Attracting attention to a product or brand is important to any business. It’s all about getting out there in the public eye, and there are many ways to get noticed, from advertising to social media and celebrity endorsement. Another tactic that some sectors turn to, is to use cars as a marketing tool. Luxury brand cars in particular, like Mercedes, are commonly used in creative ways to expand a business’s exposure in a subtle way. This is ultimately beneficial both to the business using a vehicle for exposure and for the maker themselves, who gets increased brand awareness. The following is a look at how car promotions have provided business opportunities across different sectors.
Casino Specials
The gambling industry has been growing rapidly recently, especially online. Top-rated online casinos offer many different promotions, like those listed by a review service Legalcasino at https://legalcasino.uk/casinos/bonuses/. You won’t normally find bonuses like this in physical venues. But land-based casinos have got something else up their sleeve too – they sometimes hold raffles with prizes like cars.
What better place to run a lottery prize draw to win a state-of-the-art, brand-new car than a high-end casino? Luxury vehicles are appealing high-value prizes, and are usually part of a special partnership between a casino and a luxury car brand. Players who are signed up for a casino rewards club, can usually earn entries through their gameplay.
It’s a style of promotion where players get the chance to own a car for far less than they would need to purchase it. Of course, chances of winning are slim, but it’s the dream of owning a new car that is the selling point and why you can often see cars like Bronco Raptors, Jeep models, Tesla Cyber Truck and Mercedes model giveaways being done in casinos from Las Vegas to Florida. One great example is the land-based casino at San Manuel, which celebrated its 300th car giveaway by showing off a limited edition 2023 Rolls-Royce Ghost. Former winners were given a first look at the car in the casino lobby.
Shopping Malls
Malls, especially across North America, are big businesses and they need to pull in as much foot traffic as possible to keep business strong. One tactic to help with this, is by having some kind of promotional luxury car on display, tied into a promotion where the vehicle is the top prize.
This benefits the mall, which will typically be paid by the promoter for the right to host the giveaway in the space. The promoters will, of course, hope to generate more through a lottery-style draw than what the car is actually worth. So it doesn’t matter that they are giving away a top-of-the-line vehicle, it’s still a money-making exercise.
The Aventura Mall in Florida for example has displayed cars in the main central area and Zeekr vehicles have shown up a lot in Shanghai malls. The luxurious Dubai Mall once had supercars driving through it as part of a promotion.
Airports
Another place you can typically find a luxury car being used as a marketing tool is at an airport. This is to appeal to jet-setters who can afford to drop a big sum of money on an expensive lottery ticket to try and win it.
A high-end car is often seen sitting inside major terminals like Heathrow and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in the Philippines, which ran a raffle for two luxury vehicles in 2025. These are usually only on show beyond security, so are exclusively for travellers.
Motor Racing
Carmakers enter the potentially lucrative world of motor racing simply because it helps build their brand. That is why you’ll see brands like Mercedes, Ford and Ferrari all investing heavily in everything from NASCAR to F1 to simply drive up the exposure of their name.
Having a title winning car in a major championship can do wonders for sales and reputation. So there is a very strong relationship between major car manufacturers and motor racing because ultimately there can be a huge payoff. As well as racing for glory, loads of events give away cars to get fans involved and make the event more visible. For example, the Racing for a Cure charity raffled off a fully built Mazda MX-5 Cup race car to raise funds for Parkinson’s research. The car was shown at related events, which helped to get people involved and raise more money.
Reasons Why Sectors Look at Cars
Cars are often seen as status symbols. Owning an expensive luxury car is seen as a sign of wealth and success. They also have their appeal because they represent the freedom of being able to go anywhere at any time, which instils a sense of independence.
The more expensive the car is, the more that it is desired, and the physical presence of a shiny new car with its clean, sleek lines is pretty hard for anyone to ignore. Buying a new car is usually one of the first things that people mention that they’d do if they ever come into money, so they are aspirational items as well.