March 2011 saw Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Hugo Boss mark their 30-year sponsorship partnership with an online competition, Dress Me For The Finale, where the prize is designing Formula 1 race overalls for Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
It’s been three decades since the fashion brand’s logo first appeared on the F1 team’s cars and their drivers’ race uniforms and to mark this Germany branding agency developed a ‘Dress Me For The Final’ campaign.
F1 fans, McLaren supporters and Hugo Boss consumers are invited to design the drivers’ overalls via the clothes brand’s website.
This competition runs in each F1 host country with one winning design per race manufactured for the qualifying competition. It began in Melbourne in late March, moved to the UK in early April and will end in November in Brazil. At this last race in Brazil the winning overall design, as voted for by fans and participants online, will be worn by both drivers for the actual race rather than just for qualifying.
This interactive online competition was also supported via social media (eg Facebook), retail promotions and spans brand work and in-store point-of-sale elements. It runs alongside an exclusive new range of McLaren branded Boss clothing which was launched on 25 March and which was modelled by the drivers.
The initiative was further boosted by a presence on the recently rebranding McLaren team website too.
Comment:
This centrepiece of a 30-year sponsorship relationship involves consumers in both brands in a way that brings their values to life and brings the event to life for the participants.
Hugo Boss’ commitment to F1 has been a long term one and in many ways it has been a trend setter in F1. While it has been around for decades, it was only relatively recently, partly when fashion brands began leaving the space, that a slew of other fashion and clothing brands moved in to F1 – such as Hackett.
The scheme is part of a wider trend for professional sports organisations and fashion brands linking up to develop twin track performance and lifestyle ranges.
It would be no surprise to see other similar initiatives appearing in MotoGP, NASCAR & IndyCar and in sports beyond auto racing.
Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxl8UiCvRs4
http://www.hugoboss.com/de/en/emag/mcLaren/?redirect=1#/cta
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150181823551413.347107.12254981412
http://mclaren.com/page/hugo-boss-dress-me-for-the-finale-design-competition
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