Ask.com scores big with hurried foray into NASCAR (cont'd)

A total team effort

That Ask even had a program to launch in February at the Daytona 500 was something of a planning miracle. Ask's employees and partners (Taylor, GMR) worked through the Christmas break and often deep into December and January nights to develop the company's activation, Garell said.

The running joke in the Oakland office has become: "What's for dinner tonight? Pretzels?" because of the occasions when they snacked on pretzels while working late into the night on the NASCAR program.

But, then again, little about Ask's first venture into sports marketing followed standard form. Unlike many sponsors that begin with a team deal and build out -- or don't build out at all -- Ask approached NASCAR nearly 180 degrees differently.

Many of the other complementary pieces -- NASCAR official deal, NASCAR.COM buy, track deals, FOX ad buy -- were either in place or already planned by the time the team agreement was struck. Labonte still had to shoot many of the 36 15-second ad spots in January that eventually ran on FOX.

"When you talk about a fully integrated program, I think the fear is that you don't have enough money to spend with everyone," said Jim O'Connell, NASCAR's vice president of corporate marketing. "You see some sponsors come in with just the team or just an official, they don't get the results, and they leave. Ask came in and didn't overspend with any one stakeholder."

Knowing how small the planning window was, Ask went to Taylor first and then GMR for help navigating the space. Taylor and GMR have worked together on NASCAR programs such as Gillette and Alltel, so they were already familiar.

"I got a call on a Tuesday [Dec. 16] and by Sunday we were in Oakland," GMR's Boykin said. "I thought, 'Is this real?'

"From mid-December, to turn around a fully integrated program with commercials, a huge digital presence, an extensive PR plan, employee engagement, at-track -- and we didn't even know which team, for sure -- I haven't been involved in anything close to that. Not even remotely."

"I was enamored with their confidence, but my brain is programmed to think these things take five or six months, maybe longer," said Taylor's Jewkes. "It was incredible the way Ask mobilized their entire organization."

By the time Taylor coordinated the release of the news on Jan. 14, all the pieces were in place and Ask announced the full breadth of its program, not just the team deal.

"Announcing it all in one swoop was by design," Jewkes said. "It's so comprehensive, we wanted everyone to know that Ask wasn't just sponsoring a race car. It underscores the whole strategy."

Part of what made such a brisk turnaround conceivable was Ask's structure, Taylor and GMR said. Safka and Garell were on most of the conference calls, so there weren't layers of executives to navigate. Key decisions were made on the spot.

There's also something about the fast-paced culture of a tech company that contributed to the rapid planning. In Ask's office, results are measured daily. It's in the company's DNA to read and react quickly.

"It worked because their team is nimble, it worked because of Jim's courage, it worked because there was no competition in this space from Ask's category," said Hall of Fame's Garfinkel, who's also COO of the San Diego Padres. "The timing was perfect.

"We told them that if they came in, they'd be the story. And they have been the story."