Škoda Auto, which has been a primary partner of the Tour De France since 2004, leveraged its rights around the 2021 tour via a multi-strand activation programme running under the title ‘The beautiful circus: You have to love it. We do’ which emphasises the fact that it takes passion to compete in such a demanding race.
Running within the car company’s ‘WeLoveCycling’ platform, the campaign kicked off on 22 June – ahead of the start of the 26 June to 18 July race – and runs across television and social media, within the race itself, via the official app and on the company’s dedicated website https://www.welovecycling.com/.
On this site, cycling enthusiasts will find interesting information about the world’s most famous bike race and a competition with exclusive prizes.
Posted online and running across television channels in multiple markets, the hero ‘You Have To Love It’ commercial dropped on 25 June and offers a glimpse of the race’s many ups and downs, thrills and spills, cheers and tears during an intense 23 days. The message is that whether you’re a rider, a fan or a passionate partner like Škoda, you have to truly love it to do it.
As well as the above-the-line campaign, Škoda’s partnership rights see its new ENYAQ iV all-electric SUV vehicle serve as Tour Director Christian Prudhomme’s famous ‘red car’ command vehicle for 15 of the 21 stages giving the brand high profile visibility through the race.
.@LeTour is one of the most gruelling races in the world and the fully electric ŠKODA ENYAQ iV leads it from start to finish. #SKODACycling #TDF2021
— ŠKODA UK (@SKODAUK) June 26, 2021
On some stages, Prudhomme will use a Škoda SUPERB iV with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain as the ‘Red Car’.
In total, Skoda is supplying a 250-vehicle tour fleet to support the race, the organisers and several teams, as well as providing mobility for the route as service vehicles and VIP transport for the annual competition winners. For the 2021 race, as well as the ENYAQ iV, the fleet includes the OCTAVIA and OCTAVIA iV models, plus the SUPERB iV.
Škoda also again sponsors Green Jersey for the leader in points standings (with the company’s logo featured on the jersey): marking the seventh consecutive year the car company has leveraged this particular race asset.
Škoda is also a partner of the official Tour de France app which keeps fans up to date on the latest race developments in real-time. In addition to the current rankings and a live ticker, the app also offers real-time GPS tracking, rider profiles and much more. The app is free to download and is available for Android and iOS.
Škoda’s design team led by Head of Interior Design Peter Olah once again were responsible for creating the winner’s trophy.
Plus a further 2021 activation strand is the Czech auto brand’s #Ride2Unite podcast series.
“Our company’s long history is inextricably linked with cycling. For this reason, Škoda Auto is committed to being a strong long-term partner of international elite and amateur cycling,” explained Skoda Board member For Sales & Marketing Martin Jahn. “Supporting the Tour de France has been one of the cornerstones of our activities in sports sponsorship since 2004. It offers us the opportunity to visibly and sustainably position our brand and products in an appropriate setting, as well as to share our enthusiasm for this great sport with the international cycling community. I am particularly pleased that the ENYAQ iV, our first all-electric SUV, will be used as the lead vehicle in the Tour de France.”
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This year’s work follows on from Skoda’s Tour De France activations in 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017.
The 108th Tour de France was scheduled for 26 June (with the Grand Départ in Brest) and covers 21 stages over a total distance of more than 3,300 kilometres before arriving at the finish line on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 18 July.
Škoda’s long company history actually began with bicycle manufacturing before it became a car company. Back in 1895 Václav Laurin and Václav Klement founded a bicycle workshop in Mladá Boleslav (Bohemia) laying the foundation for today’s ŠKODA AUTO.
Skoda positions itself as the ‘engine of cycling’ and its promotes cycling at various levels across Europe. In addition to the Tour de France and the Tour of Spain (‘Vuelta’), Skoda also sponsors numerous other international cycling races as well as national and international grassroots sports events.
Bikes and cycling accessories are also an integral part of the brand’s extended product range.
Plus Skoda backs women’s cycling through racing and its Škoda DSI Cycling Academy and it will be an official supporters of the recently announced revamp of the women’s version of the greatest cycling event in the world in 2022.
Christian Prudhomme “The 24th team of the #TourDeFrance”. What an honour for our J-1 girls (@desELLESauVELO) who have already kicked off their #TDF2021 journey! Good luck, ladies! #SKODACycling #WomensCycling
— ŠKODA UK (@SKODAUK) June 30, 2021
As well as its Tour linked activation, Skoda is simultaneously running a parallel mainstream marketing campaign with global agency Tribal Worldwide promoting its new electric vehicle, ENYAQ iV. The work targets a diverse audience who are united in being time poor, but looking for excellent quality and design at accessible prices. They are also open to products with a green footprint. The strategy behind the campaign plays on the idea that an electric vehicle does not have to come at the expense of quality design.
The UK work is led by a TVC created by Fallon which features two robots: GR-RR & PU-RR. Tribal Worldwide uses this concept throughout the digital creative to showcase the eco credentials of electric (PU-RR) and the design credentials of attitude (GR-RR).
“We’ve been working with Tribal for a long time now, but the launch of the ENYAQ iV was a great opportunity for us to develop a fresh experience that is creative and beautiful. We wanted to ensure our first fully electric SUV really shone and the experience we’ve developed allows for this to be seen and experienced” said Nathan Still, Digital Marketing and Transformation at ŠKODA.
Plus it is also running a global campaign through June for the new Skoda Fabia
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