Launching a global sport | E1
Results
800m
average audience reach per race
1000+
pieces of coverage
15
CEO profiles
5
continents PR featured in
“What we are trying to achieve here is building a new form of entertainment based on technology, innovation and sustainability”
Rodi Basso, CEO and co-founder of E1
Brief
We received an unprecedented brief – to launch a world championship of an entirely new sport – E1.
A cousin of Formula E and Extreme E, the UIM E1 World Championship is the world’s first all-electric raceboat championship.
The championship, backed by high-profile talent including Will Smith, Tom Brady, Rafael Nadal and Steve Aoki, features races across global cities such as Jeddah, Venice and Monaco.
Onboarded as the Championship’s global PR agency, the wide-ranging brief handed to Brandnation spanned an ‘always on’ press office, race-day media handling, corporate profiling, and creative campaigns and activations.
Response
Acting as the Championship’s global PR agency, Brandnation was responsible for crafting the narrative of the embryonic Championship – one anchored in a strategic comms platform that touched motorsport, lifestyle, business and, technology.
From hosting the world’s media at races to raising the profile of E1’s co-founder and CEO Rodi Basso to launching new teams and race destinations – the Brandnation team has been in full flow in its debut season.
GOAT and a boat
NFL icon Tom Brady opened a RaceBird parade down Venice’s iconic Grand Canal ahead of the E1 Venice GP.
Just days on from his famous Netflix roast, the quarterback made one final play on the world’s most historic waterway.
To promote the arrival of the series in the city, Brady threw a football to Team Brady pilot Emma Kimiläinen as she awaited on the RaceBird.
And, to nobody’s surprise, the NFL hall-of-famer nailed with a 100% pass completion. Class is permanent.
Will vs Rafa
Rafa Nadal was spotted with fellow owner and acting royalty Will Smith piloting a futuristic electric raceboat on the waters of Lake Como in a drag race at the world-renowned luxury hotel, Villa d’Este.
The pair were captured trying their hand at driving their team’s futuristic RaceBird, the world’s first all-electric raceboat that’s reminiscent of something out of Star Wars, for the first time.
The duo were also seen to be bonding over their involvement in E1, dubbed the “Formula One” on water’, as a friendly rivalry formed with both their teams vying to be crowned ‘Champions of the Water’.
