Well, well, well, looks like Caleb Hannan has his 15 minutes of fame. In case you’ve missed it, Hannan thought he’d have a little fun at NASCAR Nation’s expense with a little piece on the Seattle Weekly entitled “Attention Starbucks: NASCAR Fans Might Not Be In Your Target Market.”
Seems Mr. Hannan feels the need to educate the marketing department over at Starbucks about who they’re reaching by putting their logo on the #1 ride of Martin Truex Jr. He takes the old tried and true tack of stereotyping NASCAR fans as a bunch of backwoods buffoons fresh off the set of Deliverance. He opines, “$4 doesn’t describe what NASCAR’s Average Fan might spend on a cup of coffee so much as it describes what he might spend on an outfit.”
He draws upon his own experiences hanging out OUTSIDE Richmond International Speedway at tailgate parties, and a few of his NASCAR-loving friends in Virginia who wore ball caps and filled up their Mountain Dew bottles with chewing tobacco backwash. Hannan concludes that Starbucks is seriously wasting its money, because the fans he’s seen don’t fit his idea of Starbuck’s target market.
Well, if you’re reading young man, kick back a moment and let me educate you. According to a study by Scarborough Research published in February of 2009, over 39 percent of NASCAR fans surveyed were white-collar workers. Nearly 56 percent had incomes over $50,000 a year, not upscale, but not living in corrugated tin shacks either. Nearly 20 percent had incomes greater than $100,000 annually. Speaking of how NASCAR fans live, 75 percent own their own homes.
This NASCAR fan has frequented Starbucks on numerous occasions, though for the sake of disclosure, I quit drinking coffee and soda two weeks ago when my blood pressure readings looked like a speed chart from Talladega. Anecdotally speaking, from what I’ve seen, women look like a key demographic for the gourmet coffee giant, and this same Scarborough survey finds that NASCAR’s female fan base approaches 40 percent. I actually happen to be married to a NASCAR fan, herself a complete caffeine addict who has been known to enjoy a Mocha or two along the way.
Let me draw from personal experience, as you have Caleb. I live in the Pacific Northwest, the birthplace of Starbucks. Among my NASCAR-watching friends are a website designer, an archeologist, a hair dresser, a shop keeper, a pastor, and a newspaper advertising executive. To my knowledge, none of them chew tobacco, those not single are married to people that had different last names on their wedding day, they have all their teeth, and can read books without pictures in them. Oh, by the way, they’ve been known to spend money on such things as lattes and cappucinos They look a little different than the fans you describe. Of course, not every NBA fan is from the inner city, not every football fan is a knuckle-dragging troglodyte, and not every Yankees fan is from the Bronx.
Perhaps Hannan is just looking for attention. On the day job, as a radio sports anchor, I get a lot of guff from my non-NASCAR friends and listeners, because they know we NASCAR fans are passionate and we’ve trained ourselves well with a number of defenses for our love of what Jim Rome used to call the “Left Turn League.” Some people like jerking our chains for sport. If he was looking for attention, he got it- though I am not certain its the kind of attention he really wanted.
So, Caleb Hannan, I invite you to go to a real race sometime. Though NASCAR doesn’t stop off in the Northwest, go visit your local dirt track and get to know the good folks there. Yeah, more than likely you’ll see a blue collar tint to the seas of humanity, and a lot of people you’ll meet aren’t adverse to sipping a brew of the golden color, and they’ll be a simpler living kind of folk than you’ll meet in your country clubs, but it’s these people who built the country you live in pal.
Oh- one more thing- the NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader’s first name is JIMMIE Johnson.
Do yourself a favor. Don’t mess with a NASCAR fan.
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Here is a link to the story :
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/11/attention_starbucks_nascar_fan.php
I did two things. First, I let the Seattle weekly know what I think of Caleb Hannan in the article’s coments section.
Then I emailed Starbucks thanking them for the Truex sponsorship. We need to let companies know they are welcome in our sport and we will support them.
I encourage everyone to do the same.
NASCAR is losing sponsors faster than they are gaining them. We can use more companies getting involved.
Great article. Good suggestion to email Starbucks too. I will be emailing them today.
Thanks
Starbucks pricey,but you do get what you pay for.Personally I rarely drink starbucks.I am a bit of a coffee snob.I roast my own.I want to know what I am drinking.I do make a better cup then Starbucks for far less bucks.
Thanks,
Garret
Jim, great Job! I think Starbucks will be a great addition. I hope they make their coffee available during raceing events. Here in the midwest our races are frequently held in the early spring or late fall. It is frequently cool and damp. There have been many times while attending a race I have paid more than 4.00 for a cup of coffee. It was not Starbucks and closely resembled mud.Yet it chased off the chill, so worth the price. I would love to find out where the the reporter got his price list for a “Typical Nascar fan’s outfit” If you find out can you share it ? The last time I bought a t-shirt it set me back over $25.00.