Stewart-Haas Racing sponsor Busch Beer launched an inventive NASCAR competition that blends on-pack and social media to offer fans a chance to win a VIP trip to the Daytona 500.
To drop the flag on the new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the Anheuser-Busch owned brand is activating its race team rights to give fans the opportunity to win the trip of a lifetime to the series’ flagship event – known as the Great American Race – on 18 February.
The promotion, which was launched to leverage ‘National Beer Can Appreciation Day and which the brand claims is ‘Daytona done right’, launched in December 2017.
Social media assets ask fans to look out for a limited edition chequered flag can (hidden in 18, 24 or 30 packs of Busch or Busch Light).
Those lucky enough to find one (or those who download the can wrap at Busch.com) are asked to ‘Celebrate with the can. Go crazy. Show your enthusiasm. Be creative’ and share a photo or video on social media (Instagram or Twitter) with the hashtag #BuschtoDaytona and #contest.
Or on Facebook fans can enter by posting a photo/video with #BuschToDaytona and #Contest on Busch’s wall, comments or by direct message.
In honor of #NationalBeerCanAppreciation Day, we're celebrating with a checkered flag can of the best from our friends at @BuschBeer. Find one of these and YOU could be headed to the #Daytona500 with #BuschToDaytona! See the full rules at https://t.co/xC23ps6Mzd. pic.twitter.com/fog69DgTyT
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) January 24, 2018
250 winners will be chosen from the social image/video entries and invited to bring a guest on an all-expenses-paid trip (including travel, lodging, meals, and tickets).
#BuschtoDaytona #contest pic.twitter.com/wrufnpwdEq
— Fred Ohl (@OhlFred) January 19, 2018
Busch take me away…all the way to Daytona #buschtodaytona #contest pic.twitter.com/1fA0KTaFOA
— Raylene Brown (@boski1989) January 19, 2018
#BuschToDaytona #Contest pic.twitter.com/lIZuoudLlV
— Troy Conine (@TroyConine) January 19, 2018
“The Daytona 500 is the biggest race of the year, so we’ve decided to make ‘500 to the 500’ our biggest promotion of the year,” explained Anheuser-Busch value brands VP Chelsea Phillips.
“It’s the race that kicks off the whole season, and the lead up to the Daytona 500 makes it one of the most anticipated events in all of racing. It’s the Super Bowl of racing. The weather will be warm, the Busch will be cold, and Kevin Harvick will be out front. We’ll get to enjoy all of it with 500 of our most passionate fans.”
At the race, the lucky winners will likely be supporting (2007 winner) Kevin Harvick: the driver of the No4 Busch Beer sponsored Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Busch is currently in its third year as a primary partner of Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing.
“With 500 of our biggest fans at this year’s Daytona 500, a win just might make for the biggest victory party Daytona has ever seen,” said Harvick in the promotion PR release.
“Busch Beer is always doing over-the-top things to give back to NASCAR fans,” said Harvick.
“Whether it’s winning a trip to the Daytona 500 with a friend, putting hunting or finishing promotions together around a race or the chance to win $1 million at the All-Star race in Charlotte. I’m fortunate to be part of a brand that comes up with creative ways to have fun and celebrate their history in racing and the passions of their fans.”
Comment:
What better way for a sponsor to start a new season than with a once-in-a-lifetime fan competition?
This promotion follows Busch Beer’s May 2017 NASCAR promotion, called ‘Busch Bucks’, around the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star race (at Charlotte Motor Speedway) where the company gave NASCAR fans a million reasons to root for Harvick.
The brand offered one lucky fan $1m if Harvick won the All-Star event (the same prize money on offer to the race’s winning driver) in what was essentially a loyalty programme list building initiative.
To be in with a chance of being chosen as the potential $1m winner, consumers simply needed to enroll in the beer company’s loyalty program between 17 April and 6 May (https://buschbucks.com/en-US/).
The loyalty program itself is a prize-centric platform where members purchase eligible Busch products to accumulate points that can be redeem for Busch-themed gear.
Unfortunately, Harvick didn’t win and so neither did the selected fan (who watched the race from the top of Harvick’s pit box).
This campaign and its work with Stewart-Haas extends the beer brand’s long running NASCAR history.
Busch first linked up with NASCAR as far back as 1978 when it sponsored the Busch Pole Award and it has backed the series in some form since then.
The beer brand introducing the Busch Clash in 1979, served as the title sponsor of NASCAR’s stepping-stone division to the Cup Series from 1984 through 2007 and was the ‘Official Beer of NASCAR’ from 1988 through 1997.
Links:
Busch Light
Stewart Haas
https://www.stewarthaasracing.com
https://twitter.com/stewarthaasrcng
https://www.facebook.com/stewarthaasracing
https://www.instagram.com/stewarthaasracing/
https://www.youtube.com/user/stewarthaasrcng
Daytona 500
http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/
NASCAR
