Yellow travels in fast company

Business magnate John Wanamaker once said half the money he spent on marketing was wasted — he just didn’t know which half.

But executives whose companies use NASCAR as an advertising vehicle say they can track almost to the dollar the return on their investment.

One of them is James Welch, president and chief executive officer of Yellow Transportation, a division of Overland Park-based YRC Worldwide Inc., which became involved in the racing business in 1997.

Yellow is unusual in the world of NASCAR in that most companies involved in such sponsorships are consumer brands such as Sprint Nextel and Home Depot, while Yellow is a business-to-business company. But the company believes that among the estimated 75 million NASCAR fans in the U.S. are many business decision makers and that their decisions may include who ships their products.

“We became involved in racing for several reasons, but primarily to build our business, and the return on investment is very important to us, and it’s something we can track,” Welch said.

Yellow started almost 10 years ago as an associate sponsor in the Craftsman Truck Series, and today it sponsors a car in the NASCAR Busch Series. The team’s driver, Johnny Sauter, ranks in the top 10 in points standing. And this weekend Yellow is the title sponsor of the Busch 300-mile race at Kansas Speedway.

There are three reasons Yellow is involved in racing, Welch said: to build its customer base, to build esprit de corps among its 25,000 employees and to build brand identity.

“We have 300,000 customers across the country, and a lot of those customers enjoy racing, and it allows us to have what we call relationship-building events,” Welch said.

This weekend Yellow will play host to 400 to 500 customers in its tent at the speedway.

Welch, who declined to reveal the company’s financial investment in NASCAR, said tracking the return on investment was fairly simple.

“We know who comes to these events, and we can track their spending with us and follow that throughout the year,” Welch said. “We find that typically those customers who attend our racing events, our business with them grows faster and more.”

Another reason to be involved in racing, Welch said, is that many of the company’s employees are racing fans.

“It’s a rallying point for our employees,” Welch said. “When you see your car on TV, you make a connection, you feel proud.”