Jimmie Johnson celebrates his victory last year at Dover with track mascot Miles the Monster. Credit: Autostock

On an island: Dover must use unique marketing

Independently owned track celebrating mascot with comic book

If the entire string of 22 Nextel Cup Series racing venues were the Hawaiian Islands, Dover International Speedway would be Lanai -- among the smallest and most isolated, an island among islands.

The 12 tracks in the International Speedway Corp. family, as well as the six venues that reside under the Speedway Motorsports umbrella, can rely on one another for sponsorship integration and personnel depth. (Indy, of course, is Indy. It speaks for itself.)

	Credit: Courtesy
	DOVER COMIC BOOK The first issue, "Miles the Monster, Issue No. 1 -- His Shocking Birth," will be sold exclusively at Dover Int'l Speedway this weekend.  •   Complete story, click here

But Dover, along with New Hampshire and Pocono, must do it all themselves.

That, in turn, requires unique promotional and marketing strategies.

Dover executives understand this all too well, and three years ago began taking unprecedented measures to build the Monster Mile brand, infuse it in the minds of consumers and most importantly, differentiate themselves from the pack.

First, a mascot, a menacing hulk of concrete aptly named Miles the Monster, and a resulting action figure that flew off shelves during race weekends. They conceptualized and built the DuPont Monster Bridge, a glass-enclosed seating structure that actually extends over the track in Turn 3.

Now, a comic book series.

Seem hokey? Not when the strategy is explained.

"We have to work a little harder and more aggressively to build our brands, and be more important in the fan's minds," said Jerry Miraglia, executive vice president of Dover Motorsports, Inc.

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"With the Monster Mile, because we have a character, we have the ability to be a unique, clear, strong brand. Think about it. Everyone knows what the Nike Swoosh means."

Without question American consumers -- especially today's youth -- are drawn to popular brands. That, along with pop culture's current fixation with super heroes -- this summer's blockbuster movies are XMen3 and Superman Returns -- make the comic book strategy a no-brainer.

"We wanted something important in the kids' minds," Miraglia explained. "Comics read very quickly. It's very visual. There's a lot of action, a lot of intensity, a lot of bright color.

"There's a video game feel to the writing. We think that's something the kids will get into."

The residual effect could be key.

	Dover feels it has plenty to offer to the consumer. Credit: Autostock
	TRACK PAGE •   Dover Int'l Speedway

"They'll take it back home with them, and if the [Dover action figure] is on the counter or the comic is in the stack of magazines, we've taken something into the home," he said.

"That, again, helps us be relevant. We're not just a T-shirt in a drawer."

The sponsorship battle is one Dover will lose every time, just by sheer numbers. The depth enjoyed by ISC and SMI is wide-reaching. If one market isn't so enticing to a potential sponsor, two may join forces and offer a two-for-one. A package deal.

Again, Dover must find an alternate route to allure fans. One key ingredient in that quest is location.

"ISC and SMI have a bit easier time with the sponsorship world, because if a sponsor wants to get a certain type of exposure, they have the ability to offer more venues than we do," Miraglia said. "That's a strategic advantage for bigger companies because they can offer more choices.

"So our advantages, which we have to exploit, are location -- we're the center of the East Coast market -- New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C., are all right here.

"So we're fortunate with a geographic advantage but not a size advantage. So we try to push the fact that we offer a really strong East Coast demographic. That's how we battle the disadvantage on the sponsorship side."

And there's fundamental uniqueness. This ain't no cookie-cutter.

"Being special, being independent, not being one of many is actually an advantage for a fan standpoint," Miraglia said. "This is a hardcore traditional one-mile oval. It's not one of the more repeatable-type surfaces."

Ironically, in the most brand-driven, brand-loyal sport on the planet, few tracks have created a recognizable brand.

"It's the most amazing irony in this whole industry," Miraglia said. "If you ask the average consumer which sport they associate brand with more than any other sport, NASCAR would probably be first on nine out of 10 lists.

"But if you really think through it, NASCAR is a combination of many brands. It's a combination of its drivers, its tracks, its sponsors. So NASCAR is more of an umbrella brand than a defining brand."

Miraglia is confident Dover is easing toward becoming a defining brand. The comic isn't intrusive, he said. The fan will focus on the story, not the business strategy that is driving the effort.

"When people think of our sport they immediately say the words Daytona, Bristol, Charlotte, Richmond," Miraglia said. "Those are all locations.

"We get to sell the story of our brand."