Being a custodian for the digital representation of a brand with such a rich history as Caterham Cars can sometimes be a daunting task. With an army of loyal fans who use their ‘Sevens’ for anything from popping to the shops through to overtaking super cars at organised track-days around the world, there is a responsibility that comes with the job of moving the brand forwards and expanding the digital presence of the business.
Recently, Caterham approached BradleyDyer with details of their latest venture – an exciting partnership with another iconic name in British Motorsport history (and future) Lola Cars. Caterham and Lola had been working together for some months now to produce a car that combined the best elements of both marques, and that project was to culminate with a launch at the fast approaching Autosport International 2011.
Caterham tasked BradleyDyer with the creation of a brand for the new car, the SP/300.R, as well as creating a visual treatment that would allow for the Caterham and Lola logos to be used together for the very first time. In addition to this a strong sense of style was required in order to provide a backdrop for the new model that could move the Caterham digital brand forwards, without forgetting the tradition and approachable nature that had made it what it is today. Supporting marketing materials including a countdown website, YouTube channel, 12 page brochure and hand-out flyers were also required – along with a template for the email campaign to inform pre-registrants of new information regarding the car.
Once the branding process was complete and it was clear what the direction that the marketing for the new model would be it was agreed that we would have some fun with the initial teaser for the new model. Teaser press releases were given out to the media in order to generate some traffic to the Caterham website, where a countdown timer was put in place to signify the launch of the new car and users were able to register for further updates once more information had been revealed. Hidden in the source code for the countdown website was a little ‘red-herring’ that alluded to the car being a 4-seater car with the code name: Project Familyman. This was reported by some of the popular motoring blogs, much to our amusement at the time, but it also helped to create further interest in what Caterham were going to announce.
The main website was built entirely in open source technologies and avoided using Flash as we were keen to provide a consistent experience across all browsers and mobile devices. YouTube was used for hosting videos in order to ensure that they would play seamlessly on the vast majority of mobile and desktop platforms and reduced the need for a dedicated ‘app’ to handle the media. The design ethos of the website was to produce a clear and concise overview of the new car, without the usual cluttered interfaces and long loading times associated with other car manufacturer and campaign websites.
The launch feedback was excellent with the website receiving in excess of 50,000 visitors in the first few weeks and receiving traffic from all around the globe. The social elements of the campaign went well, Facebook was an excellent source of traffic and continues to grow as a simple method for users to share the website with their friends. All elements of the launch were well received by the public and Caterham are making great progress filling their order book for the new model.
James Drake, Marketing Manager at Caterham Cars said; “The Caterham Lola SP/300.R project was undertaken with a full understanding of the fact that it was a turning point in the 38 year history of our business. Because of this we always knew that its success was critical and therefore we needed to employ an integrated approach to the campaign, which itself would be an extremely tangible way of demonstrating the level of investment we have placed in the project. BradleyDyer were able to analyse the situation, develop solutions and very successfully produce a website, printed media and a complete brand identity. The nature of this project meant that it was extremely time sensitive, but every deliverable not only met but exceeded the set deadlines by some margin. This, combined with the sheer quality of work completed was extremely impressive and means that I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending BradleyDyer’s services to anyone”
Visit the Caterham SP/300.R Website