The scale of this project was unprecedented and needed sanction from the Confederation of Australian Motorsport.Partnering with one of Australia’s biggest race teams provided access to cars, drivers and crew. Uniquely in V8 Supercar history, cameras entered the inner sanctum of a race team as our contestants competed for a place on the grid.Shannons Racing team appeared at Bathurst complete with branded cars, pits and crew – a new team and new driver, a 17 year-old who everyone had watched grow into a star.Shannons Supercar Showdown became the basis for an integrated marketing programme (including digital, social, crm, celebrity ambassadorship and event marketing) giving people unique access to Australia’s biggest motoring event.

Entry into the Australian V8 Supercar Championship is $3 million. Our content-led approach created a 11 part series, broadcast on Australia’s largest network, plus our own race team at Australia’s biggest race event, for $600,000!

Shannons Racing became the lead media story over the Bathurst week; generating $2.3m in earned media.Bathurst crowds swamped the Shannons Racing team race pit for posters, merchandise and autographs.We smashed our database target of 5,000, delivering 34,309 of which 26,624 were new to Shannons.

Despite consistent pricing and products, and a reduced budget, Shannons business grew 15% year on year.As well as a fantastic ROI in terms of sales, earned media and brand affection we have also given Shannons their own media property for years to come.Ladies and Gentleman, start your engines for 2012!