NASCAR Advertisers Rev Up New Creatives Around Daytona 500
By Rick Ellington &
Jim Bentubo, Staff Writers
With the Daytona 500 both the first and most prestigious race on the Nextel Cup
circuit, NASCAR has been successful in encouraging sponsors to build new creatives
around the event. There are at least 12 companies that plan to debut new spots
Sunday during Fox’ broadcast of the race.
UPS: UPS will debut the latest spot in its continuing “Race
the Truck” campaign with Dale Jarrett in which he is searching for the ultimate
pit crew. With Jarrett moving from Robert Yates Racing to Michael Waltrip Racing
this year, UPS spokesperson Steve Holmes said the change is “heavily integrated”
into the campaign. Holmes: “It is a new team and a new car. We will be focusing
on [Waltrip] building that team for Dale.” The ads, via the Martin Agency,
Richmond, will air only during racing coverage, as Holmes said the company consciously
decided “to keep our overall brand advertising very separate from the NASCAR
advertising.”
ALLSTATE: Allstate is expanding on its popular “Girls Day
Out” campaign with two new spots via Leo Burnett, Chicago. Allstate Marketing
Manager Stacey Zipse said, “We wanted to keep the momentum of our successful
campaign going, and the Daytona 500 just seemed like the perfect timing to launch
everything.” Kasey Kahne is again cast as the object of affection in the
ads, and Zipse said he is especially appealing to the company because he is “young,
energetic and vibrant.” The campaign will appear throughout the NASCAR season
during Nextel Cup and Busch Series races.
COCA-COLA: Coca-Cola will break a new spot promoting its “My
Coke Rewards” Web site. The ad features animated versions of NASCAR drivers
traveling cross-country to give Coke drinkers NASCAR rewards. Coca-Cola North
America Dir of Communications Susan McDermott said, “We typically create
a new NASCAR-themed Coca-Cola ad that breaks during the Daytona 500 and runs throughout
the racing season.” McDermott said the commercial will air primarily on
NASCAR broadcasts, but also “in some other sports programming.”
DIRECTV: DirecTV will promote its “NASCAR HotPass”
service with a spot via Deutsch, L.A., featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr. explaining
the product while doing doughnuts on a racetrack. DirecTV Senior VP/Advertising
& PR Jon Gieselman said of Daytona, “It’s the kick-off and biggest
race of the season, it reaches nearly all NASCAR fans and provides us the opportunity
to reach a tremendous general sports audience as well.” The spot will run
during NASCAR-related and cable sports programming in the coming weeks.
OTHER NEW CREATIVES: Several other companies are unveiling new
creatives during the telecast. Budweiser will debut a 60-second spot via DDB Worldwide,
Chicago, with Earnhardt Jr. called “Apocalypse,” while Greg Biffle
will appear in the first NASCAR-themed ad from Oreos. Tony Stewart stars in a
spot for The Home Depot, and he will appear along with Dale Earnhardt Sr. in a
spot for Chevrolet similar to its Super Bowl XLI ad that uses a video montage
of past and present footage. Stewart and Kahne will star in separate Sunoco commercials.
Sprint Nextel will debut a pair of ads featuring several drivers, including ’06
Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson. Toyota and Gillette also are scheduled to air new
commercials.
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