Formula BMW is the worlds leading entry-level class in Formula racing and offers drivers as young as 15-years-old an opportunity to enter motor racing with the high tech standard FB02 race car. But it offers talented drivers much more than just a car as the Education and Coaching Programme also ensures that they are taught everything they need to know to hold their own in a very hard and competitive industry.
The objective of this campaign was to raise awareness of Formula BMW itself and more specifically of the exclusive partnership between Formula BMW and Nigel Mansell which is intended as a means to groom Formula 1 stars of the future including Mansell’s own sons Greg and Leo.
Securing coverage with a celebrity of Nigel Mansell’s calibre was evidently not something which would present a challenge. However, securing extensive coverage when we had access to him for only one hour would require careful planning. In order to maximise our opportunities, we ran 2 sessions simultaneously. One studio linked stations to Nigel Mansell himself whilst the other enabled a different set of stations to speak to Mansell’s sons Greg and Leo who are racing against each other at speeds of over 140 miles per hour in the 2006 Formula BMW Championship. Both sets of interviews allowed formula BMW to engage audiences and inform them of Nigel Mansell’s new role as Ambassador.
With only one hour of the spokespeople’s time, the campaign secured nearly 50 items of coverage and a combined weekly reach of over 11 million on radio as well as an interview on BBC London Television reaching an audience of 980,000.