JulyAugust 1989
An Indy 500 entry is not
your ordinary auto. Especially when it aims to promote an idea for making
the world cleaner.
By Susan Crissinger
Susan Crissinger is associate editor of Scrap Processing and Recycling.
You could have called it a car to help make the world cleaner. No. 97, a contender in this year's Indianapolis 500, bore the words 'DESIGN FOR RECYCLING" and the logo of Kasle Recycling, Indianapolis. The firm launched a media campaign promoting its cosponsorship of the car and its conviction that recycling is part of the solution to the growing solid waste problem.
Kasle
Recycling President Barry Schuchman will tell you that not all cars racing
at Indy are brand new--many have recycled components. Old engines can
become new engines, tires can be shredded and used as road foundations,
batteries can be recycled, and the "tub" (the aluminum shell
surrounding the driver) can be "used in anything from soda cans to
airplanes," according to a poster promoting Kasle, car 97, and
recycling.
The
car Kasle Recycling cosponsored with Chicago-based Miyano Industries and
New York-based Mistral Corporation wasn't brand new, either. It was bought
by racing team owner R. Kent Baker from the Newman/Haas racing team. Mario
Andretti piloted the chassis in the 1987 Indy 500. Schuchman says that a
car can run the Indy circuit for only about three years (mostly because
technological advances during that period will make the chassis out of
date), but that it may be used over and over in other races.
Recycling
and car racing aren't new to each other, says Schuchman. To prepare a car
for a race, it is completely dismantled first. The crew inspects each
part--right down to the nuts and bolts--for cracks and other signs of
wear. Good parts are cleaned and reused and not-so-good parts often are
sold to a recycler such as Kasle.
Schuchman
says several racing teams sell his company their used parts and, in turn,
buy from him magnesium, aluminum, titanium, stainless, and other metals
and alloys. They send these materials to fabricators to melt down or
machine into the parts their cars require. Schuchman says only one part of
an Indy car has not been able to be recycled: the "cowling," or
outer shell. Kasle Recycling has sent samples of this carbon-fiber
material to a laboratory to determine how it can be reused.
While
being a racing fan and wanting to get media exposure for Kasle had bearing
on Schuchman's decision to sponsor an Indy entry, he had a stronger
motivation. "I feel it's very important for our industry that
companies get out and promote this whole idea of 'Design for
Recycling,'" he says, "and the fact that we are a solution to
environmental problems-in the same way that manufacturers should be a
solution by manufacturing products that can be recycled." The firm
sponsored its first Indy 500 car at the 1988 race.
Kasle
sent news releases promoting its Indianapolis 500 sponsorship to national
periodicals and to Indianapolis newspapers, proclaiming, "No matter
where we finish, we'll end up in the winner's circle." The firm also
sent releases to local television stations and to cable networks.
Advertisements were purchased in the Indy 500 racing program and in local
periodicals. Local radio announcements told listeners, "Regardless of
what fate has in store, car 97 will return--its engine, tub, battery, and
tires recycled into what could eventually place it in victory lane."
Kasle's
overall promotional campaign has been going on for almost a year and a
half, with an emphasis on local advertising.
The
firm's newest program promotes recycling as a solution to environmental
woes. These ads are intended to make people think about the things around
them that are recyclable. A "Before and After" series placed in
the Indianapolis Business Journal and similar publications geared toward executives and legislators
shows a used item like a beat-up ironing board or propeller next to a
brand new item like a telescope or watch: "
today's trash will be
tomorrow's treasure." Other ads encourage private citizens to bring
everything from old barbecue grills to pogo sticks to the Kasle facility
for recycling. "When you stop and consider recycling," the ads
say, "stop and consider us." Kasle's
Indianapolis advertising agency, Jehs and Wallis, is one of the top three
in the state and has won national awards. Schuchman credits agency partner
Tim Wallis and agency representative Melanie Garrett for providing him
with quality concepts and scripts. His advertising budget for this year's
campaign, which included the Indy 500 series, is around $100,000.
Schuchman says the 1988 ads generated "tremendous results," and he's confident that the new series will be similarly effective. Will the campaign's focus on the benefits of recycling in general blur the image that Kasle wants to create for itself? Just the opposite, says Schuchman: "I feel that if it benefits the industry on the whole, we're going to benefit as a company too."
An Indy 500 entry is not your ordinary auto. Especially when it aims to promote an idea for making the world cleaner.