Dixon saves Target Sponsorship for the Chipster?

[disko]

any truth to the rumor that Gannassi had to win the 500 for target to stay? Chip grabbed Scott and says, "this was huge", with a sigh of relief after the victory. Chip was more animated this month than usual, like more was on the line.

well done. congratulations scott!

[Hoop-98]

no

[PA Rick]

I think Chip just wanted his very own quart of milk. He was REALLY enjoying it in victory circle.

[Yankee Racer]

It may be huge because they don't have a sponsor for 2009 and this well help them get a non-Target one.

On a side note, was the Wii Fit sponsorship through Target because you can buy a Wii Fit at Target, or was that actually a separate sponsor? Just throwing something out there based on absolutely nothing.

[Scheckterfan54]

Dont know anything for sure about LLoyd's entry but I know that on his pitbox it says Rahal Letterman/chip ganassi racing(not Target CG Racing)...It was odd today when chip said on the PA system that he has always wanted to tell everybody to go shop at target after the race, just was a little akward for him to say that for the first time today.

[PA Rick]

It may be huge because they don't have a sponsor for 2009 and this well help them get a non-Target one.

On a side note, was the Wii Fit sponsorship through Target because you can buy a Wii Fit at Target, or was that actually a separate sponsor? Just throwing something out there based on absolutely nothing.
Chip and Numan/Haas were masters at attracting a big store (Target/K-Mart) then "asking" the sub sponsers / suppliers to piggy back on the main sponsor. I can recall Dirt Devil/energiser etc which I believe were piggy back sponsors.

[Blancvino]

Chip and Numan/Haas were masters at attracting a big store (Target/K-Mart) then "asking" the sub sponsers / suppliers to piggy back on the main sponsor. I can recall Dirt Devil/energiser etc which I believe were piggy back sponsors.

Actually, the sub sponsors, most likely, foot the entire bill with co-op advertising. Big box retailers get money based on sales to be used for advertising. If Target did not have co-op money they just would not be a car sponsors. Years ago, when I was in computer sales, we got 6-10% of sales from manufacturers to use for advertising. Our firm was the main name on the material but the co-op vendor would be there too. We gave out caps with HP on the back with our company logo on the front. Same with shirts, tote bags, etc. I have been out of the business for almost 10 years so I suspect their vendors are cutting back on their co-op funding, thus pinching Target's ability to use those funds for the car sponsor program. As margin pressure forces down costs, the co-op bucks, most likely, are dropping too.

clink, clink ... 2 cents into the penny jar.

My take on race avertising is pretty well known.

[Wilf]

any truth to the rumor that Gannassi had to win the 500 for target to stay? Chip grabbed Scott and says, "this was huge", with a sigh of relief after the victory. Chip was more animated this month than usual, like more was on the line.

well done. congratulations scott!

This might provide some insight:

Bob Ulrich who has been at the helm of Target while they sponsored CGR stepped down as CEO on May 1, soon after he turned 65. But Ulrich will remain Target's chairman through January 2009.

Succeeding Ulrich as CEO will be veteran Target executive Gregg Steinhafel. CGR takes a whole lot of target's advertising budget and co-payments from their vendors.

This win will be a mighty important part of CGR presentation to the new CEO who has been part of Target's leadership team for years. It is not generally known which way he is leaning, but I'm sure Chip drank the milk as much to sooth his burning stomach as he did to savor the victory.