Discovery Channel promotes Star Racer
By Adnews Staff
Toronto-based CTV will begin an ad campaign today for a new series on Discovery Channel called Star Racer. The auto racing program will follow 16 participants divided into two teams who will compete to become professional racecar drivers. The winner at the end of the season will go on to compete in the Formula Star Mazda circuit for a season as part of the AIM Racing team. The campaign will consist of outdoor, print, radio, on-air and online advertising. The print ad depicts a stylized open-wheel racecar along with the tagline, “Survival of the Fastest.” The ad will run in the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun and the Vancouver Province, as well as on transit shelters in Toronto and Vancouver. Another out-of-home component in use in Toronto consists of specially-wrapped taxis designed to make the vehicles look like open-wheel racecars. The 30-second television commercial features show host Paul Tracy and footage from the series. It is airing on Discovery, CTV, other CTV specialty channels and a number of US specialty channels. The ad is also in rotation on the video board at Yonge and Dundas Streets in Toronto. Radio advertising will run on seven stations in Toronto and Vancouver. Online ads will run on Google. The campaign was developed by the CTV Creative Services department and the On-Air Promotions group. <br /> Mazda, Castrol and Edge Active Care have signed sponsorship agreements with Discovery Channel to have their brands integrated into the series. The two competing teams will be known as Team Mazda and Team Castrol. The companies’ branding will appear on the show’s racing suits, helmets and vehicles. Edge Active Care will sponsor a contest called the “Edge Ahead Star Racer Pool.” Participants can earn points by predicting the outcome of various activities on the show. Weekly prizes will be distributed. The grand prize winner will receive a trip to the Jim Russell Racing School in Mount Tremblant, QC. Each sponsor will also receive tagged pre-promotion spots and branded areas of the StarRacer.ca website. “Star Racer was tailor-made for these unique sponsorship opportunities,” said Sally Basmajian, vice-president of sales and marketing at Discovery Channel. “We worked closely with our clients to integrate their products in a seamless manner that we believe will both benefit their brands and appeal to our Discovery viewers.” Star Racer will debut on Oct. 24.