In A Hi-Tech Age, 47% Of Fans Primarily Watch Le Tour For The Caravane Publicitaire

Make no mistake, the Amaury Sport Organisation’s (ASO) marketing platforms for the 102nd Tour De France are hi-tech cutting edge: from the central, real-time website, a set of mobile and tablet apps, through the standard social media platforms (including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+, some slightly less frequently used ones (like Daily Motion), plus specialist cycling sites (eg Strava) and an official game from Focus Home Interactive.

There are even official webfilm promotions for the 2015 Tour itself and the game too.

And yet, the biggest marketing platform for the race remains the 85-year-old tradition that fans never see on TV – the Caravane Publicitaire (Le Tour De Publicity).

Indeed, the size and scale and influence of the old-school, road carnival is so big that it even has its own standalone digital platforms: including a website, a Facebook page and an Instagram feed.

There is even an official Caravane Publicitaire app on Google Play and iTunes.

This astonishing marketing parade may seem to some like comical old-school marketing, but it was revolutionary when created in 1930 and despite the tech-revolution it remains not only an essential part of the race marketing programme, but an essential, integral part of the Tour itself.

It is a unique spectacle which has transformed the nature of the event to the extent that a recent survey by marketing agency TNS Sofres found that 47% of all Tour De France spectators come primarily to see the publicity caravan

So that’s seven million people lining the roads of France to watch an eclectic collection of weird and whacky branded floats pass by throwing gifts and goodies to roadside watchers as they pass.

There are businesses and factories that are devoted to building the extravagant vehicles that form part of the publicity caravan.

Some of the early advertisers in the caravan, such as Vache Qui Rit (The Laughing Cow), established their place in the French public’s hearts and have remained there ever since.

There are now so many brands involved – from blue chip Tour De France sponsors such as Škoda and LCL, to French stalwarts including Bic and Cochonou, to global family brands like McCain and Haribo and small, local outfits – the 20km-long procession talks 45 minutes to pass.

The 2015 publicity caravan statistics are:

160 vehicles

34 brands

600 people

14 million objects handed out

12 km of procession

35 minutes of show

55 people to supervise the caravan

13 Republican Guard motorcycle escorts

The cost of joining the mobile parade varies considerably: from €15,000 to drive a single small car to the €1,000,000 invested by a brand like Haribo (which includes an ASO entry fee of around €250,000, plus the cost of hiring a fleet of vehicles, 20 staff to man them, a parallel in-store campaign and the 1.5 million sachets of sweets distributed along the route).

‘It’s a substantial budget but the Tour remains the event that attracts the most people and lets us reach our target of families,’ says Haribo’s Philippe Lavergne.

Comment

In an era of programmatic buying and bespoke mobile personalisation, the caravan is not only old school, but also distinctly unsophisticated in marketing terms.

And yet the crowds love it.

Of course, there is another tactical benefit of joining the caravan.

It was a route to activating around what the organiser’s claim to be the world’s third biggest sports event – with 15m watching roadside and 1.4bn watching on TV/livestream – without the reputational risks of partnering with a pro team associated with the recent history of doping.

Links

ASO Website:

http://www.aso.fr/us/homepage.html

Le Tour Website:

http://www.letour.com/

Le Tour Apps:

http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2015/us/mobile-tablet-applications.html

Le Tour Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/letour

Le Tour Twitter:

https://twitter.com/letour

Le Tour Google+: