DSC sponsors NASCAR-Canada team

TORONTO—In the interests of getting in front of potential dealers in new and different ways, DSC has decided this year to sponsor the #3 car in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, driven by Jason Hathaway and operated by Ed Hakonson Racing.

“They brought the proposal to us,” said Denise Bruley, marketing manager for DSC, “and if you look at the charts for our customers in comparison to the demographics for the NASCAR fan, they're absolutely in proportion to each other.”

While not a major sponsor, emblazoned on the hood, DSC does get a logo on the car door, and “it's not just the sponsorship of the car,” Bruley said, “but what comes with that: the opportunity to go to events, have our customers come to events, and maybe even have them come to one of our distributor events. There are possibilities, and we don't know what all of them are yet.”

Dan Lawlor, marketing and media relations head for Ed Hakonson Racing, said Hathaway finished in the top 10 nine times in 2009, finishing 9th overall. He characterized the NASCAR Canadian series as something of a feeder system to the U.S. NASCAR series, noting that Jared Fitzpatrick just made the jump to Dale Earnhardt's team in the Nationwide series, and Derek White will be driving in the truck series.

Similar to DSC's collaboration with Orange County Choppers to help launch its Alexor product line, this is another attempt by DSC to “deliver the message in unique ways,” said Bruley. “We look at how our customers look at the world, what shows they're watching, what hobbies they're pursuing, and then we match that with how we're going to market.” She said this initiative may even bleed over into the consumer market, as part of sponsorship includes logo placement, with a prominent DSC keypad, on the trailer Hakonson uses to transport the car.

“Even the end users will recognize that,” Bruley said. “They'll see it on the truck and they'll say, 'Hey, we have that in our house.'”