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After the avalanche of negative news that poured down on the NTT IndyCar Series last fall, practically every aspect of the series has come under fire from fans. IndyCar Marketing has not been immune from the criticism. Some is deserved, while a lot of it is not. Marketing and PR are both easy targets for any entity, be it Comcast, the NFL or Nationwide Insurance. It’s low hanging fruit anytime something is not going swimmingly.

I actually majored in marketing in college. I have rarely used my marketing degree in my career, and my training was almost forty-five years ago. That probably means I remember just enough to be dangerous, if I ever try to pass myself off as a marketing expert. But I do remember this much…marketing is a lot harder than it seems. Even though I’ve lobbed a few barbs their way over the years, I usually try to give IndyCar Marketing the benefit of the doubt.

That being said, there was a major misstep many years ago that cannot be overlooked. I was reminded of it this past Monday when I was having a water-cooler conversation at work. We don’t actually have a water cooler at work, but I guess that sounds better than saying we were standing around talking about stuff other than work. One of my co-workers was talking about Gene Simmons of KISS, and how he has become a caricature of himself in recent years. It brought back vivid memories of a failed marketing campaign I would prefer to forget.

It’s hard to believe that it has been eighteen years since IndyCar first announced they were joining forces with the Hollywood-based Simmons Abramson Marketing Company. This was a marketing firm founded by Gene Simmons, and entertainment industry veteran Richard Abramson.

Brian Barnhart was President of IndyCar then, and Tony George was CEO. They and other IndyCar officials at that time became smitten with Simmons, who attended several races during the 2005 season. He and Abramson met with the top brass at IndyCar, and they did a schmooze job on IndyCar. The partnership was announced in a Jan 10, 2006 press-release that said in-part; “The broad-based agreement will see Simmons Abramson Marketing actively engaged in the league’s marketing, event, public relations, sponsorship, merchandising and branding efforts – from its IndyCar Series to the venerable Indianapolis 500.”

IndyCar essentially jumped in bed with both feet to align with Gene Simmons. They pretty much entrusted everything with Simmons, who seemed to have suddenly become a marketing guru – at least in the eyes of IndyCar officials. Keep in mind, there is no one associated with the series today, that was there when this decision was made.

Also included in the press-release was the bold announcement of a new theme song for the series, penned by Simmons himself – I am Indy. Some of the praise for this anthem came from Simmons himself (of course, it did). The following is an excerpt from that January 2006 press-release:

“Today’s announcement of the partnership is highlighted with the debut of the ‘I Am Indy’ campaign that is anchored by a signature song, co-authored by Simmons and BAG. The effort marks the first official theme song for a modern professional sport. With its growling affirmations and foot-stomping, ‘We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions’ sensibility, the ‘I Am Indy’ song forges a resonant link between the drivers and the IndyCar Series fans.

"Indy cars are rockets on the ground. These drivers are modern knights in shining armor, risking their lives at close to 225 mph," Simmons said. "’I Am Indy’ speaks to the independent spirit in all of us."

Most of the readers of this site have very vivid memories of the I am Indy campaign, that was accompanied by that dreadful song of the same name (which cynics quickly amended to “I am Mindy”). If you need reminding of how cringe-worthy this song and entire marketing campaign was, I have done you the service of providing a You Tube video of one of the many spots that aired.

Did they really have the nerve to compare this atrocity with Queen’s We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions? For some reason, I don’t think that the remaining members of Queen were nervous that this was going to overtake their iconic anthem in sports arenas around the globe.

It didn’t take long for this whole campaign to become an absolute laughing stock among fans. It didn’t help that I am Indy was launched just a few years after another IndyCar punch-line – Driven. It wasn’t as if fans grew tired of the whole campaign over the course of a few seasons. It was a source of mockery by the time the Month of May came around that same season.

I cannot over-emphasize how much hype there was leading up to the announcement that IndyCar had teamed up with a “rock legend” like Gene Simmons. Nor can I over-emphasize how much fans hated the entire I am Indy campaign, along with the hokey rock anthem that went with it. I can only imagine the mockery and snarky memes that would have been created had social media been prominent back then. Still, fans were very vocal at their disdain for such a lame marketing campaign.

Despite the fan’s dislike for I am Indy, the series stuck with it. I guess they had invested so much into the pockets of Gene Simmons, they had no choice but to use what they had already paid for. I don’t exactly remember when exactly I am Indy was officially retired by the series, but I do remember it was way overdue.

So, whenever the urge strikes you to complain about what IndyCar Marketing is or is not doing, take a step back and remember how far they have come since someone thought that I am Indy was a good idea. It might make you appreciate the job they are doing today, just a little bit more.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on January 31, 2024 at 4:03 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.