Fiat Yamaha today used a ‘launch movie’ to unveil the machine and colours with which they will challenge for the 2009 Moto GP World Championship.
This year, in which star man Valentino Rossi will defend his title, the film premiered during an online presentation from sponsor and manufacturer.
The launch ‘movie’ opens with Rossi’s team manager Davide Brivio, Lorenzo’s team manager Daniele Romagnoli and Yamaha Motor Racing managing director Lin Jarvis dressed in suits sat in the Yamaha headquarters waiting for their riders to arrive. Rossi and Lorenzo are then showing running through the factory before all five walked to the launch area, where the riders unveil their respective YZR-M1s.
Title sponsor Fiat is in the third year of its sponsorship, much of which is driven by the Italian car company’s patriotic links to the Italian star rider Rossi. The Italian superstar, nicknamed The Doctor, won his sixth world title by a margin of 93 points over Ducati’s Casey Stoner in 2008.
Spanish team mate Jorge Lorenzo makes up an unchanged 2009 rider line-up and the Yamaha factory team has made a few livery changes for the season.
Comment:
Rossi is a huge star, especially in Italy and so an online, movie-led launch offers access to the event to hiss vast legion of fans. And sponsor Fiat certainly plays ion his and it’s Italian nationality and roots.
The partnership between the Italian car brand and the Japanese bike manufacturer is an interesting and unusual one. Whilst both brands have strong auto industry and racing heritage, many would suggest that they have fairly different philosophies and values.
Nevertheless, the sponsorship is part of Fiat’s strategy which aims to target a younger audience with innovative and accessible products through appealing initiatives with high emotive impact.
The Fiat/Yamaha partnership is an innovative cooperation arrangement which claims to abandon the confines of a vanilla sponsorship, to reach out to a broader platform of communication and advertising.
When the deal was forged a new logo was created consisting of the wording “team”, the Italian flag and the Fiat and Yamaha logos. The idea was to use the existing identities of the two brands to develop a new graphic and chromatic language capable of relating directly to a dynamic, young public.
The partnership sees the two works Yamaha bikes carry the Fiat logo and the Italian flag on their side, windshields and fuel tanks and on the two riders’ race suits, while the clothing of staff and mechanics is identified by Fiat insignia. The Fiat logo is also present on official communications of the team and is present in hospitality areas, pits and team trucks.
Crucially, the deal enables Fiat Automobiles SpA to roll out campaigns using the sporting image of the team technicians and riders – ie Rossi.
So it seems that while the collaboration provides winners and Rossi it seems the partnership will continue to be a strong one.
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfZnBGVp1pM&feature=player_embedded
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