Seven months ago, NASCAR’s executives merged the creative, design, editorial, social media and NASCAR Productions crew into one team with one goal. The goal? Figure out ways to best share resources and content with fans.
“We brought together 65 people,” said Evan Parker, vice president for content strategy. “We have a strong team of creators, all with different talents like graphics, scripts, longform writing and social media videos. There’s less debating on what to create and more creating happening.”
The move has already begun to pay dividends with the February debut of Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon on FS1. The documentary, which covered the rivalry between Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Gordon, was released on February 14, the Thursday before the Daytona 500. It made for a natural timing opportunity, given the two drivers’ many battles at the track.
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But it also made for a huge early test for the redesigned team, which they passed with flying colors. According to Parker, the documentary drew the highest rating for a feature in FS1’s history. Collaboration was a major reason why. NASCAR’s design team handled all graphics and clips, while out-of-network personalities ranging from Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to ESPN’s Ryan McGee and Marty Smith. Then there was in-house, Emmy-award-winning NASCAR Productions team, who provide the flexibility to shoot top-quality work at the drop of a hat
“We can simply fire up a camera and go,” said Parker. “We have camera operators, editors and writers ready to work. The hardest part of determining what to create is finding a balance between what we have to do and taking a creative risk.”
Now, with the team newly unified, the NASCAR crew has shifted their focus to engaging current fans while seeking out new ones.
“We want to reach fans who have attitudes and interest on the upswing about NASCAR,” said Pete Jung, vice president of brand marketing for NASCAR. “With new fans, especially young adults and Hispanics on the rise, we understand that they are an important part of our future. We want to be younger and more diverse.”
One way to reach those new fans is through a social media strategy that leans on connection far more than volume.
“Our social media focus is on engagement,” Parker said. “We’re not as worried about impressions this year but rather getting our fans to engage with the content. We’re creating content that is shareable and that fans want to have a dialogue about.”
The dialogue is important for the NASCAR social team and has been enhanced through influencers like GoldYeller and the Flippist. GoldYeller created five stop-motion Lego videos leading up to the Daytona 500, including one about Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s iconic 1998 victory, which came in his 20th attempt and was his lone triumph in the Great American Race.
The Flippist, meanwhile, created a custom, animated flipbook that also featured Earnhardt’s 1998 win, along with Austin Dillion’s 2018 triumph.
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“Not only are we seeing great social media engagement, but we’ve seen lots of growth in our priority markets,” said Jung. “We want to extend our reach to our target audience.”
As for the future, while coy on the details, Parker couldn’t hold back his excitement.
“We’ve got a binder full of documentaries and other unique projects,” he said. “We’ve got a goal to engage and find new fans and just a few weeks into the season, it has paid dividends as we’re creating content that gets people talking. Having a unified team has truly paid dividends.”
