Formula E campaign results are electric

First held in 2014, Formula E is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. It is the fastest growing and fourth largest motorsport in the world. This year, it had a series of races held in 11 cities across the world; in Europe: England, Italy, Germany and Monaco; in the Americas: USA, Mexico and Brazil; as well as in Saudi Arabia, India, South Africa and Indonesia.

Nissan’s wool-rich racing team kit

The Nissan Formula E team all wearing their Merino wool team kit.

For Season 9 (2023) of the Formula E World Championship, The Woolmark Company joined the Nissan Formula E Team as its technical partner and developed an innovative Merino wool-rich team kit. The kit was made in Europe using Australian Merino wool and featured Merino wool blend base-layers, mid-layers and outer-layers: T-shirt, polo shirt, shirt, softshell jacket, ¼ zip jumper, rain jacket, cargo pants, shorts, and cap.

The Nissan Formula E team, which hadn’t previously worn a wool kit, connected with The Woolmark Company because it had seen the results of the company’s partnership with the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sailing team and identified Merino wool as a technical and durable fibre suitable for its own team.

Soft on the skin, Merino wool’s unbeatable moisture management, thermoregulation and anti-odour properties are perfectly matched to performance-led environments – and with Formula E races held across the world, Merino wool provided the versatility to be suitable for a range of climates, from hot to cold.

The Woolmark logo, owned by Australian woolgrowers, was displayed on the racing team apparel. The logo was also very visible throughout the season on the side of the Nissan racing cars, on event infrastructure and on all communication touch points (broadcast, digital, social media, PR events). It is estimated that this exposure alone was worth $2 million.

Campaign raised awareness of Merino wool’s benefits

 

The Nissan team’s Merino wool apparel and the racing car displaying the Woolmark logo.

 

The Nissan team’s Merino wool apparel and the racing car displaying the Woolmark logo.

The race series, which spanned January to July, provided an opportunity for The Woolmark Company to engage all season long with an international audience comprising millions of sports fans, as well as businesses and media. For Season 9, the championship had a viewership of 344 million across 197 countries.

A huge PR and media campaign was undertaken to highlight the partnership between the two companies and promote Merino wool as a sustainable and high-performance fibre.

The campaign included videos and other engaging content distributed through a paid social media campaign that was rolled out by The Woolmark Company in the target markets of France, Germany, Monaco, UK, USA and Japan. Nissan Formula E also highlighted its partnership with The Woolmark Company and the benefits of Merino wool on all its social channels, and both companies created landing pages on their websites to promote the partnership and the fibre.

The campaign was assisted by influencer and press trips to visit the Nissan team at races which bolstered, via social and other media, visibility of the benefits of Merino wool to a wider international audience, generating an estimated value of $1.6 million in publicity. The Woolmark Company also entered into direct media partnerships with Gen Z media HyperBeast and Brut to amplify the campaign further.

Promotion of the campaign at consumer and trade events was also undertaken, most notably at the Première Vision Trade show in Paris in February.

As well as promoting the benefits of Merino wool to an international consumer audience, the campaign also helped The Woolmark Company to connect with other sports and automotive brands which could lead to further business development opportunities for wool.

“By aligning itself with a leading motorsport team competing in zero-emission electric vehicles on the global stage, AWI and The Woolmark Company have helped build the international reputation for Merino wool as a sustainable, technical fibre for performance apparel.”
- John Roberts, AWI CEO

More information: www.woolmark.com/formula-e

This article appeared in the December 2023 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.