Successful INDYCAR Viewership Promotion Named Award Finalist

A digital marketing program developed by INDYCAR to increase viewership of Verizon IndyCar Series race broadcasts, which met with well-measured success, has been named a finalist for the 2015 Digiday Signal Awards.

In conjunction with Nielsen, INDYCAR defined a targeted digital advertising strategy for the 2014 season and enlisted the services of Rocket Fuel, a programmatic marketing services company, to implement it. The program utilized the INDYCAR "Rivals" campaign featuring the personal perspectives of Verizon IndyCar Series drivers.

Rocket Fuel focused on digital promotions outside the reach of television, with 98.5 percent of digital audience members stating they had not seen a TV promotion for Verizon IndyCar Series race broadcasts. Overall results showed those exposed to the campaign were 21 percent more likely to watch race broadcasts in 2014 and that they watched more race time overall throughout the season. In addition, Rocket Fuel's technology allowed INDYCAR to focus on discrete target audiences. In one instance, the precise targeting resulted in an amazing 100 percent increase in tune-in for a coveted demographic.

"We are pleased that INDYCAR and Rocket Fuel are being recognized as nominees for the Digiday Signal Award," said C.J. O'Donnell, Chief Marketing Officer, INDYCAR. "Our highly successful digital marketing campaign highlights the ground-breaking efforts of our partners at Nielsen and Rocket Fuel, along with the creativity of our own INDYCAR marketing team.

"The 2014 'Rivals' campaign was the first step in the evolution of the INDYCAR brand and certainly resonated with our desired audience," continued O'Donnell. "It is one reason TV viewership of Verizon IndyCar Series races increased 25 percent in 2014 and laid the groundwork for the ongoing growth of our TV ratings and viewership in the 2015 season."

The Digiday Signal Awards, to be presented for the first time Sept. 24, honor tech platforms simplifying the marketing process for brands, agencies and publishers. In all, 85 finalists were selected from four main categories including ad tech, commerce tech, marketing tech and content/publishing. Rocket Fuel is nominated in the category for "Programmatic/Real-Time Bidding Platforms and Supply-Side Platforms."