Overview:
2023 marked 75 years of Porsche. Seventy-five years of the relentless pursuit of bringing dreams to life, started by Ferry Porsche, the inimitable designer and engineer who decided to build the car he dreamed of because he could not find it already in existence. Throughout the history of Porsche, the brand has pursued excellence in engineering married to the inspiration of design. To celebrate this rich history of bringing dreams to life, Porsche created a year-long endeavor: “Driven by Dreams,” a celebration of 75 years of dreaming in color.
Objective
Throughout the year, the brand set out to tell the story of its heritage through the story of color, with unique collaborations, activations, community moments and more – all with the endeavor of inspiring the next generation of Porsche drivers to dream in full color.
Goals
Design Goal: Sell 100 cans of Backdrop X Porsche paint.
Motorsports Goal: Capture interest by driving 1 million Xbox sweepstakes entries.
Community Goal: Engage with the community and share the community experience beyond our in-person audiences, reflected in strong engagement rates.
Strategy
With a milestone as big as 75 years and a brand as far-reaching as Porsche, we knew the story had to come to life through campaigns, collaborations and partnerships year-round, culminating in a community moment years in the making: Rennsport Reunion 7. Moreover, we knew we had to celebrate the legacy of Porsche and what makes the brand unique, sharing all these moments on the owned @porscheusa Instagram channel.
The story of Porsche is deeply rooted in intentional and functional design, performance come to life in historic motorsports moments, and a connected community with a deep love for the brand. To encapsulate this, we focused on these core brand tenants through dedicated activations:
The design story came to life through a unique partnership with Backdrop, a boutique paint company steeped in a history of design.
The motorsport story was immortalized with a collection of Xbox Series X consoles based on historic Porsche liveries, in addition to gaming partnerships.
The community story was crystalized at on-site activations at Monterey Car Week and Rennsport Reunion 7.
In addition, we leveraged paid media to support all our endeavors, expanding upon the historic Porsche brand and inviting new enthusiasts and future drivers into the fold.
Execution
Design:
The Porsche x Backdrop 75th anniversary collaboration included four iconic colors from a Porsche color library steeped in heritage: Irish Green, Ruby Star, Riviera Blue and Speed Yellow. Each one spoke to a specific moment in Porsche history and embodied the cultural narrative of the time of their introduction. The campaign included photo shoots, a partnership with interior design powerhouse Dwell Magazine, and experiential activations at both Monterey Car Week and Rennsport Reunion 7.
Motorsports:
The storied legacy of Porsche in motorsports was celebrated through a collaboration with Xbox, creating a 75th Anniversary collection that paid homage to six of the most unforgettable looks by reimagining them for the Xbox Series X console and accompanying controllers. The limited-edition console designs were unveiled at major auto and gaming events around the globe throughout the year, with activations at Monterey Car Week and Rennsport Reunion 7. The consoles were gifted to brand partners, gaming personalities and influencers to promote a giveaway, and drivers and enthusiasts alike could enter the giveaway to win the consoles.
Additionally, Porsche partnered with gaming companies to expand the story into the esports world, tapping a growing audience of car fans with Need for Speed and Forza gaming partnerships.
Community:
The importance of community to the Porsche story is not to be undervalued. Drivers and enthusiasts experienced 75 years of dreaming in color at Monterey Car Week, where the brand’s color-filled experience featured design and gaming events, informative panels and community engagement.
Finally, all the storylines culminated in the ultimate expression of a 75-year celebration: a community-focused, multi-day experience: Rennsport Reunion 7. With over 91,000 attendees, the event became the largest Porsche meeting ever. C-K captured the moments and brought the story to life for attendees and online observers alike.
Throughout the year, we captured and told the story of color through successful activations, collaborations and community moments, encouraging the next generation of Porsche drivers to dream in full color. We created massively impactful programs that exceeded our initial objectives, including:
Design Goal: Sell 100 cans of Backdrop X Porsche paint.
Result: In addition to selling 125 cans of paint in the first 24 hours alone, the collaboration received an overwhelmingly positive response with over 40 mentions in the press, a 14.6% average engagement rate on @porscheusa content and 7M paid social impressions. The Dwell magazine series resulted in 893K series video views, 87K article reads and 13.9M social impressions across Dwell channels.
Motorsports Goal: Capture interest by driving 1 million Xbox sweepstakes entries.
Result: 2.034 million sweepstakes entries, 8.8M total impressions, 380K total email opt ins.
Community Goal: Engage with the community and share the community experience beyond our in-person audiences, reflected in strong engagement rates.
Result: Content surrounding Rennsport Reunion 7 outperformed our engagement rate benchmark by 5.3% and accrued more than 32.5M impressions, 5.5M video views and 4.2M total engagements across our @porscheusa channels. Monterey Car Week content resulted in 185K reach and 142K video views.
