisiloff-driven NNS car for a few races where they teamed up on a big promotion with Eli Lilly.
Of note also... CVS has started in racing over the past few years, but it looks like it's always a promo/shelf space deal. Reeces with Harvick and M&M's with Kyle Busch as a TV panel deal.
If I had to guess, knowing Sarah's marketing education - I'll be she has a product interested and under-wraps for now (I hope). I have been doing this since the 90's and so many deals seemingly are done without cash now (or at least major cash) from the primary sponsor. It's basically like the team gets a commission of a few million bucks for providing a marketing/promo vehicle (pun intended) for the program and they help do the hard work of putting everything together (kiosks, in-storage signage, iPhone Apps, promo sweepstakes sites to gather email addresses, etc).
I think JMI might be doing some of this now as well here in Indy - but the race team partner is basically an ad agency. The agency puts together a turn-key program that shows some amount of ROI and then also knows how to pull budget from places like HR for employee morale, entertainment and education, etc.
Here is the example... CVS paid nothing, but they gave promo/shelf space nationally to Reeces. Similar to the Target, Meijer and Kmart deals of the past, just on a smaller, more "promotional" scale.
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I just returned from the event, and I have to admit, the Walgreens livery actually doesn't look as bad as it did in that picture. http://instagr.am/p/ij5gP/
I took multiple pictures of it and all of them look good without a filter. This one has a small filter on it. the lines are nice.
Overall commentary by the Walgreens suits is that the car looks great. Apparently, Sarah has been a great ambassador for INDYCAR at this event.
Nice work, goldie. This is great to hear. Sounds like the fans are doing what they can!
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It's all snowy... looks kind of cool. From Facebook!
Sarah is a great ambassador!
Really glad it's gone well.
Thanks to those of you in Indy who would show up to support a team.
Walgreens Pharmacy, etc. is a huge operation--all over Iowa; and they are known to be a great company to work for. If Sarah Fisher Racing lands this one, it is a real testament to her marketing abilities. I have always liked being able to easily read a sponsor name on a car--no matter where I'm sitting in the stands.
I think the livery looks just fine - it seems to be a good fit with the corporate image - you don't want your pharmacy to be all lightning bolts and sharks teeth and what not
Here's hoping they come on board - it would be great for Sarah and the sport in general....
Pippa Mann has been doing the same too.
Some pics here
http://indycarman.shutterfly.com/
+1
Bryan Clauson was there as well... I asked him how things were progressing towards a 500 deal and he said they were coming along (FWIW)
A few pics I took of the car:
Wing in need of de-icing
Car really doesn't look too bad. Hopefully, Sarah didn't get used for free publicity.
I think the paint scheme will make it easy to keep track of the car during a race.
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