We hit a bit of a lull between NHL All-Star Weekend, the Super Bowl, Australian Open done and NBA All-Star weekend next week, so what better time to talk NASCAR communications. The 2015 season will really open with Daytona on February 22, but the business never really slows down these days. One person who has probably touched all of the above, as well as a good amount of golf, is David Higdon. From his days in Portland chasing the Trail Blazers to time with the ATP, the LPGA Tour and now in his role with NASCAR as Vice President, Integrated Marketing Communications, Higdon has looked to stay one step ahead of the professional curve. So now as the races and the rivalries start heating up on the track, we checked in to get his take on what’s ahead, what keeps him up at night, and how the communications side of NASCAR keeps millions of fans and media revved up. (his bio follows)
Going into 2015, what are NASCAR’s biggest challenges and priorities from a communications standpoint?
Our biggest priority is to capitalize on the great momentum that we generated with the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. The new elimination format was very well-received, and our increased consumption metrics across numerous platforms—television, digital, social media—validated our decision to go bold. Now we need to ensure that we carry the energy—and the storylines—into the 2015 Daytona 500 on February 22 and throughout the season. The Chase format lifts all events due to the increased importance on winning a race during the year. One of our ’15 communications priorities is to revitalize how we deliver content during the week, what we’re calling internally our “Checkered to Green Flag Communications Plan,” which is how we organize our activities from the moment the checkered flag drops on Sunday afternoon after the Sprint Cup race until the green flag waves the following Sunday. Additionally, the excitement around the Chase showed us that we attracted both our core fans and general sports fans, so we’re focusing in 2015 on fans who previously loved NASCAR but their interest waned. We are reaching out to them and asking them to consider making us a part of their lives again.
Does Jeff Gordon’s latest announcement present more of an opportunity or a challenge for the brand and why?
Good question, and I’d say the answer is both. It’s a huge opportunity for our tracks to leverage his visits to their markets for the final time. What NASCAR fan wouldn’t want to see Gordon take his final laps in the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet? At the same time, we know that the challenge is to ensure that Jeff Gordon fans remain NASCAR fans, and hopefully latch on to another driver, whether it’s someone else in Sprint Cup now or one of our newcomers, in particular Chase Elliott. Chase, the son of recently inducted NASCAR Hall of Fame Bill Elliott, won the XFINITY Series Championship last year, will race in both XFINITY and Sprint Cup races in 2015, and then will race in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 starting in 2016. We will help raise his profile steadily throughout 2015. Besides the pedigree and cool name, Chase has the natural ability to appeal to our long-standing fans as well as attract new and young ones.
How are your duties here different from what you have done at other stops?
One of my favorite questions when I speak at conferences is, “What do tennis, golf and NASCAR have in common?” Rarely do I get the answer for which I’m looking: All three operate like a circus, as sports coming into a market to entertain only once or twice a year. The primary communications challenge facing these three sports is similar even though they are quite different: You don’t have the built-in hometown fans and media of an NFL, MLB or NBA franchise that plays numerous home games in a market. The unique opportunity that surfaced in 2011 to work with Brett Jewkes, NASCAR’s CCO, to build an Integrated Marketing Communications team within a huge organization like NASCAR has been unlike anything that I’ve ever done before, no doubt the most rewarding stretch of my career. It’s been invigorating, daunting and everything in between.
Today people are always talking global, how does NASCAR become a more global brand?
We forged a partnership with IMG last year to evaluate and grow our global broadcast agreements. NASCAR has high brand awareness around the world, particularly impressive when you consider that we don’t conduct Sprint Cup events outside of the U.S. We now have increasingly popular grass-roots series in Mexico, Canada and Europe, and drivers from these regions are working their way into the NASCAR national series. Keep your eye on Daniel Suarez, a driver out of our Mexico Series who was just signed by Joe Gibbs Racing to compete in the XFINITY Series this season. He’s considered to be, along with Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson (Sprint Cup Sunoco Rookie of the Year last season) and Bubba Wallace, among a group of young drivers who we believe will be the next generation of superstars in our sport.
What have you been most proud of in your time with NASCAR?
Building a best-in-class Integrated Marketing Communications team. We’ve been focused on bringing in versatile and diverse talent, and asking them to push each other and challenge our routines. It’s been incredibly satisfying to hire folks with little to no NASCAR nor sports experience and help them grow into their roles and expand their impact and responsibilities.
Where do you get your information on a daily basis?
Obviously, Sunday doesn’t start without reading your newsletter! During the week, the days begin and end on Twitter; it’s where our fans and media spend much of their time talking about NASCAR and other sports. I still read the print edition of The New York Times, and since I have a long commute between my home in Jacksonville to office in Daytona Beach, I listen to a lot of Sirius NASCAR Radio and weave in NPR as well. Much of the information that I use to guide our business decisions come via reports from our cutting-edge HP Fan & Media Engagement Center in Charlotte. It’s a valuable and indispensable communications tool.
NASCAR drivers do an amazing job with fans and brands. Who are the teams that do it the best and why?
NASCAR drivers “get it.” It’s amazing. I had lunch with 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick a few weeks ago to talk about how he could approach this coming season as our defending champion, and he was open to nearly every idea we discussed. For example, I explained that our research showed that when drivers came into the media center the morning of a race, we saw increased engagement of our fans on our digital platforms that carried over into the beginning of our broadcast. He said, “Sign me up!” So he’ll do a media availability on the morning of the 2015 Daytona 500, and we’ll track how it affects our platforms including the 1 p.m. broadcast on FOX. Each team works with their drivers in different ways, so it’s hard to single out one over the other, but all of them realize that the NASCAR IMC team is committed to helping them facilitate strong relationships with the media, partners, and directly with their fans.
What is the best part of your job?
I have the privilege of watching our events from Race Control, where our officials manage the competition. Talk about multi-tasking… It’s an incredible experience to see them work under so much pressure, with so much happening at once, particularly following a multi-car crash. It’s also incredibly satisfying that they want a communications executive in there with them, to provide counsel and discuss how and when to disseminate information to the media and fans in the heat of the competition. However, perhaps the best part is walking out with them following the race. We always walk through the crowd as they’re leaving the venue, and I purposely stand behind them to see them stroll through this massive sea of fans and watch the fan reactions and interactions. They recognize our officials, greet them, thank them and of course aren’t afraid to share their opinions. It’s extremely gratifying and it never, ever gets old.
Where does NASCAR have the biggest opportunity for growth?
Certainly we have potential to attract more fans around the world, but our focus in 2015 will be to tap back into those NASCAR fans who may have stopped watching and following us five to ten years ago when the tough economy affected their lives. We also have “course corrected” with the Gen-6 car, which has been a resounding success after the previous version didn’t gel with our core fans. With the success of the 2014 Chase behind us, we believe that now is the time to reach back to those lapsed fans and ask them, “Have you see us lately?” It will be a major cross-departmental initiative in 2015, and IMC will be at the center of it, as we were with the launch of the Gen-6 car and the new format of the Chase.
Looking outside of NASCAR, what groups communicate their messages the best and why, sports or non-sports?
I’ve been involved with the University of Oregon for more than two decades, having lived in Portland during the 1990s and now serving as Executive in Residence at their Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, so I’ve always been fascinated and influenced by the work of NIKE, Adidas and the entire sports product industry. I believe these brands do an amazing job connecting their products to their consumers, and I’m eager to support the University’s new Sports Product Management program in Portland starting this Fall, to be run by former NIKE executive Ellen Schmidt-Devlin. Sports is a fascinating industry, and it’s always interesting to see how different brands find new ways to attract and retain consumers.
David Higdon serves as Vice President, Integrated Marketing Communications for NASCAR, the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, one local grassroots series and three international series (Europe, Mexico and Canada). Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in 30+ U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. Since joining NASCAR in 2011, Higdon has been responsible for developing and implementing its new integrated marketing communications strategy and providing day-to-day leadership for the IMC team.
Higdon worked as a reporter, writer, editor and producer before transitioning into leadership roles with international sports organizations. He has held leadership positions with the ATP (men’s professional tennis), LPGA Tour (women’s pro golf) and the Champ Car World Series (previously known as CART), which merged with IndyCar Racing in 2008. Higdon’s writing has appeared in a variety of outlets, including The New York Times, InStyle Magazine and ESPN The Magazine. He also was Editor-in-Chief for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers’ fan magazine, Rip City.
Higdon currently serves as Executive in Residence at the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon’s Business School. He also serves on the Diversity Advisory Council of the World Golf Foundation and the International Tennis Hall of Fame Tournament Committee.
