Ahead of the start of the new Formula One (F1) season, the series rights-holder is rolled out its first ever brand platform, ‘Engineered Insanity’, as it aims to continue to shift brand perceptions and build a new fan-centered identity.
The lights go green on the 2018 Grand Prix season in Melbourne on 25 March and to leverage the start of the new season Formula One launched its first ever global marketing campaign revolving around showcasing ‘What F1 really feels like’ through the eyes of the fans.
Led by its new ownership group Liberty Media, this work marks F1’s first ever paid-for global marketing campaign.
This multi-platform initiative, created by Wieden+Kennedy London, revved up from 16 March with integrated content linked by a new tagline and hashtag #EngineeredInsanity.
It aims to ‘shine a spotlight on the innovation, endurance and elemental nature of the sport’ by putting fans at the ‘visceral heart of the action’.
The global campaign is spearheaded by a hero 60-second film, featuring six superfans, airing across paid media and F1’s digital and social channels.
Live from next weekend…#EngineeredInsanity #F1isBack pic.twitter.com/wu4M5T9fz8
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 16, 2018
While on the ground in Melbourne, home of the season-opening race, work includes a major outdoor push with major airport and city posters, as well as hand-painted murals.
Further local activations focusing on key F1 markets and race host nations – including China, France, Germany and the USA – will roll out as the season unfolds.
Plus, through the season, F1 says it will create further fan-centred at-race activations both at fan festivals and across its social platforms.
“If we think about the audience we want to reach, and getting to a new audience, it’s about creating content that’s going to resonate and engage with them on their level,” says F1 marketing director Ellie Norman.
“So there will be lots of animated gifs, short video formats that we’ll be pushing out to give people a feel for the campaign, and then they can hopefully discover the longer format on our pages and social channels or website.”
Norman adds that in the short term F1 will initially track engagement, video views, reach and re-sharing, while long term the work will be measured against its core brand statements: ‘increase interest’, ‘better knowledge’ and ‘deeper engagement’ with F1 as a sport.
Comment:
This powerful and visceral creative has got the Activative team revved up for the new season – something that hasn’t happened in many a year.
Following on from the rights-holder’s December logo refresh (see case study), this new campaign also fits with F1’s long-term strategy to shift brand perception and build a new identity centred around its fans.
Norman says that the new approach is a step change and that “Every decision we are making is about how it serves the fan, so if it doesn’t serve the fan, it doesn’t serve Formula One”.
The campaign follows February’s announcement that the rights-holder was making a major digital investment with the launch of F1 TV – an over-the-top live subscription service enabling fans to watch ad-free live streams of each race (including on-board cameras showing live content from the driver’s point of view).
And January’s announcement conforming the axing of F1’s controversial grid girls and their replacement with a grid kids’ programme.
GRID KIDS: The next generation of F1 fans will now have a chance to line-up alongside their heroes on race days, ahead of lights out…https://t.co/r50zFbdetC
— Formula 1 (@F1) February 5, 2018
It is another step on the road to establishing a clear identity for a rights-holder that before the Liberty takeover had (surprisingly) refused to even have a marketing department, let alone any marketing.
During the Ecclestone era, F1 relied almost entirely on race promoters, teams, sponsors and media to publicize the sport.
It now seems that F1, the world’s most famous and glamorous auto racing series finally has a marketing campaign (and department) to match.
A rights-holder going in the right direction.
Go! Go! Go!
But, with just 427K Facebook views and 248k YouTube views in its first 48 hours, the top level data shows that the rights-holder still has a long, long way to go in building its social following
Links:
F1
https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/
Wieden+Kennedy London
