Looking to drum up buzz in non-traditional race markets around Sunday's Daytona 500, Fox Sports this week ran a comedic activation campaign in Manhattan. Fox, working with Charlotte-based Bespoke Sports & Entertainment, arranged to park one of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch's No. 18 Toyotas at the highly trafficked Columbus Circle area. The net let the car collect parking tickets and eventually the dreaded "boot" from Tuesday to Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, Fox added #DaytonaDay signage to the car's front windshield to align with the network's larger campaign around the 500. It was then loaded onto a tow truck and paraded throughout the city. On Friday, the car and a pit crew will make the media rounds with Fox affiliated stations. Fox and Bespoke looked for the activation to generate social buzz around the race (Adam Stern, Staff Writer).
IN THROUGH THE OUT DOOR: In Las Vegas, Ron Kantowski reports Fox will also air a commercial using Kurt Busch that "was filmed during the recent NASCAR Goes West media event in Hollywood." A man from Yahoo Sports "bets the former Sprint Cup champion an In-N-Out burger and a chocolate milkshake (Kurt Busch's favorite meal) if he can beat the time Waze, an app for cellphone users, says it should take to navigate from wherever they were to the In-N-Out Burger in Westwood" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 2/19).
VIRTUAL REALITY CHECK: Fox on Friday announced Toyota has signed on to sponsor numerous virtual reality plays that will be happening during the Daytona 500. Fox, which just this week announced a multiyear deal with NextVR, will be producing a feed for Sunday's race in VR with angles including trackside, on pit road, in a hauler and TV compound. Toyota will be sponsoring that feed, which will be broadcast on NextVR's website. The car manufacturer also will sponsor access to multiple closed-circuit VR streams of on-track action Friday and Saturday, a VR kiosk at Daytona Int’l Speedway and a 360-degree in-car video captured by Furniture Row Racing's No. 78 Toyota driven by Martin Truex Jr. This is the first year of FRR's new relationship with Toyota (Stern).
DRIVER'S ED: Toyota Senior VP/Auto Operations Bob Carter and driver Kyle Busch appeared together on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Friday morning, with Carter noting Toyota has been involved with NASCAR for 13 years because “it's a really good venue to come out and expose our products and tell our story to our fans." Carter said of the company's branded entrance at a rebuilt DIS, "Daytona is really the heart and soul of NASCAR. So when we heard about this incredible expansion we knew we had to be a part of it.” Carter: “Our story is still not wildly known throughout the U.S.," so sponsorship around NASCAR "gives us an opportunity, not only to display our product, but to really tell our story of how much of a contribution Toyota is providing to this economy” (“Squawk on the Street,” CNBC, 2/19).
