Gain Racing Making Splash in Chicago

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (July 10, 2001)-Roush Racing driver Jeff Burton heads to Chicago this weekend to compete in his fourth Busch Series race in the No. 9 Gain Ford Taurus. This will be more than just the team's fourth race of its 11-race schedule; it will also be a major splash for team sponsor, Gain Laundry Detergent, a product of Procter & Gamble.

Chicago is a major market for the Cincinnati, Ohio-based company, and Gain is participating by supplying a number of resources to build brand awareness for both Gain and Roush Racing while also emphasizing the partnership between Gain and its retailers.

"The Chicago area is one of the Gain brand's key opportunity areas for this fiscal year," said Cindy Mattingly, Gain Racing Manager.

"By leveraging racing in this area we have generated a great deal of interest and excitement which will drive increased feature, display, and awareness of the Gain brand overall."

Gain is providing showcars at Jewel stores in the metro Chicago area during the weeks prior to the race, from July 4-14. Jewel/Osco responded by running ads in all the area newspapers with exact locations and times. Jewel/Osco also partnered with Gain to run a full-color ad in the Chicago Tribune to highlight an in-store "special" on Gain that occurred July 1.

"The print ad was intended to solidify the partnership between the retailer and Gain as well as bring the association between brand/retailer to the mind of the consumer in purchase decision," said Mattingly.

"Also, the print ads reinforce to ever growing numbers of race fans that Gain and the retailer support and participate in their sport, a sport that they are often emotionally tied. Above and beyond that, we will have Jewel/Osco's logo on the TV panel for that race for reinforcement of the brand/retail presence.

"It's our hope that these type of activities will help drive sustainable and mutually profitable partnerships between retail partners and Gain far beyond race weekends. While we don't currently have a retail partner in every race market for the remainder of our schedule, we are currently evaluating the many opportunities we have identified and expect many of them will look like the Jewel/Osco Chicago execution during this first year of Gain Racing."