A Career Lesson Marketers Need Right Now
Some defining lessons in brand and consumer marketing leadership
A Career Lesson Marketers Need Right Now
By Barbara Karasek, CEO, AiOpti
Early in my career, as Director of Consumer Marketing for NASCAR, I was given a mandate at that became a defining lesson in brand and consumer marketing leadership: “Put NASCAR where NASCAR wasn’t.”
At first, that directive seemed simple—expand into new markets and consumer segments. But the reality was anything but. We needed to grow the fan base in places like New York and Los Angeles, appeal to new demographics including Hispanic/Latino, female, and younger audiences, and do all of this without alienating the loyal core fans and core media partners who had carried the sport for generations.
In hindsight, the challenge wasn’t just about marketing geography or demographics—it was a data problem. We didn’t have direct relationships with fans in those markets. We lacked the insights to know how they perceived NASCAR, what barriers stood in the way of adoption, and what messages or experiences would break through. In short, we didn’t have the first-party data to fuel true audience targeting.
That was my crash course in the power—and the gaps—of data-driven marketing.
But we got to work with lots of grit, collaboration with sponsor data teams, and tremendous amounts of hard work.
When Data Isn’t Enough
At the time, NASCAR leaned heavily on institutional broadcast partnerships, sponsors, sponsor activations, and media deals. These delivered broad awareness, but they didn’t give us the clarity we needed about individual fans, not to mention NEW individual fans. We were effectively marketing through intermediaries rather than building direct relationships.
This became painfully clear when we tried to grow share in top broadcast markets. We could buy media in New York and Los Angeles, but were we reaching the right fans? Were we spending efficiently? Were our messages resonating? We didn’t know.
So, we went back to basics. We invested in consumer research—what fans and potential fans thought about the sport, their motivations, and their misconceptions. We learned, for example, that while NASCAR was often viewed as a Southern tradition, audiences in New York and LA were curious and open, provided we brought the sport to them in ways that felt accessible and exciting.
From there, we built year-long national and regional marketing programs, Hispanic marketing plans, and even grassroots street teams and mobile marketing tours. We partnered with Univision, Univision Radio, ESPN Deportes, and SBS to run the Ej Garage de AutoZone NASCAR Minute—weekly race results and driver interviews that authentically connected to Hispanic audiences. We created NASCAR Champions Week in New York City, complete with cars racing through Times Square on national morning TV shows. We launched NASCAR Comes to Walmart, partnering with two dozen licensees and activating at 200+ stores nationwide.
It worked. We diversified the fan base, grew market share in broadcast priority markets, and expanded NASCAR’s footprint in new territories. But here’s the truth: it was a significant investment, time-consuming, and often inefficient. Without robust first-party data at the onset and until over a year into the programs, while built with sound logic and strong strategic foundations, we were forced to “hope for the best” far more than we wanted to.
The Lesson for Marketers Today
Looking back, the biggest lesson from that experience was this: without first-party data and actionable audience targeting, you’re marketing blind.
You might have brand awareness. You might have sponsorships. You might even have strong media spend. But if you don’t know who your audiences are, how they behave, and where to reach them efficiently, and reach more of the same audiences (lookalikes) that are resonating with your brand, you’re wasting time and money—and missing the chance to build lasting customer relationships.
Today, marketers are facing that same challenge on a larger scale. With third-party cookies going away, privacy regulations tightening, and budgets under scrutiny, the ability to collect, understand, and act on your own data is no longer optional—it’s survival.
How AiOpti Solves This
That’s why we built AiOpti—to give marketers the clarity I wish I’d had during those NASCAR campaigns.
AiOpti takes first-party data and makes it actionable. It connects the dots between what you already know about your audiences and how you can actually reach them in-market. It helps you:
- Eliminate media waste by ensuring your dollars are only spent reaching the right audiences.
- Cut through data blind spots by turning raw data into clear insights about audience behavior, preferences, and purchase pathways.
- Target with precision by combining first-party data with predictive, deterministic modeling and lookalike audiences.
- Gain clarity in decision-making, so marketing isn’t about guessing—it’s about knowing. And knowing with confidence.
Imagine if, back in my NASCAR days, we had AiOpti. We could have identified Hispanic families in Los Angeles who were sports enthusiasts and car afficionados but hadn’t yet experienced NASCAR. We could have tested messaging digitally before spending millions on events. We could have tied every activation back to measurable fan engagement and lifetime value.
Instead of wondering if our dollars were working, we would have known with confidence.
Your Takeaway
Here’s what I want marketers to take away from this story:
- Don’t wait for data clarity. If you don’t know who your audiences are, what motivates them, and how to reach them efficiently, you’re already behind.
- First-party data is your lifeline. It’s the most accurate, reliable, and sustainable way to connect with audiences in a post-cookie world.
- Actionability matters more than volume. You don’t need more dashboards or reports—you need insights you can use tomorrow to cut waste and drive results.
The next time you feel stuck—wondering if your campaigns are truly hitting the mark—ask yourself: Do I know my audience, or am I just renting access to them through someone else’s platform? Do I know my audience, or am I just targeting an “audience profile” and hoping they like my ad enough to click or buy?
Honestly, hope is not a strategy. If that answer makes you uncomfortable, you’re not alone. I’ve been there. But you don’t have to stay there. With the right tools, like AiOpti, you can gain the clarity you need to market smarter, not louder.
At NASCAR, the lesson was clear: success depended on putting the sport where it wasn’t—and that required insight, precision, and creativity. For today’s marketers, the mandate is similar: put your brand where it isn’t, but do it with the power of first-party data and actionable audience targeting.
Because the brands that win today—and tomorrow—are the ones that know their audiences best.
📌 If you’d like to see how AiOpti can give you that clarity, reach out. We’d love to show you how we’re helping marketers turn data into their most powerful competitive advantage.
