If you were watching the start of the 2011 Formula 1 championship at the weekend, you will have witnessed, albeit briefly, a new brand in action.
On Sunday Poke‘s new brand for Marussia Virgin Racing got off the grid and made it all the way to the checkered flag, but alas they were not the first to achieve this! Still you’ve gotta start somewhere…
Now I don’t know Poke for their branding work, so have only mentioned the website before. So I thought it would be interesting to take a quick closer look.
Poke say the brief was to: Create and launch the Marussia Virgin Racing brand; a Formula 1 racing team heading in to their second season and hungry to be noticed.
And Poke’s answer: A strong, simple brand identity and a brave look and feel that differentiated MVR from the pack before they even hit the tarmac. The solution included a visual toolkit, production design for the pit garage, driver suits, trucks, motorhome, website, business cards – everything but the car. Check out the creative results here.
But does the brand work?
Having had a little experience with F1 teams, creating work for British American Racing (B.A.R.) and Force India Formula One Team, as well as the wider motorsport sector with Prodrive, SWRT and Aston Martin Racing, I’d have to say ‘Yes’.
I think the key point Poke make within their achievement statement is the need for ‘Differentiation’. Throughout my involvement with motorsport a key theme has been the need to stand out and present a face different to those of the competition. But that’s quite a hard thing to do within a sport drenched in glitz and glamor. Not everyone is brave enough to do so.
From what I’ve seen, Poke have achieved this differentiation by stripping back some of the clutter, building on a strong somewhat simplistic structure, and by creating a set of iconographic ‘hero’ shots. Certainly the use of strong imagery is key to communicating the passions within the sport – as we created for B.A.R. Poke have opted for a very striking, very retro style, conveying a sense history and heritage (perhaps yet to be earned!), but powerful all the same.
Overall, it’s strong, simple and emotive. Communicating a passion right at the heart of the identity. And a winner amongst the marketing tends – now lets see if they can replicate that on the track!
