NASCAR dressing up for playoffs

NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers and their “nation” flags

Such a proclamation wasn’t part of NASCAR’s Chase marketing last year, when the revamped playoff system debuted and posters of the grid were placed outside the sanctioning body’s hauler during given race weekends. The move to have the grid, which is comparable to an NCAA tournament bracket, in more locations and more visible is a subtle addition to NASCAR’s marketing of this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

But the additional effort aims to reinforce that the Chase is the type of high-stakes playoff that American sports fans have come to love. It also marks a key element to NASCAR’s over-arching 2015 Chase marketing campaign, which once again will be under the “Battle of Nations” moniker.

“We’re essentially dressing up the tracks to make it feel like a playoff, festival atmosphere,” said Steve Phelps, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of NASCAR. “Some of the [Chase activation and signage] is not new … but what we’re trying to do is plus it up.”

Along with the heightened focus on the Chase’s at-track presence, the other central element to this year’s campaign is deepening fan engagement via digital and social media, which will manifest itself with a “Join the Battle” component. That includes a “Join the Battle” app, which automatically attaches a selfie in front of a selected Chase driver’s “nation flag” that can be shared socially. The fan-engagement push also includes a venture with media partner USA Today called the NASCAR Fan Index, which allows fans to vote on the given “nation” they have allegiance to and shows the results as the Chase progresses.

NASCAR opted for continuity with the “Battle of Nations” theme, Phelps said, largely because of the equity built into the campaign during year one. The sanctioning body also brought it back because company executives felt that fans associated the campaign with NASCAR and not former media partner ESPN, which shared last year’s campaign with NASCAR.

“The industry as a whole liked the thematic,” Phelps said. “We’ll see how it goes this year. If it goes well, we’ll re-do it again; if not, we’ll go to a different theme.”

The five ads that will be part of the campaign were created by NASCAR’s agency of record, Ogilvy & Mather, and will run throughout the day, including prime time. The bulk of their airings will be on NBC’s NASCAR coverage, though they will appear on the network’s non-NASCAR programming and across NBCUniversal channels. NASCAR’s other media rights partner, Fox, will air some of the Chase spots, too, around its Camping World Truck Series coverage and its “NASCAR Race Hub” studio show.

Unlike last year’s campaign with ESPN, new media rights holder NBC Sports is running promos that closely mimic NASCAR’s but won’t be entirely similar. NBC Sports, which is airing five of the 10 Chase races on its broadcast network, is releasing its own creative around the playoffs and has partnered with Quicken Loans for a $16 million perfect-grid challenge — playing off the 16 different drivers who make the Chase.

ESPN is also on board with the playoff push, despite no longer having rights to NASCAR events, and will be part of NASCAR’s promotional element titled “Chase Across North America” — a series of events in every market where a Chase race is held as well as major media markets.

“They’re looking for good content, and they’ve been a good media partner for us,” Phelps said of ESPN. “They’re not doing our races now, but I think the coverage [this year] is probably better than most people thought it’d be, and our folks have worked with them closely to do that.”

Additionally, more than 20 of NASCAR’s partners are activating around the Chase, with activities including in-store activation, sweepstakes, digital and social programs, and Chase-specific events.

With momentum from last year’s Chase, the added marketing heft this year and the fact that half of the Chase races will be airing on broadcast this year (as opposed to just one last year), NASCAR officials are predicting a spike in business metrics around the playoffs. Viewership for last year’s Chase averaged nearly 4.5 million viewers, with the final three races up 11 percent over 2013 at an average of 5 million viewers.

“The format lends itself well to the social conversation and digital engagement — and I think it’s going to translate into increased television ratings as well,” Phelps said. “Certainly, having five of the 10 races on NBC … [makes us] think we’ll finish the season with a flourish.”