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Using sponsorship to increase brand awareness

MARKETING

Introduction This case study illustrates how Infiniti formed its partnership with
the Red Bull Racing F1 team to increase its global brand
Increasing market share in global markets is not easy, especially in a awareness, enter new markets and increase its market share in
competitive segment such as luxury cars. Infiniti, the luxury car maker, the luxury car market.
is embarking on an aggressive global growth strategy driven by new
products, market expansion and a globally consistent brand image. Marketing Strategy
Its innovative and challenging marketing strategy aims to improve
awareness of the brand and highlight the superiority of its products. A strategy is a plan that enables an organisation to achieve its
aims and objectives. For Infiniti, the key objectives of its marketing
Infiniti, originally set up in the United States in 1989 by its strategy are to improve brand awareness and increase share in
Japanese parent Nissan Motor Company, produces luxury new and existing markets. In terms of market expansion, Infiniti’s
performance cars, coupés, crossovers and sport utility vehicles growth strategy focuses on countries where demand for luxury
(SUVs). Its brand promise is ‘Inspired Performance’. A brand vehicles is high. For example China, Infiniti’s fastest growing
promise represents the benefits and experiences that a consumer market, has a new dealership opening every week.
can expect from a particular brand. For Infiniti, the ethos of
‘modern Japanese luxury’ is at the heart of everything it does. Infiniti models are now available in 47 countries through 450 Infiniti
Centres (dealerships). Key markets include North America, China,
The luxury car market is highly competitive. As Infiniti is a relatively Russia and more recently Europe and Australia. Infiniti’s growth
new entrant into this market it required an innovative and creative strategy will grow its product range from seven products to at
marketing strategy to create global awareness of the brand and its least ten products in more than 70 markets. By 2016, Infiniti aims
brand promise. International marketing is the process of identifying to have more than 800 Centres. The long-term aim is for growth
and anticipating customer wants and needs across different that results in Infiniti achieving a 10% share of the relevant luxury
national markets and then demonstrating how these requirements vehicle market.
are being met. For Infiniti, Formula One is a key element of this
creative strategy to build global brand awareness.

To achieve its global growth plans, Infiniti required a high visibility

platform to showcase the brand to its new markets. A marketing
platform is a mass communication tool that allows a business to
increase brand awareness and thereby lead consumers to
purchase its product. Partnering with Red Bull Racing and
Sebastian Vettel provided Infiniti with the brand exposure it required
on a global scale. Formula 1 racing has a global audience and is
the perfect showcase for high performance cars and technology.
The fact that Sebastian Vettel, arguably the best driver in the world,
wanted to help design a new luxury Infiniti model demonstrated the
strength of the brand and its cars.

Curriculum topics covered: • The marketing mix • Above-the-line promotion

• Below-the-line promotion • Sponsorship
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The marketing mix

The marketing mix, often referred to as the ‘four Ps’, is a means for
organisations to combine the four key elements of product, price, place
and promotion to achieve its business objectives. Every business is
different. Each must decide on its own marketing mix that balances the
four Ps to suit its products. The mix will depend on factors such as:
• competition
• the type of product
• the market it is selling to
• findings from market research.

Infiniti’s marketing mix considers:

To achieve its objectives Infiniti needed to engage with a range of • Products - luxury cars with Japanese cutting edge design as a
target groups. These included media, prospective dealers and of key differentiator.
course, customers. A major part of its marketing strategy is • Price - a premium price in line with the premium quality
formed around the exciting world of Formula One. In March 2011 of the product.
Infiniti became the key partner to the Red Bull Racing team and, in • Place - vehicles sold through state-of-the-art Infiniti Centres
November 2012, announced that it would become the title which are expanding globally.
sponsor and exclusive technical partner to what is now known as • Promotion - with a focus on sports marketing using the Infiniti
Infiniti Red Bull Racing. Infiniti’s products and technology will Red Bull Racing F1 team and World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

support the F1 team from 2013.

The elements of the marketing mix should be integrated. For
Like Infiniti, Red Bull Racing is a relatively new organisation but example, Infiniti’s luxury cars are sold in state-of-the-art Infiniti
has made rapid progress in Formula One. There is a clear link Centres that complement the premium quality of the vehicles.
Having the right marketing mix enables an organisation to achieve
between what Red Bull Racing and Infiniti are each trying to
its business objectives. Infiniti’s business objectives include
achieve as both have a shared ambition for incomparable
increasing brand awareness, international growth and meeting its
performance. This is known as brand synergy. Synergy is where
brand promise.
the combination of two brands leads to results that are potentially
greater than the brands would achieve individually. Infiniti’s
Marketers differentiate products into core, actual and augmented
customers stand out from the crowd. They are passionate about products. A core product describes the main benefits that customers
design and technology and they want the best possible receive when consuming a product. Put another way, it is the
performance from their cars – ‘Inspired Performance’. These essentials a customer is looking for when considering making a
qualities fit perfectly with Red Bull Racing’s core values of being purchase. Infiniti’s core product is its design, advanced technology and
creative, innovative and doing things differently. driving satisfaction, referred to as ‘Inspired Performance’ by its
marketing team. The actual product refers to additional benefits that
The ‘strategic fit’ is excellent. This is where each organisation’s are enjoyed above the essentials. These include Infiniti’s range of luxury
plans, target markets and other aspects of the external cars, for example, the Infiniti FX Vettel Edition model. Finally, the
environment in which the organisations are operating closely relate augmented product consists of elements such as delivery, warranties
to each other. For example, F1 already hosts a Grand Prix in many and servicing arrangements. The augmented product helps tailor the
of the markets that Infiniti wants to target, including Australia, actual product to the target market.
China and countries across Europe.

Actual product
Core product
Augmented product

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The price of a product needs to reflect the costs associated with This form of promotion reaches a wide audience and is an effective
developing and constructing the product. At the same time the way of creating brand awareness. Infiniti uses global TV adverts to
pricing strategy also needs to be in line with a product’s highlight the superiority of the products. However, this form of
positioning in the market. Infiniti’s marketing activities reflect its promotion is costly and it can be difficult to target the likely
premium position by associating the brand with the Formula One customers precisely as the messages are pushed to a mass
World Champion team and driver. audience. It is also difficult to measure results of mass media
promotion since the increasing popularity of television formats such
The ‘place’ refers to the Infiniti Centres selling Infiniti cars. These as Sky+ enables many TV viewers to fast-forward TV adverts.
distribution outlets support the brand promise of ‘Inspired There are different types of advertising that organisations use.
Performance’. Infiniti Centres are known for their striking architecture, Two methods often used in TV advertising are:
welcoming environment, state-of-the-art technology and high quality • Informative advertising. This is designed to increase
customer service. awareness, for example a public health advertisement.
• Persuasive advertising. This is designed to convince
Promotion covers a variety of techniques used by an organisation consumers to purchase a product by highlighting features that
to communicate with its customers and potential customers. make it more desirable than others products. For example,
A distinction is often made between above-the-line and Infiniti’s website and TV advertising campaigns highlight the
below-the-line promotion. vehicles’ key differentiators of design and performance.

Prior to each F1 Grand Prix, Infiniti ran above-the-line promotional

Above-the-line Below-the-line
campaigns alongside its below-the-line activity to create maximum
Focuses on reaching a wider Focuses on a more targeted exposure and brand recognition amongst consumers. For
audience, often to enhance audience with a more direct example, vintage F1 posters were used in a campaign to highlight
brand image, for example, emphasis on making sales, for the attributes of each particular race track and how relevant Infiniti
through the mass media. example, through specific technologies and design would benefit the driver.
events or merchandising.
Below-the-line promotion
Above-the-line promotion Below-the-line promotion is a narrower, more targeted approach
to communicating with consumers. These methods allow for
Above-the-line promotion is paid-for advertising using a wide more control and can be tailored to create deeper engagement
variety of mass media channels. These include: with target audiences through specific initiatives. Examples of
• print adverts in magazines/newspapers (trade and consumer) below-the-line promotion include:
• television, radio and cinema advertising • Public Relations
• online advertising and websites (Infiniti’s websites are tailored • Sponsorship
for each geographic market) • Hospitality
• billboards by roadsides, in airports and similar high visibility areas. • Merchandising
• Social Media (Facebook and YouTube).

Infiniti uses a range of below-the-line techniques to support its

sponsorship of Red Bull Racing. This activity is underpinned by
three-time F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel’s work as Infiniti’s
brand ambassador. Sebastian Vettel goes beyond just endorsing
Infiniti products; he is the global ambassador for the brand. His own
personal car is an Infiniti FX50. Last year he used his experience
and passion for cars, working with Infiniti to design the Infiniti FX
Vettel Edition which was unveiled at Frankfurt Motor Show.

Public Relations is defined as ‘a strategic communication process

to build mutually beneficial relationships between an organisation
and its public’.

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www.infiniti.co.uk

Infiniti continually improves and extends its marketing strategies

through constantly evaluating its promotional activities. Evaluation
is essential to:
• assess which promotional activities are effective
• ensure the marketing mix is balanced
• establish if the marketing objectives have been achieved.

For Infiniti, evaluating its marketing activities takes many forms.

Printed media coverage is evaluated through volume of press
cuttings while evaluation of TV exposure from its partnership with
Red Bull Racing is carried out on a race-by-race basis. An
independent sport marketing survey gives a report on the exposure
of the brand throughout each race (IFM Sports Marketing Surveys).
The other key component of this is ‘media relations’, which is a Since the partnership first started the visibility of the brand in
strategic communication process enabling a brand to earn Formula One has risen from zero to 4th in 2011, up to 2nd place in
branded editorial (non paid for) coverage by creating stories which 2012, with Red Bull being consistently the most visible brand. The
are genuinely newsworthy. This has been a key focus for Infiniti in statistics make it possible to compare exposure at different locations.
Formula One to date. Sebastian Vettel works closely with Infiniti to
For example, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Infiniti had a 7.9% share
support public and media relations activities coinciding with each
of exposure amongst all sponsors. For this race it was measured as
Grand Prix. These activities include:
the top of the car (with 43.1%), followed by the driver’s overalls and
• Press conferences, media events and company visits. This
front torso (with 15.5%) which yielded the greatest TV coverage of
included a journalist hosting programme throughout the year
the brand’s logo. This information was analysed to try and increase
at Grand Prix events, and a Sebastian Vettel Media Driving
exposure in the following race.
Day in China.
• Competitions. Infiniti ran a test-drive campaign giving Infiniti also used additional evaluation data sources to further its
consumers the chance to win a ‘money-can’t-buy experience’ understanding of the impact its F1 partnership with Red Bull Racing
with Infiniti and Red Bull Racing. It also ran incentives for was having. Its success was demonstrated through OMD Global
salesmen and dealers to win Grand Prix tickets. Snapshots Survey findings, such as:
• Viral marketing. Social media has played an integral part in Infiniti’s
• A 30% uplift in consumer perception from June to
promotional activity. Infiniti’s ‘Inspired Performers’ video clips
December 2011.
created a huge amount of global exposure as Sebastian Vettel
• Consideration to visit an Infiniti dealership improved
and Mark Webber swap skills with other like-minded, inspired
27% globally.
performers. These were all leaders in their respective fields,
including martial arts expert Celina Jade, music star Melanie Fiona
These results illustrate clearly how Infiniti has developed an effective
and Red Bull Air Force Manager Jon DeVore. They then swapped
marketing mix to help it achieve its growth objectives and how it is
roles so the F1 drivers could teach them performance driving
striving to adapt its marketing activities to increase brand awareness.
skills. This series generated thousands of hits on YouTube and
other online channels, plus delivered editorial media coverage on
TV, in newspapers and magazines across the world. 1. Describe what is meant by the term ‘marketing mix’
and what the key ingredients of the mix are. (2 marks)
Conclusion 2. Explain the difference between above-the-line and
Exam-style questions

below-the-line promotional activity. (4 marks)

It is important for organisations to find the right balance for its 3. Analyse how forming the partnership with Red Bull
marketing and communications mix. Integrating the elements of Racing will help Infiniti to achieve its key marketing
the mix is vitally important to ensure appropriate promotional objective of international growth. (6 marks)
activities are used to link the brand with target consumers’ 4. Evaluate Infiniti’s below-the-line promotional activity. To
interests. For Infiniti, the linkage to Red Bull Racing and brand what extent do you think the success of this activity
ambassador, three times Formula One World Champion, relies on having Sebastian Vettel as its brand
Sebastian Vettel fit perfectly with the company’s brand promise of ambassador? (8 marks)
‘Inspired Performance’.

Infiniti | Using sponsorship to increase brand awareness