Zaxby's raises brand awareness with licensee who does double duty as chain's NASCAR driver

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 19, 2007

Athens, GA. -- Restaurant chains like to sponsor NASCAR drivers to raise brand awareness among rabid racing fans, but the Zaxby's chicken chain is taking the uncommon step of sponsoring one of its own licensees to race in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Executives for parent company Zaxby's Franchising Inc. believe that by sponsoring licensee Joey Clanton, a longtime racer who operates two units in Atlanta, the sponsorship will achieve more credibility. At the same time, it will do a better job of raising brand awareness not only in its core Southeast market, but also in Texas and Ohio, where it plans to expand, and in Virginia, where it just began operating.

"It really hits on all cylinders with the NASCAR faithful," said Robert Baxley, chief operating officer of the nearly 400-unit chain, which generated more than $450 million in systemwide sales last year. "We're right in tune with that customer base."

Clanton will be the chain's principal driver and appear in 16 Craftsman races this year, all of them in Zaxby's markets. Another driver, Stacy Compton, will appear in nine other races.

Zaxby's is supporting the sponsorship with point-of-purchase material and TV spots, which equate the speed and efficiency of a NASCAR pit crew with the speedy service at Zaxby's drive-thrus, Baxley said.

"We are trying to use this as a vehicle to show guests we're putting systems in place to get in and out of the drive-thru quicker," he said.

St. John & Partners of Jacksonville, Fla., created the ad campaign. TV spots will air on the Speed cable network, which broadcasts the Craftsman races.

It's no secret that NASCAR attracts numerous marketers who count on the popularity of the races and the devotion fans show toward their favorite drivers to link their brands to the success of those racers.

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc., Pizza Hut and Domino's Pizza are just a few of the restaurant chains that have sponsored drivers. Yet this likely is the first time that a driver also is a restaurant operator.

"I frankly never heard of anything like this," said Brett Boyle, a sports-marketing expert and marketing professor in the John Cook School of Business at St. Louis University.

"It gives validity to the commitment of the brand," he said. "It solidifies the connection in the mind of the consumer."

To illustrate how this forms a bond with consumers, Boyle pointed to the TV spots for the Hair Club for Men, which feature founder Sy Sperling. At the end of the spots, Sperling looks at the camera and says, "I'm not just the president, I'm also a client."

That comment strengthens the product value in the eyes of consumers, who view Sperling not as just one more spokesman trying to hawk a product but as a satisfied customer as well, Boyle said.

Clanton can have the same success for Zaxby's, he added, because as a licensee he can convey the message that he's not merely representing a brand, as the other drivers do, "but actually investing in it."

That's what Zaxby's had in mind when the company decided to sponsor him, Baxley said.

"He adds a certain amount of credibility to the brand," he said. "He's not just somebody being paid a promotional fee to represent the brand. He's been very successful in operating two units. He stands behind the brand."

Clanton comes from a family of racing enthusiasts. Two of his brothers are racers, and his sister is married to a racer. His father, Billy, was a legendary dirt-track racer up until he died in 1999.

"The truck series is great exposure, with it growing in the Southeast and now in Ohio and Texas all the way to California," Clanton said.

In the first four years that the Craftsman Truck Series has been broadcast live on the Speed network, ratings have gone up every year, according to the network.

Clanton said his goal is to operate a total of 10 Zaxby's units with his partners, "and with that you take a little more pride in [the sponsorship] to do the best job to represent the brand as a whole."

Zaxby's is considering launching in-store promotions this summer that will tie in to the sponsorship, but the major goal right now, Baxley said, is to "go into new areas and make the brand awareness strong."

NASCAR sponsorship is an effective way to do that, Boyle says.

"The thing about NASCAR fans is that they are extremely loyal to the brands that are represented by their favorite drivers," he said.

gcebrzyn@nrn.com