Remember the movie ?Groundhog Day,? about a guy who has to go through the same day over and over again? On Madison Avenue, the calendar may say February, but the focus is on the new rather than the familiar.
February is a month when scores of marketers bring out new advertising campaigns, particularly new television commercials and/or online video clips. The parade of all-new work begins with the Super Bowl, on the first Sunday in February, then continues on through the Grammy Awards and other live events later in the month.
This Sunday will bring a daylong, triple-barreled dose of the February factor. First up is the beginning of the Nascar Sprint Cup Series, with the broadcast on Fox of the Daytona 500. That will be followed by the National Basketball Association?s 2012 All-Star game on TNT and then the Academy Awards on ABC.
Among the sponsors of the Oscars broadcast that plan to take the wraps off new commercials are Diet Coke, Hyundai Motor America, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald?s and MetLife.
And by Nascar?s count, at least eight sponsors of the Daytona 500 will be introducing commercials, among them Coca-Cola, Diet Mountain Dew, 5 Hour Energy, Farmers Insurance, Ford Motor and Subway.
Even Nascar will climb aboard that band wagon and bring out new commercials as it starts an image campaign, developed internally and with an agency in St. Louis named Jump.
The Nascar campaign is part of efforts by Nascar to burnish its image after some rough years of ratings declines, sponsor defections and falling attendance at tracks where its races are held.
The Nascar campaign carries the theme ?Everything else is just a game? and seeks to differentiate Nascar from other sports with an attitude that is meant to be confident but not cocky.
There is also humor and an everyman tone of voice, embodied by the voiceover announcer, the actor Neil Flynn of the sitcoms ?Scrubs? and ?The Middle.?
The goal is to ?reinforce and stoke the pride of the core fans,? said Kim Brink, managing director for brand, consumer and series marketing at Nascar, while at the same time to try to ?challenge the expectations of the casual sports fan and demonstrate the uniqueness of our sport.?
Farmers Insurance is an example of what Nascar is hoping to achieve in terms of wooing new sponsors to its ranks. Farmers tested the value of Nascar sponsorship last year, said Chuck Browning, head of events and sponsorships at Farmers, with ?a five-race deal,? and decided to go all in for 2012 with the sponsorship of the driver Kasey Kahne and his No. 5 Chevrolet car in the Sprint Cup Series.
The Nascar agreement is part of plans for ?standing the brand up a little bit taller in the sponsorship area,? Mr. Browning said.
John Ingersoll, head of advertising at Farmers, said what he liked about Nascar was that a driver like Mr. Kahne ?is in front of every fan every week? and sponsors like Farmers are ?viewed as integral parts? of Nascar teams.
The Farmers commercial that will make its debut on Sunday, created by RPA, the Farmers agency, is also humorous. The spot features Mr. Kahne in an appearance with the actors who are the stars of the Farmers ongoing ad campaign that is centered on the University of Farmers, which agents for Farmers attend.
?We?re integrating Kasey into our brand platform of expertise,? Mr. Ingersoll said, to ?create an obvious link between what Kasey stands for and what the brand stands for.?
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