• The New York Times, Friday, June 13, 2008 10:46 AM

The American Red Cross, which has been beating back various public relations problems, has the petal to the metal its first corporate-style marketing effort. Red Cross Racing aims to turn the more than 75 million fans of the NASCAR racing circuit into regular blood donors.

As part of a self-examination, the Red Cross began to reassess its blood drives, which have been highly decentralized. On any day, there were about 500 drives across the country. "What we needed was not to have one look in Southern California and a completely different look in Boston," says Elizabeth K. Reitman, the brand manager. "It's been a definite mind shift."

The Red Cross also sought advice from a corporate supporter, 3M Worldwide, which has long held blood drives among its workers and has also been a corporate sponsor of NASCAR for four years. The maker of Scotchgard, Post-its and Thinsulate offered to donate advertising space on one of its racecars, the No. 16 Ford Fusion driven by Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing. The Red Cross also has been setting up tents at NASCAR events, where fans can pick up literature and register online to donate blood.

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