While most motorsports brands and sponsors turned to the obvious alternative during lockdown in the form of virtual simulations of e-racing, Formula E’s Envision Virgin Racing team adopted a distinctly leftfield tactic and partnered with Jelle’s Marble Runs for the most unlikely of sports crossover collaborations.
The tie-up came early in lockdown, as the racing team linked up with the YouTube based marble racing series to create ‘Marbula E’.
This involved a race series, which started in April, in which each coloured marble represented a real Formula E team and was raced on to-scale tracks in like-for-like cancelled race replacements – complete with grandstands, (basic) CGI crowds, broadcast graphics and some inventive Formula E style commentary.
The alliance necessitated Envision Virgin Racing obtaining IP rights from the other teams in the Formula E series and also meant oversight to ensure that the light-hearted and daft tone and stunts of marble racing remained linked to the culture of Formula E.
The races were promoted both across Jelle’s channels and Envision racing’s social platforms.
We’ve teamed up with @jellesmarbles to create the Marbula E racing series.
Featuring some fun and light-hearted competition with our fellow @fiaformulae teams, the series will begin at 11am on Saturday 18th April.
May the best marble win!#ParisMPrix pic.twitter.com/CZAGiKoZsH
— EnvisionVirgin (@EnvisionVirgin) April 17, 2020
It’s race day!! #ParisMPrix
Who’s ready for some breathtaking action?@Jellesmarbles @FIAFormulaE pic.twitter.com/f0nTP4hYVY
— EnvisionVirgin (@EnvisionVirgin) April 18, 2020
The tie-up fulfilled the team’s marketing mission ‘to build a fan-first motor sport brand at the intersection of sport, entertainment and a higher social purpose’ and, as well as expanding the team’s social reach and continuing fan engagement, the initiative also offered brand partner visibility as the team’s sponsors were integrated into the track and the coverage as the team aimed to grab back some of the lost media for its sponsors which was lost due to the pandemic.
The Marbula E series round one race was the Paris M-Prix 2020 held on 18 April
Plus there was social support from the ABB Formula E series social accounts too.
The best marble race yet!
Highlights from @EnvisionVirgin's incredible Marbula E #JakartaMPrix with @Jellesmarblespic.twitter.com/mvC6FmlvWW
— ABB Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) June 7, 2020
Highlights ran on its owned Facebook and YouTube channels and post-race results and analysis was fed to the media.
“When there’s a lack of racing our biggest threat comes from lost media and broadcast visibility”, particularly the eyes it puts on partners and sponsors. The team’s just had its busiest quarter ever, trying to build a commercial product that could help see it through Covid-19 and beyond. And absurdly, that led them to marble racing,” explained Envision Virgin Racing Head of Marketing Dan Matson.
“We contacted the main players in marble racing, really creative individuals based out of the Netherlands. We pitched the Formula E idea but we really wanted to bring that sense of realism,” added Matson who joined the team last year from Derby County FC.
Outcome:
The low-cost venture has already paid off for Envision Virgin Racing as over three months the activation has cost less than £3,000 and has returned £3m in media value – a clear return on investment.
The collaboration has generated 6m video views across owned and earned media and generated 2,500 mentions in the press.
The unlikely tie-up has also increased the team‘s digital and social footprint by 50%.
Like eSports and gaming, marble racing has been one of the few sports to flourish during the coronavirus crises and Jelle’s Marble Runs grew from 250,000 subscribers in February to more than 1m YouTube subscribers in May.
Comment:
This isn’t a case of sports marketers losing their marbles, but more of a matter of when one activation door closes, another window opens….and other assorted appropriated clichés.
The success of this left field tactical reaction to an extreme situation shows that imagination, creativity and an effective execution plan can achieve results in the most challenging of circumstances.
But as the ABB Formula E restarts in Berlin with a double-header on 5 August, will the Marbula E Series keep on rolling or was it just a lockdown quirk?
“When we return to racing it will be interesting to see [if the demand remains] but just for our partners it has been great because it’s obviously engaging with our core audience,” commented Matson.
Links:
Envision Virgin Racing
https://twitter.com/EnvisionVirgin
@EnvisionVirgin
https://www.facebook.com/EnvisionVirg…
https://www.instagram.com/envisionvir…
Jelle’s Marble Runs
https://www.youtube.com/c/JellesMarbleRuns
https://twitter.com/Jellesmarbles
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