Oh No Daddy!

The images are burned into the minds of motorsports fans nationwide. Danica Patrick and her GoDaddy girlfriends pushing sexual innuendo across the TV screen. Danica and the stripping cop, Danica taking a shower and Danica joking about keeping her "beaver" safe are just a few of the tasteless offerings.

The engineer of the economic train that ultimately brought Patrick to NASCAR is Bob Parsons, the man pictured above. The founder of GoDaddy might be the ultimate creep to many, but like most self-made billionaires he sees himself as above it all. It's just a game to him driven by sales.

Last summer Parsons finally cashed out of GoDaddy in a deal that saw a group of private equity firms pay a total of $2.5 billion for the company. Parsons stepped aside from running the day-to-day operations and Warren Adelman became the company's new chief executive. Parsons remained connected to the new group and is being called executive chairman.

Little changed immediately, but Adelman has been dropping hints that the company is planning to go in a different direction. Not in terms of changing it's basic service of registering Internet domain names, but in presenting the overall image of the company to the public. Now, that change has begun.

Tuesday the New York Times confirmed that GoDaddy has hired a prestigious advertising agency called Deutsch New York to reshape the company's image. The rebranding will begin immediately with the first new TV commercials airing later this summer in sporting events including the Summer Olympics.

Click here to read the full story from New York Times media reporter Stuart Elliott.

The chief executive at Deutsch New York is quoted as saying GoDaddy did a "terrific job generating awareness." That same chief executive, who will now be in charge of the Internet company's new TV commercials, also called the older ads disruptive.

The chief executive of Deutsch New York, called one of the most powerful people in TV advertising, is a woman named Valerie DiFebo.

Elliott asked her to comment on the current GoDaddy ad campaign:

"As a woman, is it my favorite work?' she asked rhetorically, then replied, 'No.'

On the topic of the future of the GoDaddy Girls:

They "will still have a role, but more in balance with what the brand has to offer," said DiFebo.

On the theme of the new ads for the company:

"The ads will tell more of a story about GoDaddy's technology rather than entice consumers with appeals like 'To see more skin, click here,'" she added.

While Patrick and her management team have worked to broaden her commercial appeal, GoDaddy is the foundation that funded her current Nationwide Series ride and was said to be poised to continue that funding for a full time Sprint Cup Series team.

The immediate effect of this change in GoDaddy's philosophy and advertising is that Patrick's presence on TV will be reduced dramatically in just the next few weeks as the company shifts to the new commercials and image campaign. So no more body painting, dangling bikini's or veiled threats of nudity during NASCAR races.

The sport has seen a wide variety of sponsors come and go. The big question on the table is just how long Patrick's current GoDaddy contract is at this point and whether the rumored shift to the Sprint Cup Series next season is still in the works.

It won't make much sense for GoDaddy to play in NASCAR if the driver is not actively part of the company's rebranded ad campaign. This story has a lot more to be revealed over the next few weeks. Ironically, those words sound familiar.

We invite your opinion on this topic. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.   

The NASCAR Hashtag Aftermath

There they were, sitting in a San Francisco conference room sipping hotel coffee and waiting to curate your tweets. Sunday marked the first partnership between NASCAR and social media company Twitter. The group pictured here was the Twitter task force assembled to handle the project.

Simply put, Twitter created a page where anyone searching #NASCAR on Sunday was sent. Rather than seeing a list of relevant tweets as usual, those searching were redirected to a "landing page" where the group above coordinated the content. While not exactly a social media hijacking, it certainly was a redirecting of content for a purpose. So, what was the purpose?

During the race, Twitter aired a series of seven TV commercials promoting the partnership. Each 15 second commercial spot reinforced the direct link between NASCAR and the social media company. What the ads effectively did was specifically promote the newly designated hashtag (landing) page.

"The spots that aired on Sunday seem designed to show advertisers that hashtags can potentially be a useful branding tool and not merely a pop-culture phenomenon," said Cotton Delo in Ad Age. "It's further evidence of Twitter's desire to be the platform advertisers turn to when they're looking to execute promotions around major live events such as the Super Bowl or the Oscars."

The keyword from the quote above is advertisers. During the live race, sponsored tweets appeared on the hashtag page for ticket sales to NASCAR races. Sponsored tweets are Twitter's form of advertising. So when NASCAR indicates that the organization has a partnership with Twitter, the bottom line is that NASCAR can use the social media service for various advertising purposes.

"Twitter wants to be the destination for users who wish to engage with a certain brand," writes Ryan Lawler at TechCrunch. "That's what's so brilliant about #NASCAR and what we can only assume will be future hashtag landing pages. The brands themselves don't have to actually create anything new. Because at the end of the day, there's nothing better than getting your biggest fans to promote your brand for you."

In other words, what NASCAR did was encourage teams, sponsors and others (including media members) to create content on Sunday aimed specifically at the landing page. It didn't cost NASCAR a penny to produce and the attraction of being included on the hashtag page had the tweets flying.

Ultimately, the only remaining issue on the table is whether or not money is changing hands between NASCAR and Twitter for this project. While that information is not public, this excerpt from the Ad Age article may tell the tale.

"Twitter declined to comment on how much it's charging for event (hashtag) pages," said Delo. "But precedent suggests that they'll be available to major advertising partners at the outset. Its roll-out of brand pages last year was reportedly for marketers who had committed to spend a minimum of $2 million on Twitter's suite of ad products, such as promoted tweets."

There you have it. An interesting social media project with all kinds of twists along the way. Twitter looking for revenue, NASCAR looking for exposure and fans reading "curated" content from guys in black t-shirts. At lease we hope the coffee was hot.

We invite your opinion on this topic. Coments may be moderated prior to posting. Thanks for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

Race Wrap: NASCAR On TNT From Pocono

Things were busy in the TNT production truck as the network returned to NASCAR coverage at Pocono.

Adam Alexander hosted the pre-race show with Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds. TNT made a decision not to hire a host to replace Lindsay Czarniak, who departed for ESPN SportsCenter duties after last season.

The plus side is TNT spent less money, but the downside will come when there is a rain delay or long red flag. The only person remaining in the infield is Larry McReynolds standing by his cut-a-way car. As these six races roll by we may see a TV veteran like Ralph Sheheen moved from pit road to the infield host position if something like this happens. Luckily, the weather was great and there were no long delays.

The one hour pre-race show featured a segment with Jimmie Johnson, Bill Elliott and Ned Jarrett talking about NASCAR topics. Rather than just one interviewer, there were several TNT folks involved. It took time away from Elliott and Jarrett, two personalities who are not heard from much on the TV side.

Needless to say, there was an ill-timed and pre-recorded promo for the Lizard Lick Towing TV series that airs on Turner sister network TruTV. This scripted reality show exists on the deception that any of the content or characters are real. TNT executives call it "actuality TV."

Alexander was paired again this season with Petty and Wally Dallenbach Jr. in the booth. It's a crew that likes to offer opinion, but is sometimes slow to jump on activity or incidents on the track. All three seem to sometimes be looking at the TV monitor and not "out the window."

Chris Neville returned as a pit road reporter along with veterans Ralph Sheheen, Matt Yocum and Marty Snider. TNT uses pit reporters much more than FOX and that was certainly true in this telecast. There was a little delay in explaining the early speeding penalties, but finally Sheheen went to the NASCAR hauler and got a map of the new timing lines.

TNT produces a wider race and keeps a broader perspective than FOX. The tone in the booth focuses on the race and there are few personal stories from Petty. McReynolds was actively involved throughout the telecast and continued his best role as a strategist.

A series of late cautions allowed some drama to build, but TNT strangely chose to play a dated Denny Hamlin soundbite with only seven laps to go and the race under green. Alexander should have been calling the play by play and building the drama. The final laps looked great, but lacked the excitement that Alexander should have been providing. This race ended with a thud from the announcers.

TNT also offers the RaceBuddy application online and does an extended post-race online at the NASCAR.com website. There are no side by side commercials until the Daytona race and the Wide Open coverage. There were no technical problems.

We invite your comments on the TNT coverage of the Sprint Cup Series from Pocono. Thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.

NASCAR On TNT Returns At Pocono

Pocono is sometimes in need of a little excitement, so this year NASCAR brought in Vanilla Ice to drive the pace car. What could go wrong?

TNT returns with some familiar faces and one very interesting decision. Instead of hiring a host for the infield stage, the network chose to use Adam Alexander to host both the one hour Countdown to Green show and the live race. Previous host Lindsay Czarniak left and is a studio anchor for SportsCenter on ESPN.

Alexander will be joined in the infield by Larry McReynolds and Kyle Petty for the pre-race show. He and Petty will then move upstairs while McReynolds moves into a new Tech Garage setting. Wally Dallenback Jr. will be the third man in the TV booth as he has been from the start of the TNT run.

On pit road for the second season will be Chris Neville, best known for his sports car coverage on SPEED. Veterans Ralph Sheheen, Matt Yocum and Marty Snider round-out the pit reporter corps.

TNT brings RaceBuddy back to the Sprint Cup Series. The network will also be integrating social media into the telecasts this season. Twitter looks like it will be the emphasis. The pre-race show will have several features including one with Jimmie Johnson, Bill Elliott and Ned Jarrett talking about NASCAR issues.

We will be using the #TDP1 hashtag on Twitter to host a live stream of chat that has all kinds of media and NASCAR personalities involved. If you are not on Twitter, come on over and give it a try. We welcome your comments here and will post a full race TV review for your comments once things are done at Pocono.

As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

It was 1967 when the Captain at the prison farm had just about enough of Cool Hand Luke's antics. Between eating 50 hard boiled eggs in an hour on a bet to hustling through a black-topping job to have the rest of the afternoon off, it was clear that the man pictured above was bucking the system.

After an ill-fated escape attempt, the Captain uttered the now famous movie line that has come to define a fundamental difference in understanding.

Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to speak with a Twitter executive by phone. In a pleasant conversation we discussed the new #NASCAR hashtag features coming to Twitter this weekend. My questions were fundamental and his answers made a lot of sense. Click here to read the column that followed.

Thursday the new #NASCAR hashtag "landing page" was rolled out by Twitter as a preview of the weekend's new project. This page is where NASCAR and the media are pointing both users and non-users of Twitter for Sunday's race.

Click here to visit the page.

What was relayed to me was that the "landing page" would continue to carry #NASCAR fan tweets and be embellished with additional content from Twitter's own socia media producer. Thursday the stream was simply a restricted flow of tweets from NASCAR personalities, sponsors and media members.

What was also confirmed to me in the phone interview was that this new page would contain no advertising. Thursday afternoon a "promoted tweet" was featured at the very top of the page. From Ebay Motors to Dove Care for Men, there was a consistent advertising presence coordinated by Twitter as the very first item any user would see with every view.

Sprinkled throughout the #NASCAR stream during the day were seemingly random references to Twitter as a marketing tool. Each of these tweets somehow ended with the identical hashtag of #Twitter4brands. One click on that opened a coordinated Twitter marketing stream and yet another "promoted tweet." Twitter was placing the #Twitter4brands content in the new #NASCAR stream.

One of the aspects of Twitter that makes it so appealing for fans like me is the ability to use it quickly on a smart phone. In addition to my own timeline, the ability to search the #NASCAR hashtag has become the quickest way to broaden my information on the sport in a flash.

Thursday, the Twitter mobile app on my android phone redirected the #NASCAR hashtag search to the controlled stream. That was not in the original discussion and did not result in the information I desired.

Finally, the interesting point of the new and controlled #NASCAR hashtag stream was not the content that was included, but the content that was excluded. After a colorful night at the Prelude PPV telecast, there were plenty of fans talking about topics that did not include Pocono racing or the new hashtag project. 

In my phone conversation, it was made clear that fan tweets on NASCAR hot topics being discussed would be included in the new coordinated stream. Nothing could be further from what was presented.

Click here to read the latest NASCAR media release on this project. Here is an excerpt:

Twitter.com/#NASCAR showcases the best Tweets and photos from NASCAR insiders in an effort to bring the behind-the-scenes story to life for fans during race weekends. The page includes Tweets from drivers, pit crew members, families, media, NASCAR representatives and other industry constituencies like race tracks and sponsors.

Fans also have an opportunity to see their Tweets featured.

Using a combination of sophisticated algorithmic signals and Twitter's editorial curation, Twitter.com/#NASCAR features the highest quality, most engaging content about the race and NASCAR. Behind-the-scenes photos, exclusive content and innovative and original Tweets will likely have the best chance of being featured on this new live event page.

It's important to remember that individual timelines are unaffected, that Twitter still makes the raw #NASCAR search available and that users like me are getting this service for free. But that is not the issue on the table.

If this is a coordinated marketing effort by Twitter and NASCAR, then just say it. If this is a starting point for driving advertising revenue, focused product agendas and the brand marketing of the sport that's just fine. Twitter and NASCAR have the perfect right to do just that.

It just seems ironic that the one element elminated from this new content stream on Thursday was the fans. After hearing the theory and now seeing the reality, it really does seem that what we have here is a failure to communicate.

If you are a Twitter user and have an opinion on this topic, we would like to hear it. Comments may be moderate prior to posting.

NASCAR Emerges As Social Media Leader (Updated)

Updated: Told NASCAR and Twitter will be unveiling the new "landing page" for users of the #NASCAR hashtag sometime on Thursday. For you social media types, keep an eye on twitter.com/#nascar to see how this project of embellishing the #NASCAR hashtag experience on race day may look.

The idea of establishing a page for both users and non-users of Twitter as a dedicated "second screen" during the race is a bold one. It's a totally new concept and one that may bear watching if it takes off. The column below details the idea and what both Twitter and NASCAR want from the project.

Original column from Tuesday: Marlon and the other 500 million Twitter users around the world are about to get a little more NASCAR in their lives. Being unveiled this week is a new "landing page" on Twitter that will allow fans to get a lot more race information with one click.

Even though this column will use phrases like embellished hashtag, curated tweets and second screen the fact is that the bottom line is easy to understand. There is now so much information flowing on Twitter during Sprint Cup Series races it makes sense to manage it.

Many NASCAR fans use a second electronic device in addition to the TV while watching the races. Smart phones, laptops and tablets are part of what is called the second screen. That simply means that while watching the race on the TV screen many of us are actively involved in using another screen for more interaction and information.

The program of choice on the second screen for NASCAR fans has become Twitter. It is faster than Facebook, more flexible than texting and puts any live website-based chat into the weeds in terms of ease of use. Drivers, teams, racetracks, NASCAR officials and many other parties use Twitter to get information out to fans on race day.

On Twitter, users build timelines by selecting other users they want to follow. Tweets from all those users automatically pop-up in the timeline. It makes Twitter unique for every single user. Now that NASCAR has become so populated with various users sending information to fans, it's almost impossible to manage the volume.

One feature of Twitter is called a hashtag. This was created to allow users to focus on one event without changing their own timelines. By typing #NBAPlayoffs into Twitter's search box, all of the tweets that are being made about the live NBA game in progress can be seen. Once the game is over, users simply click back to their own timeline and return to the normal flow of information they had built.

The popularity of the #NASCAR hashtag during a Sprint Cup Series race is amazing. Any Twitter user can simply type #NASCAR at the end of a tweet and suddenly their opinion is automatically published side-by-side with teams, media members and even the NASCAR officials managing the race.

To focus on this issue, NASCAR is partnering with Twitter to enhance the #NASCAR hashtag during Sprint Cup Series races beginning this Sunday in Pocono. The idea is simple. Let the Twitter professionals look at the big picture of everything coming down the pipe about the race. Then, point the tweets that can embellish the fan experience over to the #NASCAR hashtag. That is not going to be an easy task.

The theory is that a Twitter editor/producer will be able to embellish the existing flow of information by picking and choosing featured tweets and highlighting them within the #NASCAR hashtag stream. If that sounds complicated, it really isn't.

Monday I spoke with Twitter executive Omid Ashtari about this new project. We recapped some issues fans had been discussing and focused on what both Twitter and NASCAR wanted this agenda to be.

Here are some hot button topics he addressed:

Content: Twitter will not restrict any content. All tweets containing the #NASCAR hashtag will continue to be automatically placed in the hashtag stream.

NASCAR: Twitter is providing the editor/producer for this project. NASCAR is not involved in what tweets are gathered and redistributed. The project will be coordinated from the Twitter offices.

TNT: The NASCAR TV network showing the race can sample any tweets from the #NASCAR hashtag stream, but there is no direct contact between the parties. There will be no promotion of TNT programming. The tweets selected for the hashtag stream will be NASCAR-related.

Advertising: There is no advertising being integrated into the hashtag stream and that is not on the agenda. No Twitter, NASCAR or TNT advertising will be added.

Editing: No tweets selected to be added to the hashtag stream will be edited.

Goal: The goal of this project is to embellish the existing #NASCAR hashtag stream with timely tweets from various NASCAR users throughout the Twitter universe. Many of those users are not involved in the hashtag stream, so their tweets will be added by the Twitter editor/producer.

The idea is to make the #NASCAR hashtag the place to be during the race for both Twitter users and non-users. The non-users will be able to view the stream at the twitter website, while the users will continue to be able to contribute through their own accounts.

Ashtari referenced that there is a wealth of NASCAR content during the races that simply goes to waste. By grabbing that content and adding it to the #NASCAR stream it may create an amazing second screen of content for fans. It certainly is an interesting concept and one that may pay big dividends for NASCAR if it picks up speed with the fan base. We will update this topic again before the weekend.

Please add your comments or questions on this topic. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.

NASCAR Media Group Ends Its Run

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There were big expectations for the NASCAR Media Group (NMG) when it was formed in 2008. The man in the center of this photo, Jay Abraham, was named Chief Operating Officer. NASCAR had combined its broadcast, digital and images divisions into one entity. Sports Emmy Awards followed for a variety of series, specials and TV movies.

Click here to review a 2009 NASCAR.com article about the company. You may notice that there is a theme throughout the story. That is the desire for a dedicated NASCAR TV network.

"For NASCAR to consider its own network, I think that's a smart investigation," said Mark Lazarus the former Turner Sports chief in the article. "It's smart in terms of controlling their content, but also because of their fiduciary responsibility to the industry, teams and tracks."

"We wanted more control over the process of creating and distributing our content," said Abraham at the time. "With what we're building, with a very small incremental investment, we could become our own TV network if we wanted to."

But instead of moving forward with TV network plans, NMG continued to simply be a program provider. The company eventually became dependent on one TV network as the major client. That network was SPEED.

Here are some words about the network's relationship with NMG from the 2009 article:

SPEED, in more than 75 million homes, serves as a de facto NASCAR network already with exhaustive coverage through the week and on race weekends. NMG provides content for seven or eight shows a week and calls SPEED easily its biggest client.

The fly in the ointment was that NASCAR did not have an ownership stake in SPEED and therefore did not have a say in the strategic direction of the network. That direction took a sudden turn when the network dropped all NASCAR programming on Monday through Thursday and moved toward a new goal.

Click here for a 2009 CableU.tv interview with SPEED VP Robert Ecker. Here are some excerpts:

CableU: What programs and/or genres are you looking for in the next year?

Ecker: We are actively developing personality-based programs with strong characters in various automotive-related settings.

CableU: What is the key element that makes a program right for your network?

Ecker: Well, clearly we live and breathe the automotive genre, so any non-event program we commission generally has to have a minimum of two tires and a combustible engine. Beyond that, in the original program category we are primarily interested in automotive lifestyle shows that have a combination of the following five elements ' adrenaline, competition, cars, bikes and girls.

Needless to say, this ended NMG's ability to produce weekday NASCAR series for SPEED. Other than the Friday through Sunday productions from the Sprint Cup Series tracks, SPEED turned away from NASCAR and set a weekday course for reality TV series rebranded as "automotive lifestyle" programming.

While NMG had pitched NASCAR-themed programming to other cable and broadcast networks, the reality of paying for shows without getting any live races made it a struggle. The picture above was an Emmy award presented for one of the former SPEED series that NMG wound-up producing for the short-lived VOOM HD Network. 

This year, NMG was informed by Showtime that the network wanted out of its current contract for the high-profile Inside NASCAR series. That basically ended the original NASCAR programming being produced by NMG away from the tracks.

As the overall NASCAR business began to suffer, NMG had gone out and solicited other sports programming to produce. It began to become involved with college athletics and produced a variety of non-motorsports series. But as the years went by, it became clear things were not going well.

Tuesday the end came for Abraham and NMG. Brian France announced Abraham was out and a restructuring would turn NMG into the smaller and streamlined NASCAR Productions. Steve Herbst, the existing NASCAR VP who coordinates domestic and international TV rights, would also oversee the new department.

All of the non-motorsports production will end when the current contracts are over. No more college sports TV for NASCAR. ""It's the right thing that those folks are going to focus on NASCAR," said Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps to the Sports Business Journal. "We need to build our NASCAR audience. We need to focus on our fans. We took our eyes off the ball a bit."

Click here to read the full announcement about the changes. Three existing staff members have been put in place to manage the department. The current weekend programming on SPEED like RaceDay, Victory Lane and Trackside will continue as will the practice and qualifying coverage.

Ultimately, it's a shame that NASCAR did not chase the dream of a dedicated cable TV network when the economy was robust and the money from the current TV contract was still fresh in the bank. These days real media power lies in combining a cable TV network with digital assets.

Now streamlined, NASCAR Productions once again begins the process of trying to expand the NASCAR brand through new program series and network partners. Good luck to those taking on this challenge and goodbye to the NASCAR Media Group as we knew it. Sometimes, it seems that the only thing consistent in TV land is change.

We welcome your opinion on this topic. Comments may be moderated prior to posting.