Even with some ups and downs in casual fan interest, NASCAR remains a monster of an activation platform. While IndyCar has never found its spot in the landscape, the high impact, high profile personalities who drive almost every week from February through November remain the brightest sports business lights in racing, and are still the walking, talking, tweeting activation platforms to millions of loyal fans.
Still with that success and the cross-platform promotions their broadcast partners deliver, this time of year the drivers and their stories need to hit the road away from the tracks, as the competition for eyeballs and fingertips and ROI becomes that much steeper with MLB playoffs, the NFL, MLS winding down, the new interest in European football catching eyes, college football and even the start of the NHL and NBA preseasons taking away pieces and airtime. So what does one do? Roadtrip.
This week NASCAR will again take their drivers off the tracks and into the studios, spreading their messages far and wide to traditional southern markets and the biggest stages where the roar of engines is sometimes far away, all to drum up support for the season-ending Championships by taking part in The Chase Across America. On Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Wednesday, Sept. 16, drivers will participate in a multi-city media tour, crisscrossing the nation to make special appearances and build excitement for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. They will hit the sweet spot, every Chase track market, and trot out their bigger names for Los Angeles, New York City and of course ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.
The carefully thought out project has great ties; New England native Joey Logano “goes on the campaign trail” in New Hampshire, visiting traditional stops in southern NH, meeting with fans, dignitaries, etc., to celebrate the kickoff of the Chase as 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the NH primary; Jimmie Johnson hosts an ice cream social (courtesy of partner Blue Bunny) with patients at the University of Kansas Medical Center pediatric wing, and will deliver Build & Grow kits from Lowe’s to the kids while the big hitters with casual recognition go big- Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be on Jimmy Kimmel and Jeff Gordon does New York, while others drop into Chicago and other spots in between, from Dover to Martinsville and Talladega to Texas.
While it may seem like a no-brainer to line up such a tour, it is actually a rarity today to coordinate markets big, where you want to make noise, and small, where your core fan is, to make sure you are touching advertisers, philanthropic efforts, media and your key fans to remind everyone of what’s coming, and to re-enforce the power of your collective brand. Using social platforms will also amplify the message and can create a quantitative impact that delivers a message to all. The pieces add up to an impressive whole.
It is not an easy thing, trying to capture casual fans at the end of a long, competitive season, but what NASCAR is doing shows a willingness to go to where the fans are and to go find the brands that are invested in the sport, and those maybe interested in the future. It spreads the personalities far and wide with the hope that the investment provides recall and value for when the final race is done and another season in the books. The stories told through the eyes and the paths of the drivers is what makes NASCAR special, and telling those stories market by market has proven the best way to cover the country.
