Office Depot Inks Deal to be Official NASCAR Partner
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Office Depot first entered NASCAR in 2005, serving as the "Official Office Products Partner" of NASCAR and the primary sponsor for Carl Edwards and the No. 99 Office Depot race team. During this time, Office Depot has successfully utilized its NASCAR sponsorship as an integrated national marketing platform, encompassing a wide variety of the Company's marketing and merchandising assets including retail store programs, television and radio advertising, inserts, catalogs, e-commerce, and a variety of local and national promotions.
Office Depot is well-known for its unique "Official Small Business of NASCAR courtesy of Office Depot" promotion, which provides one small business with the opportunity for mass exposure by having its company name and logo featured on the No. 99 Office Depot race car during a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series(tm) race. The promotion has proved highly successful in reaching the millions of small business owners that are NASCAR fans while helping Office Depot to stand out among the many sponsors in the sport.
Office Depot serves as a long-standing, active member of the NASCAR Business to Business Council and leverages its NASCAR partnership to enhance customer relationships and develop new business opportunities within the sport. NASCAR is also prominently featured in the Company's associate communications activities with weekly online and internal television news stories that keep Office Depot's associates involved and informed about sponsorship activities.
"During the past four years, Office Depot and NASCAR have enjoyed a strong, successful and strategic partnership," said Chuck Rubin, President of North American Retail for Office Depot. "NASCAR has proven to be an excellent vehicle to help us continue to engage our small business customers and our associates in meaningful ways."
"NASCAR sponsors are the most sophisticated in sports, and Office Depot is one of the savviest businesses in NASCAR," said Jim O'Connell, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for NASCAR. "As a valued partner, Office Depot consistently develops creative and effective programs to reach the small business owners who are a large and important part of the NASCAR fan base. For good reason, in its rookie year in the sport, Office Depot was awarded the distinction of 'NASCAR Marketer of The Year.' We thank Office Depot for its support and look forward to many more years ahead for our partnership."
About Office Depot Every day, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides products and services to its customers through 1,670 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and a $4.9 billion e-commerce operation. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $15.5 billion, and employs about 49,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 43 countries.
Office Depot's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index.
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR), celebrating 60 years in 2008, is the sanctioning body for one of North America's premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport - holding 17 of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S., and is the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in more than 30 languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.
NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series), four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach (Fla.), NASCAR has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte (N.C.), Concord (N.C.), Conover (N.C.), Bentonville (Ark.), Mexico City, and Toronto.