Office Depot began its fifth annual “Official Small Business of Nascar, Courtesy of Office Depot” competition on May 2, this year offering 30 days of bonus prizes in addition to the grand prize. The office supply retailer, which has its headquarters in Boca Raton, created the sweepstakes-style competition in 2004 and has added a new element each year.
“It’s been a very successful way to reach the small business owner and really differentiate Office Depot from the competition,” said Dan Richlen, vice president and group account director at Wunderman Chicago, Office Depot’s sports marketing agency. “People know that Office Depot does this promotion and how it really reaches the small business owner.”
As a way to help more businesses in the current economic climate, Office Depot is this year giving away a $1,400 gift card to one small business each day of the competition, which ends May 31. The winners will be chosen through a a random computer-generated selection and will still be eligible for the grand prize drawing.
Office Depot partnered with Nascar for the inaugural competition in 2004 after determining that many small business owners are Nascar fans. “It was the fit with the core customer that landed them with Nascar [for the promotion] and the loyalty of the fans,” Richlen said. “Nascar fans are very loyal to the sponsors that support the sport they love.”
Every year small business owners, employees, and consumers can enter a company—provided it has 99 or fewer employees—into the competition via the Web, however only the owner can win the grand prize. Though each person can only enter one company per day, a company can be nominated daily to increase its chances of winning. For last year's added element, the 2008 Office Depot Nascar driver Carl Edwards created a prerecorded audio message that small business owners could send to their friends and family asking listeners to vote for that company in the competition; the applicant personalized the message with their company's name via the Web site before emailing it to their friends.
The grand prize winner will once again have its company logo branded on the back of the Office Depot car, this year during the Pep Boys Auto 500 Nascar Sprint Cup Series race in Atlanta in September. (The sticker then will be moved to a small place on the car until the season's end in November). They will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Atlanta for the race and the opportunity to meet the car’s driver, Tony Stewart, at the unveiling of his newly branded car. Office Depot gift certificates and print services worth more than $16,000 will also be awarded to the winner.
