Nationwide video series to feature Earnhardt, Jr.:
January 22, 2017 at 12:00 AM
Nationwide video series to feature Earnhardt, Jr.: Nationwide Insurance lost a little bit of visibility at the track when a concussion sidelined Dale Earnhardt Jr. last season. It will try to create buzz now that he is returning, but it started spending money to create that buzz even before it knew if the sport’s most popular driver would race next month at the Daytona 500. The company has created a six-part series it will push on social channels that focuses on Earnhardt’s return. The first 180-second episode airs Tuesday night, with 90-second episodes each of the following Tuesdays leading up to the Daytona 500. Earnhardt tested in December and was cleared to race in Daytona. But the series was filmed primarily over two days in late November, a couple of weeks before Earnhardt’s test. The series is called “Unfinished Business,” using the phrase both team owner Rick Hendrick and Earnhardt used when discussing why Earnhardt would return to racing. Nationwide’s director of sports marketing, Jim McCoy, said the company expects Earnhardt fans to be hungry for Earnhardt content amid his return, and he hopes this series satiates some of that. The company has close to a six-figure budget for production and promotion, McCoy said. Nationwide had a relationship with Earnhardt before it signed to sponsor his car, and McCoy said the company did not pressure him to return. “All along, it was always Dale’s health first,” McCoy said. “We have been a partner with him for a long time. “¦ We just made sure we were aware of what was going on and had contingencies.”Â(ESPN.com)(1-22-2017)
