The V8 Ute series is strictly business

Australian V8 Ute Racing

The Aim To deliver brand awareness and market positioning through a multi tier marketing platform offering: 

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. 

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.

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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.

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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: 

Motor Racing is now the second largest sport worldwide in television and spectator share – second only to Soccer.

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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

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Attendance of V8 Supercar events has doubled from 909,400 in 1997, to over 1.7 million in 2005.

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The Clipsal 500 holds the record attendance for a V8 Supercar round with 270,000 fans over the 4 days of the event.

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Motor Racing is the third most attended spectator sport in Australia - only horse racing and AFL are bigger in attendance.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Ute’s make up 25% of all Falcon and Commodore new vehicle sales. This is a big and growing market.

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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.

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This will include 8 x 1 hour programmes and live races from Eastern Creek, Symmons Plains and Phillip Island.

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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.

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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;         

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Local media releases when applicable to specific racing events.

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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.

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Annual events and Networking opportunities.

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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

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Television exposure in excess of 3 million viewers based on previous ratings for the timeslot (not including regional, cable or International coverage.)

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Free to air exposure on 2 free to air Networks, (Australia and NZ) and International exposure through Europe and Asia

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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.

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Other commercial partners committed long term for the series include Ford, Holden, Rodney Jane Racing Wheels. Disc Brakes Australia, Ferodo, Berklee Exhausts and Yokohama.

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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.

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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