Entitlement sponsorships are very common in today's day and age. Consumers have become cognizant of the fact that Food Lion sponsors the local speedway and Pepsi is a title sponsor of the television halftime show. But outside of brand awareness, what do these tite/presenting sponsorship assets really mean to brands?

Over the past two (2) years, Crown Royal has given race entitlement rights a whole new meaning. The Canadian Spirits brand (owned and operated by Diageo) has utilized its race entitlement rights to demonstrate how highly they value their customers. Crown Royal has effectively developed a "Your Name Here" promotion that offers consumers the chance to become the presenting sponsor of a NASCAR race and serve as the event's grand marshal.  

This year's winner was Dan Lowry, who was treated to the weekend of a lifetime at Richmond International Speedway on May 3rd. Lowry discovered he won during a helicopter unveiling ceremony over the Las Vegas strip with Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford Fusion. As the official race title featured his name, Dan's moniker appeared on everything from race tickets to merchandise to the trophy itself.

What was Dan's story? Dan wrote about how recognizing Crown Royal bottles amidst labels he didnt recognize made him feel like home wasn't that far away during his time spent in Venezuela.

Crown Royals markets the "Your Name Here" promotion in a variety of media channels, although it is important to note that they do not support the promotion through traditional advertising spend. Crown Royal utilized a heavy media relations push and leveraged its sponsorship of the No. 26 Jamie McMurray car to encourage fans to enter the contest by telling their favorite responsible Crown Royal memories (a nice brand tie-in). In total, the promotional effort achieved more than 200MM media impressions in '08.