The Opportunity
Vodafone Australia made the move from Ford to Holden Commodore in 2009. The Clipsal 500 was to be the team’s first race in a Holden Commodore on Australian soil.
communikate et al was once again given the challenge to create an iconically South Australian event to kick off leading V8 Supercars team – TeamVodafone’s – Clipsal 500 campaign in Adelaide, generate media coverage and encourage fan attendance and interaction – all in less than three weeks.
Our Approach
Having previously hosted a celebrity pit stop challenge, grape crushing and go-karting challenge, we developed a simple, yet quirky concept that saw the TeamVodafone race car and its drivers Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup blessed in front of Adelaide’s majestic St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in the heart of the ‘City of Churches’.
We worked in close collaboration with Vodafone, Triple Eight Race Engineering, Fluid PR, Sportstage and the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, to ensure all stakeholder objectives and needs were heard and met.
Our role in the integrated campaign spanned:
- Event management
- Media management
- Publicity
- Strategic planning
- Supplier liaison
The Outcome
The campaign generated 60 local and national media placements in two days, across a broad cross section of media outlets including FoxSport News, ABC1, Channel Ten, Channel Nine, Channel 7 and The Advertiser.
The event also drew more than 70 fans to witness the blessing and for the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with their idols, taking photos and getting autographs.
Thanks to the tremendous response from media and fans alike, TeamVodafone was the most visible team in town ahead of the weekend’s Clipsal 500 for the fourth year running.
