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Marketing and Sponsorship

‘Hashtag 500’ part of social push in NASCAR campaign

Shifting its marketing focus even more toward social and digital media in 2016, NASCAR this week will unveil its seasonlong advertising campaign, which is centered around the notion that, in some shape or form, everyone has the need for speed

The campaign, “Ready. Set. Race,” by NASCAR’s longtime agency of record Ogilvy & Mather, New York, will still include TV advertising. But, at least to start, that TV presence will focus on getting the word out about the overarching social activation from the campaign, the “Hashtag 500” — a “race” on Twitter which represents a bit of a novel concept for the sanctioning body.

The campaign launched with a 30-second spot during last Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited race at Daytona International Speedway.

“It’s really unlike any campaign we’ve done before,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR’s senior vice president of industry services. “Obviously, we’ve always done really nice, television-centric launch campaigns, and I think we’re still going to do that. But we really looked at also enhancing and [advertising] through a digital and social lens this year.”

A “race” on Twitter is among the elements of new marketing effort.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
The “Hashtag 500” aspect of the campaign will revolve around trying to get fans to be the 500th person to tweet with a specific hashtag, which would then enable them to win memorabilia.

Starting on Monday and continuing each day leading up to the race, NASCAR will share a humorous video on Twitter showing a given driver while a voice-over explains how the contest works. For example, in one ad fans try to grab Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s helmet and gloves out of his hands after the voice-over explains that participating fans can win race-worn gear simply by following the directions to tweet with certain hashtags. One of the hashtags will be #Daytona500 and the other will change each day — in the Earnhardt spot, for example, to win his sunglasses the hashtag is #DalesAwesomeSunglassesContest.

The prizes for the contests in the days leading up to Sunday’s Daytona 500 will be standard memorabilia, while the prizes on the day of the 500 will be 10 different items that were used during the race, from firesuits and steering wheels to Goodyear tires and pit signs.

While the campaign has a large focus on social media, NASCAR also will attempt to bring it to life at track as well. Gregory noted that Daytona’s newly renovated frontstretch includes “social areas where fans can engage,” and those will be utilized as part of the effort.

For a sport with a well-noted need to grow its presence with younger fans — particularly those who may not have a generational connection to the sport — the increased focus on social media is seen as a vital element toward achieving that goal.

“We’re still committed to growing our fan base, and that growth is going to be getting younger and more diverse,” Gregory said. “And the [‘Ready. Set. Race’] campaign, that thematic and love of racing goes across all of the fan channels; that’s not just dedicated at a core fan or a new fan or casual fan. Everyone loves to race, so [it’s about] tapping into that emotion.”

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