Vassarette, a heritage lingerie brand once owned by VF Corp., was a mainstay in the value-priced intimates department at Wal-Mart. To stave off competition from other budget brands and private label, Vassarette aligned itself with NASCAR, which has a huge following among Wal-Mart shoppers, by sponsoring three female drivers over a period of two years. The sports marketing program included personal appearances by the drivers at Wal-Mart stores in key locations along the NASCAR tour circuit and Vassarette sought to leverage its unique promotion with extensive media coverage to generate consumer excitement and enhance brand loyalty.
Our Solution:
Fineberg Publicity’s initial task was to media train the first of Vassarette’s drivers, Tina Gordon, to effectively deliver the brand’s product message points while facing the press during Vassarette’s sponsorship announcement at NASCAR’s season-opening media day in Daytona.
Tina’s debut as Vassarette’s spokeswoman was a success, receiving extensive print, online and broadcast coverage from the media and Fineberg Publicity followed the launch event with a regional press campaign that secured Vassarette pre-event coverage in newspapers, radio stations and morning news programs to promote each in-store appearance at the Vassarette lingerie display.
When Tina was succeeded by veteran driver Shawna Robinson and fellow rookie Kim Crosby the following year, we sustained our string of successful media placements with each driver, landing coverage in regional media and national outlets such as USA Today, Women’s Wear Daily, FOX & Friends and FOX News Network.
