NASCAR’s Integrated Marketing Communications Managing Director to Speak at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama is acclimated to the world of football, but David Higdon hopes to open students up to the world of NASCAR at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, in 216 Reese Phifer. The event is free and open to the public.

As the integrated marketing communications managing director of NASCAR, Higdon plays a major role in the development of communication strategies and in overseeing communication initiatives across the company. Higdon will discuss the initiatives UA’s Program in Sports Communication has established with NASCAR.

“Having Higdon speak to our students will be tremendous in terms of helping them understand how to harness media in all of its forms — traditional, new, social and user-generated — to promote products, associations and ideas,” said Dr. Andrew Billings, director of the APSC and Ronald Reagan chair of broadcasting.

Part of the partnership that NASCAR is forming with on-campus groups involves a Daytona 500 launch campaign that students worked on during the summer. Capstone Agency, a student-run communications firm, will be continuing the work on this initiative this fall.

“The exposure that this gives our students to interact with professionals and design campaigns that would be used to promote a significant event like the Daytona 500 is vital to their growth and development as practitioners, and we are excited that NASCAR is willing to be involved in that development,” said Dr. Kenon Brown, assistant professor in UA’s department of advertising and public relations.

Higdon joined NASCAR in 2011 from the LPGA Tour, where he oversaw corporate communication, television and digital media content and served on the World Golf Hall of Fame Advisory Board. He has held writing and editing positions at The New York Times, ESPN: The Magazine and other media outlets.