Do you remember when we were peppered with all the television commercials and sponsor spots that would tell us to go to ASK.com to find this out, find that out, etc., etc.?
It didn’t work for me. I’ve been mired deep into Google and Google does the job well enough for what I want.
I’m guessing that maybe the estimated $15 million that ASK dropped on their NASCAR foray also didn’t really sink in well with the company. Or at least the company’s new CEO, Doug Leeds.
Leeds said they had a great year last year (2009) but they’ve undergone a marketing strategy change. He said they’re working on the website and marketing will come back online in the back half of 2010. Of note, he did not specifically say that they’ll be back in NASCAR marketing, but I just might be looking too deeply at the phrase. You’ll have to pardon me… dissecting marketing is a hobby for me.
Yet there are some noted impacts.
ASK was integrated into the NASCAR website.
ASK reps (The hot chicks) I mean Ask Ambassadors passed out fan cards that saw a pretty decent conversion rate… meaning people took those cards, and 27% of them went to use ASK.com.
Despite they’re not renewing, my web browser still shows ASK as the Official Search Engine of NASCAR. Maybe my browser cache hasn’t refreshed itself yet. The article image was a snapshot from today. The IT guys need to get on that pretty soon if that’s not the case anymore. I’d recommend snagging a search window from Google Adsense. It does the same thing, but possibly better.
See ya ASK. Sorry you couldn’t stick around.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Times are tough and it is to bad that companies have to make decisions like this.
Look at JR Motorstorts, they have yet to get a full time sponsor for the #88 Nationwide team.
Lets just hope that these tough times come to a end soon.