Xfinity reveals Nascar selfie paint scheme

Nascar driver Bubba Wallace will race 65 passengers—well, their images—around Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. The riders will travel as selfies incorporated into the paint scheme on the hood of Wallace’s Toyota Camry, as part of a loyalty rewards perk from sponsor Xfinity. “It’s one of those crazy creative ideas that’s really coming to life,” said Matt Lederer, VP, Xfinity brand partnerships. “I love the way the car looks, and it’s a lot of fun.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Xfinity is a division of Comcast, the world’s eighth largest advertiser, according to Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2023. Xfinity is one of four premier partners of Nascar’s Cup Series (Geico, Coca-Cola and Busch are others), and a sponsor of the 23XI Racing team of drivers Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick. Its Nascar sponsorship gives Xfinity naming rights for the circuit’s penultimate race at Martinsville. The Xfinity 500, set for Oct. 29 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, eliminates four of the remaining eight playoff contenders and sets up the Cup Series championship race on Nov. 5 in Phoenix. Xfinity has typically used the Martinsville race as a means to thank its customers, offering perks such as race and suite tickets, behind-the-scenes access and driver meet-and-greets. While those programs are continuing, the company sought “bigger experiences” this year, which led to the idea for fans to see themselves on the custom-painted vehicle, Lederer said. Those featured on the car were winners of a sweepstakes chosen from thousands of entries. The effort will be backed up with a website where winners can download a video that shows where their picture appears on the car. Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers 2023 Ad spending, rankings and analysis for the top 100 advertisers Click here Owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan (who wore 23) and Nascar driver Denny Hamlin (whose car carried No. 11 or, in Roman numerals, XI), the 23XI team is known for its willingness to take creative chances, Lederer said. “One of the reasons why we partner with them is they are so forward-looking in terms of how things operate,” Lederer said. “It’s not every day that you put faces on a car, and it’s not every Nascar team partner that would be into that creative idea, but 23XI is an outstanding partner in that area.” Xfinity launched its Xfinity Rewards program last year, dangling rewards from partners including Nascar and NBCUniversal. Members are placed in silver, gold, platinum and diamond tiers based on how long they’ve been customers. In addition to its Nascar and 23XI sponsorhips, Xfinity is in the ninth year of a 10-year deal providing title sponsorship of Nascar’s second division circuit, the Xfinity Series. “What I always say when people ask about the [Nascar] sponsorship is, it’s really been a strong case study in how to move a sponsorship forward,” Lederer said. “It’s been very, very successful for us from a brand and business perspective; the brand exposure that we get through this, the brand love, the consideration, all of the brand metrics that we can measure, when we cut them by Nascar fans, are through the roof.”

Xfinity reveals Nascar selfie paint scheme

Featured Stories