Sponsor: Danica hype tops ‘wildest dreams’
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Aside from the attention garnered by NASCAR, the biggest benefactor of Danica Patrick’s move to the Sprint Cup Series is likely her primary sponsor, Go Daddy.
The Internet domain registrar recently set a sales record for a Sunday (and also broke its one-day mark for mobile website traffic) on Feb. 5, when it ran two Super Bowl commercials that featured Patrick. Patrick’s 10 appearances in Super Bowl commercials set a record for a celebrity, according to advertising analysis company Sourcee creative.
Bob Parsons, Go Daddy’s executive chairman and founder, said the company planned to build on its promotions.
“When Danica has fun,” Parsons said, “good things happen.”
Before the Daytona 500 was delayed by rain Sunday, Parsons talked with USA TODAY about Patrick’s splash in Cup, Go Daddy’s plans and a commercial campaign that has stirred up controversy:
Q: How’s your first trip to Daytona’s Speedweeks been?
A: It’s been pretty exciting four days. This has been the Danica Daytona 500. We were sad about the downs but thrilled about the ups. I’ve always fol- lowed this (race) on TV, and I can’t think of any Daytona 500 where one driver has been talked about as much as she has. Q: Did you expect that attention? A: I knew she’d receive a disproportionate amount of attention. I had no idea to this extent. This is beyond our wildest dreams.
Q: It’s been a roller coaster ride, with Patrick crashing Thursday, winning the pole Friday and crashing Saturday.
A: Yes. Well, scientifically, she should win today. Or she should finish well.
Q: Have you quantified any impact via the traffic to your website?
A: I can tell you that’s being done. The only thing I know is business is good.
Q: What is the plan for next season if Patrick moves to Sprint Cup Series full time, as she has indicated? Will you go with her, and can you afford the increase in the sponsorship price?
A: We’ll look at that next year. It’s going to be driven by what Danica wants to do. We’re in NASCAR because Danica wanted to be in NASCAR. I encouraged (her move). But this is what she wants to do. Would I support her running in the (Indianapolis) 500? Yeah, if she wants to.
Whatever she wants, I’m standing alongside her. I’d probably be with her if she wanted to take up figure skating. If we can (afford Cup), we will do it. Where are we going to find someone better for us than Danica?
Q: Go Daddy has leveraged Patrick’s sex appeal with some edgy commercials. How did that become the company’s branding strategy?
A: We did that for the first time in 2005 (with actress Candice Michelle) when we spoofed the Janet Jackson (Super Bowl halftime show). Back then, there wasn’t even a “Go Daddy Girl.” The media came up with that term. We did that commercial, and our market share jumped from 6%-8% to 25% the next week.
So if you did that and you owned a business and received a jump like that, would you do it again? That answers your question.
But Danica is always the hero, looking at whoever’s edgy. She’s the straight woman. If you really dissect our commercials, they receive a lot more negative credit than they actually deserve. There’s never a suggestion of sex. There’s never any nudity. There’s nothing like that.
Q: How did Patrick’s Super Bowl commercials do this year?
A: There’s only one way to judge a commercial: by sales. We broke all our sales records this year by far. I was pretty happy with it.