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Marketing and Sponsorship

Earnhardt's '16 Nationwide Paint Scheme A Throwback To The Late Buddy Baker

Nationwide Insurance this morning publicly revealed next year’s paint scheme for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Chevy after first showing it off to a few lucky contest winners in person at Hendrick Motorsports HQ two weeks ago. The scheme -- which will have Nationwide’s traditional blue pantone on the hood like this year, but in a new twist will have contrasting gray sides -- was inspired by late driver Buddy Baker’s famous No. 15. Baker passed away this year, but the scheme was already in the works before that happened. Nationwide announced the new look via the dedicated social channels for its racing sponsorship. The Columbus-based insurer collaborated on the design of the car with Earnhardt, who said he likes to be involved in such brainstorming sessions. Nationwide's only request was that the blue stayed prominent. About 10 fans got a preview of the car during a recent trip to HMS. Nationwide’s agency of record for motorsports, Wasserman Media Group, thought up a contest called #MyDaleStory where fans sent in videos on their fondest memories of the driver. WMG and Nationwide sifted through the videos, chose a few of the best ones and invited them to the campus in Concord, N.C. The winners thought they were getting a tour of the race shop just by an HMS employee and were told Earnhardt was not there. Instead, he popped out to surprise them as Nationwide and HMS captured the content for their digital and social channels.

MR. POPULARITY: Nationwide Dir of Sports Marketing Jim McCoy said the company has already begun to find marked success by being associated with the sport’s most popular driver. McCoy, who was on hand for the event, said that the company instituted an online offer through the website of Earnhardt’s NASCAR team, JR Motorsports, whereby fans who signed up for an insurance package got a special deal. Having tracked the results closely, McCoy said that Nationwide knows that it is seeing a strong ROI thus far. He added that while the B2C side is looking good so far, the company is also making progress on new B2B leads and even just a few of those could justify the entire program’s cost. McCoy added that the company has been pleased with the work of WMG, which he credited for coming up with the idea for the event. The company, which for its marketing efforts is starting to shift away from pure brand plays into more extensive messaging about specific services it offers, is in the planning stages for next year’s ad featuring Earnhardt. McCoy expects to have two spots ready by next year’s Daytona 500. The brand will have 21 primary paint schemes next year on Earnhardt’s car. Axalta will have 13, TaxSlayer will have one and three races are still unannounced.

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