Video: New TUDOR Championship TV Commercial
The television commercial on FOX Sports 1 is part of the five-year partnership between IMSA and FOX Sports announced in August. The advertising campaign showcasing the 2014 TUDOR Championship includes four different print advertisements in four major North American motorsports publications: Autoweek, Road & Track, RACER, and Grassroots Motorsports. The first of those ads also ran in the current issue of the Sports Business Journal (Dec. 16, 2013). The campaign includes vertically integrated digital, radio and social media components.
“This advertising campaign is our opportunity to announce to the world that, after 15 months of preparation and a lot of hard work by many, the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is about to launch," said IMSA President and Chief Operating Officer, Scott Atherton. “The creative for this campaign showcases the technology and diversity of our multiple classes, which is the basis and point of difference for our form of motorsport. It captures the essence of what we are about with a clear and concise message: It’s time to go sports car racing."
Pfanner Communications, a brand development and marketing agency based in Irvine, Calif., led by long-time automotive and motorsports publisher/marketer Paul Pfanner, produced the advertising campaign. The on-track footage was captured in November during TUDOR Championship test sessions at Daytona International Speedway and Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway.
“There was an overarching objective to create something that was evocative and emblematic of the brand ethos of the TUDOR Championship, what the series is about, what it represents and what the future is moving forward," said George Tamayo, Pfanner Communications Associate Creative Director/Brand Strategist. “I threw out an idea early in the process about thematically positioning the series around the idea of time. They had recently announced TUDOR as the [series] title partner so it made sense from that point of view. The whole concept is about time and preparation. There’s a time you need to get ready and there’s a time you have to go.
“I think the final product turned out great and it’s something everyone involved with this historic debut of a new era in professional sports car racing can be proud of. Everybody put the best foot forward. We had a storyboard that we initially presented and, in the end, we produced something better than the storyboard."
“This was a truly collaborative effort between IMSA and Pfanner Communications which yielded a fantastic result," said IMSA Vice President, Marketing David Pettit. “Our goal was to create excitement and whet the appetite of our fans that the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship is almost here. We believe we achieved that goal and will build on that momentum as the season continues."
The 2014 TUDOR Championship opens at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. with the 52nd Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 25-26, 2014.