BMW sought to have its annual Mfest live outside of just it’s home at Kyalami racetrack in Johannesburg and to let racing enthusiasts across the country enjoy the hype and excitement of the event. BMW also wanted to Emerge the BMW brand into the gaming community and capture a new and growing audience
How does a brand with no credentials or previous interaction with the gaming community step into the ecosystem in a credible way?
We knew that there was a correlation between the high-end racing fan community and the high-end gaming community, but little had been done in this space previously. We created a mobile tournament via Gamesloft title Asphalt 9 – which gamers were able to download for free from the app store.
We then placed BMW Mfest ads into the game promoting the upcoming event and telling users to download the BMW Mfest app for more details.
We enticed gamers and racing fans across the country, via BMW’s social pages as well as via notable racing influencers, to test their mettle not only against the influencers but also against the whole country with prizes and bragging rights up for grabs. Prizes include cash, tickets to Mfest and BMW merchandise.
The influencers created bespoke content not only about the competition, but also about Mfest itself and even reviewed some of the latest M-series cars. They then invited their “fastest fans” to join them at ATK Arena (a Cape Town-based LAN arena) to race against each other and notable sim-driving pros in some top-line racing simulators, for a chance to go to Mfest itself. The event at ATK Arena even included a digitised remodel of the Kyalami racetrack where Mfest would be held.
Content created at this event then was compiled for international esports TV channel Ginx TV.
