Australian V8 Ute Racing
The Aim
To deliver brand awareness and market positioning through a multi tier
marketing platform offering:
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Mass media exposure particularly television,
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Promotional campaigns to aid sales pull through at the dealer end,
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Brand association with a unique, high profile motor racing series,
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To grow top of mind market share with a new and innovative campaign that will add
personality to the brand.
The Strategy
To offer a commercial partnership rights in an exciting motor racing series
supporting the V8 Supercar Championship - the V8 Utes.
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The V8 Ute series is strictly business - Show Business!
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32 identical Ford and Holden V8 Utes are driven by a stellar cast of celebrities. This
is a celebrity race in its own right- a superb entertainment package that gets the
crowd yelling for more!
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Twice Bathurst winner Allan Grice, Ex-NRL footballer Jack Elsegood, Golden Guitar
winning country star Adam Brand, Son of a Legend James Brock, Wollongong’s
Damien “Ice” White, TV weatherman Grant Denyer, Dean Canto, Warren Luff have all
cut the mustard in V8 Ute’s.

The V8 Utes series is all about crowd appeal, official polls prove the Utes come in
second only to V8 Supercars and are the preferred support category.

The Australian V8 Utes Series offers a unique marketing position at a
fraction of the price of other motor sport investments.
The Business
Why motor racing as a marketing platform:
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Motor Racing is now the second largest sport worldwide in television and spectator
share – second only to Soccer.

NASCAR in the United States has shown that a touring car category can be more
popular than the traditional ball sports – NASCAR is now the 2nd most watched
sport in the USA

Attendance of V8 Supercar events has doubled from 909,400 in 1997, to over
1.7 million in 2005.

The Clipsal 500 holds the record attendance for a V8 Supercar round with 270,000
fans over the 4 days of the event.

Motor Racing is the third most attended spectator sport in Australia - only horse
racing and AFL are bigger in attendance.

Female Audience is up 10% in 2006, now over a third of all TV viewers
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White collar audience is up – now 56% of the total audience

The opening round of V8 Supercars from the streets of Adelaide attracted a peak of
1.46 million viewers. The Bathurst 1,000 attracted a cumulative of 2 million over the
three days of the telecast.

Family audience is up – to almost 40%
MOTOR RACING IS THE GROWTH SPORT IN ALL
KEY DEMOGRAPHICS
Type of Motorsport Followed
The following is an extract from the 2005 Sweeney Sports Report
proving the appeal of the V8 Supercar circus.
80%
70%
72%
72%
60%
50%
50%
40%
30%
30%
31%
20%
10%
0%
Indy Cart
Super Tourers
S1
Rallying
Formula 1
V8 Supercars
V8 Supercar Championship Series Attendance
1,800,000
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
"1998"
"1999"
"2000"
"2001"
"2002"
"2003"
S1
"2004"
"2005"
V8 Supercars as a Great Family Day Out:
Disagree
8%
Neutral
4%
Fans Agree
88%
V8 Supercars Caters for both Men and Women:
Disagree Neutral
6%
5%
Fans Agree
89%
Positioning
What is the V8 Ute positioning compared to V8 Supercars:

V8 Ute’s own a very defined niche – and offer much of the benefits associated with
V8 Supercars at a fraction of the investment level of mainstream sports.

The V8 Ute category delivers Australia’s heartland - Ford Vs Holden V8 and the rural
culture and urban appeal reflected in the series delivers great opportunities.

Ute’s make up 25% of all Falcon and Commodore new vehicle sales. This is a big
and growing market.

V8 Supercars are serious business: While V8 Ute racing is serious – the key values
are as follows:
Entertainment, fun, larrikin but not bogan, truly Australian , more urban than country
in appeal, masculine and approachable.
The Media
All V8 Ute races (Australian Grand Prix TV still under confirmation) are televised on freeto- air television in Australia and TV One in New Zealand. The V8 Ute
television package also goes to Fox Sports nationally, Motors TV Europe and
South East Asia.

SEVEN NETWORK 2007 - Coverage of the V8 Ute series will go to air nationally on
the SEVEN Network with a minimum of 8 hours committed.

This will include 8 x 1 hour programmes and live races from Eastern Creek,
Symmons Plains and Phillip Island.

The replay timeslot will be a stand alone 1 hour “V8 Utes” branded programme
Saturday 4 – 5 pm leading into the new V8 Supercar magazine style show.

The TV programme will be produced by a new TV Production Company formed by V8
Supercars Australia and will be replayed within 2/3 weeks of each series
round.
The Calendar
The 2007 V8 Ute series will feature 8 championship rounds and one non
championship round. (All series rounds will be with the main V8 Supercar Championship,
except Wakefield Park which is the only stand alone Fujitsu series sound in 07)
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Mar 1 – 4
Clipsal 500
Mar 16-18
Australian Grand Prix
Mar 30 - Apr 1 Wakefield Park
Jun 9 -11
Eastern Creek
Jun 22 – 24
Sky City Challenge
Jul 19 -22
Queensland Raceway
Sep 14 – 16
Sandown 500
Oct 18 – 21
Lexmark Indy 300
7 Nov 16 -18
Tasmania Challenge
8 Nov 29 – Dec 2 Grand Finale
1
*
2
3
4
5
6
• Non-Championship Round
Round 6 will be either Sandown or Indy
Decision TBC January
Adelaide
Melbourne
Goulburn
Sydney
Darwin
Ipswich
Melbourne or
Surfers Paradise
Launceston
Phillip Island
The Replay Dates
These dates are subject to final confirmation however can be used as a
guide;
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1
*
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
March 18
Mar 16-18
April 21st
Jun 9 - 11
July 8th
August 5
Nov 4
Nov 25
Dec 16
4 – 5 pm
Australian Grand Prix
TV yet to be confirmed
As part of Pukekohe V8 Supercar telecast
Live
4- 5 pm
4- 5 pm
4- 5 pm
4- 5 pm
4- 5 pm
Eastern Creek V8’s
Plus Live races from Eastern Creek, Symmons Plains and Phillip Island
* Non-Championship Round
Round 6 will be either Sandown or Indy
Decision TBC January
The Ute Culture
V8 Ute racing has broad appeal to all key demographics and has a unique
appeal to the “grass roots” motor racing fan as well as the established
sports professional.

The unique appeal of the Ute series gives the opportunity to explore key events such
as the Deniliquin Ute Muster which this year attracted over 6,000 Ute’s.

The culture of the series ensures it has a much broader appeal than just the
dedicated race fan and offers many other leverage opportunities not normally
associated with a motor racing base.

Together with the racing audience, this offers a powerful marketing opportunity that
can be tapped effectively with the right promotional additives.
The Team
The Benefits
The Promotional Activities
The Investment
 The Value:
 The Investment:
The PR Campaign
A complete PR and marketing campaign supports the V8 Ute series.

This includes regular media releases to all national motor sport publications and
mainstream press outlets.

Local media releases when applicable to specific racing events.

An interactive website with an impressive national and international click through
rate. www.v8utes.com.au
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On-track press conferences, driver appearances and promotional opportunities.

Annual events and Networking opportunities.

Promotional campaigns in store and within targeted publications
The Value
This package is totally integrated to deliver branding, product positioning
and supported by a promotional media pull through on the Seven Network.

Exposure to over 1 million spectators on track

Television exposure in excess of 3 million viewers based on previous ratings for
the timeslot (not including regional, cable or International coverage.)

Free to air exposure on 2 free to air Networks, (Australia and NZ) and International
exposure through Europe and Asia

Unique personality endorsement covering broad demographics
KEY TARGET MARKET
Males 18 - 54
Absolute Core 18 - 39
The Contacts
The Partners
The Australian Ute Racing Company is owned by the 32 shareholders that
each own vehicles or entries in the series.

The Company has been granted the category management rights for the series from
the Confederation of Australian Motorsport for a period of 10 years. This gives the
series great continuity and a long term horizon to develop a real impact for the series
and the brand.

Other commercial partners committed long term for the series include Ford, Holden,
Rodney Jane Racing Wheels. Disc Brakes Australia, Ferodo, Berklee Exhausts and
Yokohama.

Regular review programmes are held with all partners to ensure that key objectives
are met. Exposure counts are released after each telecast and distributed to all
partners.

The Australian Ute Racing Company has appointed SPHERIX – a management
Company owned by professional motor sport consultants Bill West and
Craig Denyer to organise, administer, promote and manage the series
on a three year term.
www.v8utes.com.au