While AT&T aims to inspire and excite fans in the F1 experience through its Red Bull Racing sponsorship by displaying a Red Bull F1 car at its in-store showcase at AT&T outlets in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas, its flagship activation event was at the Exxon Mobile sponsored Austin Fan Fest event.
Here the telco giant offered customers, employees and racing fans the chance not only to see the (ubiquitous) F1 car, but also to experience a replica of the high tech Red Bull Racing Pit Wall.
AT&T, as Red Bull’s official technical supplier, provides the solution for the racing team to transmit real time telemetry and intelligence from the car to both the pit wall and to the team’s UK HQ and it is this astonishing live technology that the fans can see for themselves at the Fan Fest Pit Wall experience.
The aim is not just to provide a jaw-dropping high tech promotion, but to explain how the brand’s high speed global network connectivity enables the team to make sure every fraction of a second counts by supporting the team’s decision makers in this dynamic environment.
This initiative also links to Red Bull Racing’s own ongoing ‘From The Pit Wall’ initiative which runs through the Grand Prix season on platforms such as Tumblr.
See http://fromthepitwall.tumblr.com/
Fan Fest visitors can also use the AT&T event to test their driving skills in a new racing game, take pictures with a Red Bull Racing Grand Prix Car, peel out with some exclusive giveaways and try their hands at the ‘Driving Car Simulator’, a driving experience that allows individuals to test the life-altering effects of texting while driving in a safe, controlled environment.
Red Bull Racing test and reserve driver Sébastien Buemi also stopped by to sign autographs and talk about his role with the World Champion winning team.
Furthermore, the Grand Prix also offers AT&T a platform to promote its umbrella ‘No Texting While Driving’ initiative (http://itcanwait.com/) and the telco is also offering US fans a unique chance to win an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the Red Bull Racing headquarters in the United Kingdom through its ‘What’s Your Number?’ scramble challenge sweepstakes (www.attnumbersracing.com).
Comment:
Despite its high tech Pit Wall Experience, it still seems that for so many F1 sponsors it is the car itself that remains the star of the experience (is this a further sign of the general lack of innovation and creativity in so much F1 sponsorship activity?).
At least as far as activation around the inaugural US GP is concerned.
As well as AT&T ensuring the presence of Red Bulls vehicles at its hospitality and event initiatives, other sponsors such as Pirelli and Dell did likewise.
In addition to Pirelli’s vanilla media exposure through extensive in-track signage coupled with a programme of hospitality, media and trade events (plus branded cowboy hats for the winners on the presentation rostrum – replacing the usual baseball caps), the tyre giant is activating around its rights at this month’s inaugural US Grand Prix with a nationwide F1 Showcase Tour.
Beyond the main event at the Circuit Of The Americas, Pirelli’s moving F1 event is taking an F1 car, a simulator and a set of products and stories to dealer showrooms, shopping malls, auto shows and other large consumer gatherings around the USA.
It’s two F1 three-seat Pirelli branded cars (derived from old Jordan F1 cars) will be the star experience in of the tour and provide a unique F1 driving experience (complete with Pirelli tyres of course).
“All of these activities allow us to leverage our F1 sponsorship even more than we thought in a very crowded sport sponsorship/media market like the US, capturing value through activations during the week of the event but also throughout the whole year, with consumer, trade and media professionals, and with exposure across all kinds of marketing channels,” explains the appropriately named Paolo Ferrari, Chairman and CEO of Pirelli’s NAFTA Region.
While F1 car experiences are also a small part of Dell’s US Grand Prix campaign tied to its sponsorship of the back marker Caterham team, the brand’s activation is considerable wider and spans not only in-race events, but also traditional print ads, but also online case studies and video testimonials across Dell’s social platforms (including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr).
“Our primary audience for this relationship is our commercial customers in the B2B space. Since we were a ‘ground floor’ partner, literally, we’ve been leveraging our unique relationship here in the US for the last two years,” outlines Bryan Jones, Dell’s Executive Director, North America Business Segment Marketing.
“We’ve had the team and cars at several high profile customer events and industry events like the Gartner Datacenter Symposium. When we started with Caterham, they literally had eight employees, four dogs and a warehouse. We leverage the story of how Dell helped Caterham go from 0 to 220mph in just 22 weeks around the globe through digital assets, case studies and customer facing material.”
Links:
AT&T Red Bull HQ Scramble Competition:
AT&T It Can Wait
Red Bull Racing Pit Wall Tumblr
http://fromthepitwall.tumblr.com/
Austin F1 Fan Fest
http://www.facebook.com/AustinFanFest
Red Bull Racing
AT&T Red Bull Sponssorship
Dell & Caterham F1
http://www.caterhamf1.com/partners/dell-technology-team
Pirelli F1
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