The ride starts tamely enough at Toyota’s off-road course, part of its “injector” activation on the midway outside Daytona International Speedway. Those test-driving the 2016 Tundra truck, including this reporter, initially go over bumpy terrain before wading through a pool of muddy water.
But then comes the hill. It doesn’t look that bad standing next to the course, but this man-made creation is no ordinary dirt incline. It’s measured at 31 degrees, designed at the same steep angle as Daytona’s famous high-bank turns on the track. Gunning the engine and driving up the hill, you see nothing but blue sky, which can be a scary, ominous feeling. It captures both the excitement and trepidation of riding the newest roller coaster at your local theme park.
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Toyota’s activation next to its entrance lets consumers take a test drive on an off-road course.
Photo by: ISC |
For Toyota, the permanent course is a great piece of activation as part of its injector entrance deal at the renovated speedway. It’s a creative way to interact with fans and add to their race-day experience, said Keith Dahl, Toyota’s corporate manager of motorsports and engagement marketing.
Chevrolet, by comparison, opted for a more traditional approach to activating its injector, branding its gate entrance with the same types of colors and signs familiar to consumers shopping at its dealerships. A wall graphic featuring the 2016 Camaro plays a key piece of the brand message for fans to see as they enter the facility.
“We wanted a flagship vehicle image for people to look at so you know who we are and who resides here,” said Jeff Chew, Chevrolet Racing’s manager of strategic planning and operations.
Inside the facility, Chevrolet’s multiple vehicle displays include 2016 versions of the Colorado four-cylinder diesel truck and the Camaro. Engine and parts displays supply ideas for how fans can customize their own Chevrolet vehicles.
During events, sales associates stand by to visit with potential customers, equipped with tablets to collect personal information. The associates follow up with those individuals post-event. Patrons providing sales leads get a free Corvette Racing T-shirt.
“The nice thing is people that come to races, they kind of like cars and trucks, so we’re fishing in a very fertile pond,” Chew said. “They’re predisposed, so it’s not a stretch to say, ‘Hey, let me show you something on this cool vehicle.’”
A few specialty cars stand out, notably a replica of the 1971 Corvette Stingray, for which NASCAR driver Jimmie
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Chevrolet branded an entrance of its own with the familiar colors used as its dealerships.
Photo by: ISC |
Johnson played a design role. A separate display showcases a Corvette painted as a Daytona 500 pace car.
“We’re not pacing or anything [this year], but who doesn’t love a beautiful Corvette,” Chew said. “It makes a statement.”
Florida Hospital’s injector focuses on the primary theme for how people can maintain a healthy lifestyle to avoid hospital visits. The private nonprofit medical group carries a Christian-based mission and its values tie closely to NASCAR, where prayers are held before every race.
The word “Creation,” which is part of the colorful brand message at its gate entrance, serves as a metaphor for eight healthy principles of living, said Darlinda Copeland, Florida Hospital’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer.
“At the speedway, we have the opportunity to reach 1 million fans a year and those are people that may never darken the doors of our hospital, but yet, we can teach them how to live healthy,” Copeland said.
The big rock formation with trickling water, a focal point of the gate display, represents the Garden of Eden, and the soothing sound of the water combined with brightly colored signs is intended to provide a healing environment in the midst of this “big concrete jungle stadium,” Copeland said.
On the Level 1 concourse, the theme extends to the “tree branches” overhead within Florida Hospital’s injector zone, that when you look closely, reveal the Christian symbol of the fish. For the Daytona 500, the concourse display will be completed with a canopy representing a changing sky.
In addition to the injector, as part of its deal as a founding partner, Florida Hospital owns the rights as the speedway’s exclusive health care provider for fans, drivers and speedway employees. All services are free of charge at the hospital’s two care centers in the track’s infield.
The injector for Sunoco, the world’s largest supplier of racing gasoline, includes four large, branded cylinders themed as turbo-charged engines that hang overhead on the Level 1 concourse. Underneath one cylinder, fans see a tachometer and experience a NASCAR driver pressing the gas.
