The Blue Jackets Speed Ahead with Nationwide Night...

Is your organization looking for new ways to capitalize on the popularity of NASCAR? Are you looking for new opportunities to cross-promote other sports?

On Friday, February 13th, the Columbus Blue Jackets celebrated the launch of the 2009 NASCAR season by hosting a racing-themed "Nationwide Night", an event designed to drive cross-promotional interest for the sport and Nationwide's affiliation as the title sponsor of the Nationwide Series (see the event activation gallery HERE).

The Blue Jackets organization supported the event with a number of engaging initiatives, including:

• A Nationwide Series show car was featured on display with a photographer on-hand to take pictures of fans positioned within a border that featured the Blue Jackets and Nationwide's logos
• An in-arena host outfitted in a NASCAR pit crew fire suit
• A special "Life Comes At You Fast" Chuck-A-Puck Contest featuring NASCAR Nationwide Series lights on the ice
• An exclusive "Life Comes At You Fast" video montage highlighting racing and the game of hockey
• A racing simulator set up on the concourse level with times established by Columbus Blue Jackets players. All fans who beat the best times established by the players received an autographed diecast NASCAR model car
• A NASCAR Nationwide trailer featured on display in the Nationwide Arena plaza
• A premium giveaway of 15,000 lunch coolers (for tailgating purposes)
  • A select number of fans receiving coolers with a Blue Jackets autograph inside won a chance to participate in an on-ice contest for a chance to win a trip to attend an upcoming Nationwide Race at Kentucky Motor Speedway

Overall, Nationwide does an excellent job capitalizing on their partnership with the Blue Jackets organziation. Check out some of their initiatives and activation tactics HERE. In the days leading up to Nationwide Night, the Blue Jackets featured a racing simulator on display (as shown below):

A special thanks to Josh Hafer of the Columbus Blue Jackets for his insights and contributions to this column... Congratulations for putting on such a great event for Nationwide!