Jason Dial, who was named president and CEO of Circuit of The Americas late last year, will be overseeing his first major race this month, the track’s second Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas.
“It’s going to be festive,” Dial promised. “We want to make sure our value equation is right, and that’s not just pricing but the content [fans] get when they’re here.”
The energetic Dial arrived at the circuit from Tampa Bay, where he was the chief marketing officer for the Buccaneers of the all-powerful NFL. The bulk of his career, however, was spent with Cincinnati-based soap-giant Procter & Gamble. That’s where he learned the marketing philosophies he’ll be using to spice up offerings and respond to challenges at the circuit.
“Everybody asked me how the heck do you go from P&G to sports?” Dial said. “It’s actually a little bit more logical than it appears because it’s about the consumer and running a business and the operations.”
Last year, Austin’s inaugural MotoGP race had a reasonably strong showing, with a three-day attendance of 131,082, including 61,091 fans for the Sunday race. Yet, the race was not Austin’s biggest motorcycling event of the year. The Republic of Texas Biker Rally in June annually attracts 200,000 riders, parade-watchers, and partiers, a gathering so huge the city ropes off 50 blocks downtown to hold all the riders and gawkers. Dial sees the more than 400,000 motorcycle owners in Texas as the potential core group of fans for MotoGP, whether those owners ride a Ducati, a Honda, or a Harley.
“They are five times more likely to be interested in coming to the race,” he said, comparing those riders to non-owners. “We had a look at our parking pricing and really adjusted that hard for the motorcycle crowd.”
This year, motorcycle parking will cost about one-half of what car owners will pay: $10 a day or $20 for a three-day pass. There will be a Ducati Island similar to the popular feature at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which no longer hosts a MotoGP race. Children 12 and under will be able to get in free when accompanied by an adult ticket-holder, and there are special rates for military personnel.
“We did that last year,” Dial said, “but we did it so late that people didn’t know about it.” He also touted an expanded list of merchants, vendors, and entertainment acts in the circuit’s Grand Plaza that will reflect the motorcycling culture, not merely motorcycle racing.
Although it wasn’t Dial’s doing, the latest coup for the circuit was landing 1993 500cc World Champion and Austin-area resident Kevin Schwantz as its ambassador for MotoGP and other two-wheel events. In a way, however, Schwantz’s presence will illustrate one of the problems for promoting MotoGP in the U.S. His title came at the end of an era when Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Rainey, and, finally, Schwantz, won 13 of 16 premier-class world championships.
But the last American rider to claim that crown was Nicky Hayden in 2006. Now, American riders, including Hayden, have fallen back in the pack, and there are enough great Spanish riders to take up the entire podium, the way they did at Austin’s inaugural Grand Prix last year.
Challenges, though, are something Dial said he relishes. He recalled arriving at P&G in 1991 shortly after it had purchased a once-popular product. “My first assignment was Old Spice. The first thing we identified was that nobody under 45 would touch the brand. Everyone under 45 said, ‘That’s my dad’s brand. That’s my grandpa’s brand.’ We were way down. We were the number 10 brand and declining.”
That sounded like sure death for the line or at least a sinking fate similar to that of Ivory soap, which P&G couldn’t revitalize. But Dial said research revealed younger consumers liked the smell of Old Spice, just not the image. So, P&G challenged teens to try the product and went with an ad agency known for being innovative.
“We were the first brand from the P&G portfolio awarded to Wieden + Kennedy,” Dial said. “Now look at the commercials. Nobody knows what the heck they mean but people laugh at them.”
Dial said the hugely successful turnaround was known at P&G as Project Shoelaces. “We want to get to get to know guys right down to their shoelaces,” he explained. “The consumer is boss. That’s in P&G’s DNA.”
Dial went on to become director of global sports marketing for P&G. He said that if he could create consumer loyalty for a deodorant or a dog food, he should be able to do the same in Austin for MotoGP.
“We’re going for repeat [business] right now, but we’re also trying to drive a ton of trail and awareness,” Dial said. “Loyalty will come over time.”