The Coast Guard and NASCAR

[SKC Raymond Kurtz]

You may or may not know that the Coast Guard racing team has a new driver, actually two of them. Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. In an interview he gave this week Kevin said that what he liked best about the Coast Guard was ice breaking. Jeff Burton said quoting now "I like the part where they kick the bad guys' a@@," he says. "They're pretty good at that, too."

I liked Justin Labonte, but I just can't believe that the Coast Guard was able to sponser a Richard Childress Racing car and drivers of the cabiler of Harvick and Burton. I guess with enough money all things are possible. I look forward to seeing the Coast Guard in victory circle for more than one race.

[BMCS Burt Ford]

I wonder if they are doing a "public service" or being compensated? At one time, we could not buy stuff like that!

[FSC Jayare Parker (Ret)]

I heard we were paying 5 millon to sponsor Justin Labonte last year. Now with Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton driving there should be more coverage of the CG car and hopefully more in the Winners Circle.

Jayare

[PAC Jamie Devitt-Chacon ret]

We definitely pay. A lot. Millions.

[PACS Steve Carleton]

I am not in the loop on the $$ spent for this endeavor. I suspect that it is a tidy little sum of cash.

Let's rewind a few months when we were front page news on every major newspaper and nearly every major network with our Katrina/Rita efforts. We looked pretty good.

With our efforts during the hurricane relief efforts, it wouldn't be difficult to work out a deal for a partial season in NASCAR.

When I was up at recruiting advertising, we used to get a pitch package nearly every week to put USCG in various levels of NASCAR. I would suspect that RCR probably sent a pitch to us rather than us going to them.

Doesn't everybody want to be associated with a winner?

[BMC Ken Gouge]

I think it's about time we got off of LaBonte's car, he is so Busch League :D

I love it. I think it is a 110% improvement over the WWF thing we tried years ago.

As a side note, try to get your boat crews and cutters to get some cool video footage so we can see something other than Air Station stuff on that S.O.S. show.

[ETC Pat Kaschube]

Not being a NASCAR fan I think the money headed towards this could be much better spent in other areas. I have a couple of recruiter friends that are above their quota's by summer more often than not. They are not in big NASCAR friendly areas. If we are spending milions on NASCAR, Hell, I'll take an additional $5,000 for my annual operating budet. Or I'll forgo that if the CG will provide more money for training. Not just "C" schools but improved A schools. Again I'm not a NASCAR fan but to me it's not a big leap from the professional wrestling world to NASCAR. Oh wait we advertised in "pro" wrestling also didn't we?

[PACS Steve Carleton]

Ken,

Thanks for stimulating the surface folks to shoot video. From the PA side of the house, we don't always get video from the surface community, it makes it hard to pitch to a production cmpany when you don't have imagery to pitch.

[BMCS Dennis Endicott ret]

It's hard to hold a video camera and a line/pistol/throttle/steering wheel/boathook/absorbent boom/alidade/wrench/the hand of someone drowning while bouncing around in 0-30 foot seas, peering through the fog, looking for that submerged rock or reef, taking fixes, talking on the radio, etc.

I suppose we could have our co-pilot do it, though.

[BMC Ken Gouge]

When I went to Cape D for C-school they were prototyping a permanently mounted camera that would be similar to a cops dash-cam. Had problems with it taking waves though... Maybe we need PA's at stations :rolleyes:

[PAC Jamie Devitt-Chacon ret]

The powers that be say that NASCAR is NOT a recruiting initiative. Repeat. Not a recruiting initiative. It is a PA/visability tool. Let the American people know we exist. Stand and be recognized.

Never mind the amazing coverage we had during Katrina. And 9/11. And during everything else we do on a daily basis.

[BMCS Mark Stauffer]

NASCAR is NOT a recruiting initiative. Repeat. Not a recruiting initiative. It is a PA/visability tool.

I don't understand how it is not a recruiting initiative when part of recruiting is increasing the visibility of the Coast Guard. If the Coast Guard kept a low profile would people file into the recruiting offices? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they went with Harvick and Burton, my concern would be that Harvick has been known to say and do some pretty stuipid things on camera. Burton is a safe bet.

[BMCS Burt Ford]

Maybe some one can help me here. Years ago when we were on WWE, I was told, I think at CPOA,we could not "buy" airtime for recruiting as the others services do. We could only play "public service announcements". Hence why they are always later in the day. Could the NASCAR angle, give us a legal way to advertise to get around public service? If so, no one can ever say its for recruiting. Anyone know? Recruiters do you all know? Can we buy airtime for recruiting?

[BMCM Deane Smith]

My BM3 gets to go to the race this weekend (with RDML Houck) in California as part of the D13 EPOY festivities. He won a drawing. That should be a good time. If you watch the race, look for the coasties around the CG car.

[PAC Jamie Devitt-Chacon ret]

It is my understanding that we do buy advertising time. The Shield of Freedom commericals are on during target times (read -- reaching our target audience -- I never see them). We didn't use to have a budget to buy time, but I think that changed.

NASCAR raises visability, but doesn't really affect recruiting. We actually have applicants who go to the website, call, or walk in tell us how they heard about us. I want to say that two (2) applicants, Coast Guard wide, said last year that the reason they knew about us was because of NASCAR.

Not a recruiting initiative.

[BMC Ken Gouge]

Target audience probably means they run it between info-mercials at 3 in the morning. Probably right between adds that tell you you can make wheelbarrows full of money with no investment on your part.

[PACS Steve Carleton]

Just to clear a few things up regarding advertising, and recruiting advertising in particular. I was assigned there and have a pretty good grasp on how and what is involved.

1. Advertising is not cheap! Not only do you have to buy the time, but you have all the behind the scenes production costs.

2. CG Recruiting Advertising does not have a budget large enough to compete with the other Services, or other advertisers for that matter.

3. Advertising campaigns have different goals, some of those goals are not necessarily aimed at a "target audience" -- I won't bore you with the details of how it all works -- sometimes the goal is awareness of a product/position/location/process, etc. (insert NASCAR here or even WWE)

4. In the world of advertising, you need an advertising agency to negotiate deals on your behalf for advertisment placement, they have far more negotiating power through their contacts than say the Coast Guard does trying to go to a media outlet directly

Keeping all of that in mind, the Coast Guard Recruiting Advertising Branch works a program called Non Commercial Sustained Agreement (NCSA). This program allows the Coast Guard to "purchase" time through fees paid to the individual State Broadcasting Associations who, in turn, encourage their member stations both radio and TV to run our ads. The Army National Guard has used this program for years with some success.

There are limitations with this program:

1. Some advertising during prime time is negotiated with the major networks.

2. The NCSA Program doesn't allow for the purchaser (Coast Guard ) to directly choose when our ads are played, (beggars cannot be choosers) We can ask that a certain percentage of ad placements occur during optimum viewing/listening hours -- not 0000 -- 0400

3. These contracts are re-negotiated each and every year and, yes, they ask for increases to the money that is paid.

4. The ads air when nobody has purchased time from the local stations, watch your local news and take note of when an ad appears for a local business, this was bought through the local station and not the network.


There are success:

Coast Guard advertisements have appeared during major sporting events because a local business failed to buy that piece of time.

Overall though, the Coast Guard does get a pretty good bang for the buck with this program.

[BMCS Jim Madsen]

I wonder how many millions it costs to sponser a NACAR car? To curb some productions costs, can't the CGLO in Hollywood call in some favors? I know that this could be "ethically questionable", but we do spend our resource time helping them with their shows. Sure, in return we recieve some "face time", but it seems to me that this could be done. Are there no Auxilliarists with "influence" in Hollywood? It would be nice if the network broadcasting the Super Bowl would give a little "face time" to the hard working Coasties that are providing waterborn security for the game. Particulary those that were in the frigid waters of the Great Lakes this year. We have an auxilliarist here who's job is public affairs for his company. We can hardly move without a story in the paper or TV news crew here. It may not be "National", but it sure reminds folks that there IS Coast Guard here in Eastern Washington.

[MSTC Michael Schmidtke]

I wonder how many millions it costs to sponser a NACAR car?

I don't have the numbers for the Bush Series, but in NASCAR itself, "hood" sponsors pay between $12-20+ million a year (at least it was in that ballpark last year). Quarter panel sponsor (or secondary) spent $3-8 Mil...

Bush cars don't rake in that kind of dough, but I would say it's not that much less, and this is just my guestimate, but they probably throw in the ballpark of $10-12 mil a year.

[BMC Ralph Williams]

They need all that money for all the engines they blow! :D

[BMC Ken Gouge]

Say what you want, but if they are gonna sponsor at least they are doing it right this year. With Burton and Harvick backed by RCR, we will get better PR than last year. If the car you sponsor has trouble qualifying and consistently runs in the back of the field you don't get ANY bang for your buck.

Yesterday, the color commentator had a ball with it as Burton made his way through the pack to take the lead and eventually finish 4th. He was saying things like "here comes the Coast Guard to save the day" and "prepare to be boarded, here comes the Coast Guard" I got a kick out of it.

As popular as NASCAR is, that was better face time than a cheaply produced commercial with horrible music at 3am.

[PACS Steve Carleton]

I was watching the qualifying show on Saturday afternoon and Harvick was wearing the Coast Guard helmet even though he was driving a different car.

I gotta say, regardless of the amount of $$, it is always good visibility when our car finishes strong...Lots of camera time

[MSTC Michael Schmidtke]

Hey, I'm not a Busch series fan, but since we have 2 competitve drivers...I'm watching the races on Sat. too.

You will see the CG Car in Victory Lane many times this year! This was a GREAT MOVE!

[BMCM Deane Smith]

I gotta say, regardless of the amount of $$, it is always good visibility when our car finishes strong...Lots of camera time

The only problem that I saw was that if the camera shows the side of the car and you don't speak spanish...you may not know who the sponsor is.

[LT Arthur Nelson (MKC) (Ret)]

Jeff Burton & Team Coast Guard should have won the race. It was his until the final yellow flag and he didn't take any tires. Still, fourth place is really good & his / our car got lots of camera time.
Although I think if the car was painted white with the visible CG stripes across the hood would be better.