The event is now in its fifth year and is expected to grow further. The campaign visits the Berlin stop to learn how automotive brands engage with customers.

Five years ago, Formula E entered the racing scene at Beijing’s Olympic Park. The idea scribbled on a napkin in 2011, was for the sport to demonstrate the potential of sustainable mobility to help create a cleaner world.

In January 2018, Formula E increased its TV audience by 42% year-on-year to 330 million, and more than doubled its attendance to 476,000 over the same period.

Formula E is attracting major brands, including Jaguar, Nissan, BMW, and Audi, and has secured ABB, the global technology and robotics company, as its first title sponsor since 2018.

According to Crispin Bolt, head of partnerships at TRO, the number of brands involved in Formula E has “increased”: “You only have to look around and you’ve got Hugo Boss [and] OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] like Porsche and Mercedes. They’re all getting into this space and there’s a reason for that.”

Perhaps the reason is the size of the Berlin event’s fan park, which features a series of brand activations, food stalls, and a large play area. But Bolt says growing concerns about climate change can also have an impact.

He says: “Everyone cares about the planet, so if you can combine entertainment with something sustainable, it can only be a nice thing.”

Ben Taylor, head of Cassette, TRO’s technology arm, adds that Formula E is the “perfect platform” to showcase new technologies. “Formula E is about pushing boundaries, about technologies, about complicated messaging,” he says. “It’s the perfect place to tell this story, bring it to life, and make it engaging.”

Jaguar sparked interest with a speed game, while Nissan simulated the speed of cars by blowing air in the faces of visitors. DHL was also there, showing off a drone that could be the future of package delivery.

In a crowded market, Bolt believes experiences are a way to stand out. “There are a lot of brands, but that’s always a challenge,” he says. “But for us at TRO, we’re always trying to create the most engaging, most immersive experiences.”

Bolt believes the values ​​of sustainability and innovation have helped create a platform that brands want to align with. Motorsports also offers opportunities beyond the typical music festival, allowing brands to do ever-larger activations.

For example, TRO client BMW, which is also a title sponsor of Formula E, used the Berlin weekend to unveil its biggest activation of the season, with a race car, rally car, and motorbike on display, as well as a “vision walk” (an insight into the brand’s vision for the future of car manufacturing), a joystick-controlled game played on a huge screen and virtual reality headsets for simulated driving in an autonomous car.
“We’re trying to showcase a lot of the trends in the automotive industry,” explains Kristina Schmaderer, head of cooperation and brand partnerships at BMW. “If you do the ‘vision walk,’ you get a sense of what we mean and what we think the future of mobility could look like.”

For Nissan, its presence was driven by its global zero-emissions brand strategy. The brand partnered with TRO to create a VR experience so visitors could experience what it’s like to be in a Formula E car.

Formula E is just starting to make its mark on the sport, and Taylor says there’s still a long way to go. “From bringing racing to the people and helping them understand the technology better, I think we’ve got a long way to go.”