Alfa MiTo SBK Undertaker Stunt Goes Viral

Performance Communications | February 11, 2013

The MiTo SBK was a product of a multi-year collaboration with the FIM Superbike World Championship, for which Alfa Romeo is Official Sponsor and Safety Car Provider.

The only budget for promoting the new model was allocated to PR and Alfa was looking for a creative launch mechanic that would showcase the new model, champion the Alfa brand and cement their link with World Superbikes.

Performance Communications came up with a world-first driving stunt that would see a superbike ride UNDER the chassis of the MiTo SBK as it drove on two wheels around a corner. Getting precision driver Paul Swift and superbike legend Chris Walker on board, Performance Communications planned, orchestrated and supervised the stunt.

With the images and video ready to go, PPR rolled up their sleeves and broke out the media relations steamroller.

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]http://youtu.be/7Tm0LMKyLNc[/youtube]

The video broke 100,000 views within two days of being uploaded and passed 200,000 shortly after. All views were organic, promoted only through media and social outreach by Performance Communications. The Tweetreach for ‘MiTo SBK’ was in excess of one million in the week following the video and image launch. Print coverage highlights included pictures in the Daily Star, Sunday Mirror, Daily Express, Motor Cycle News and a double-page spread in Zoo Magazine. Online coverage was extensive across automotive, bike and lifestyle/general interest channels.

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]http://youtu.be/7CV9kmBFqoU[/youtube]

Second coming: Retro Cars we’d like to see again…

If you didn’t know it already, the retro resurgence is in full swing. In recent years, cars like the Volkswagen ID. Buzz, Alpine A110 and reborn Renault 5 have all ridden the retro wave. At the Paris Motor Show last week, Renault was at it again, with a stand that included EV reinterpretations of the Renault 4, […]

Hybrids are at a crossroads – and EREVs are the vehicle category to watch

What does the future of hybrid vehicles look like? It turns out that it may include brands taking lessons from the past. Most hybrids on sale today use parallel architecture. This refers to the fact that the hybrid’s combustion engine and the battery can both power the vehicle independently – but there is another way […]

Cruel Britannia? Why the IOC and Team GB restrict athlete’s brand partnerships during the Olympics and our top tips to handle it

With the Paris Olympics officially starting today, the 16 worldwide partners of the Olympics (Coca Cola, Toyota, Visa and Anheuser Busch InBev to name but a few) will be relishing their time in the spotlight. However, the Games, as always, is not without its controversies. If you work in marketing or PR, the Olympics […]

Saying au revoir to range anxiety

As a way of communicating the range of an electric vehicle (EV), the idea of completing a long-distance drive is tried and tested. In 2018, we drove a Jaguar I-PACE through the Channel Tunnel (yep, literally, along the service tunnel) to show how it could travel from London to Brussels on a single charge. More […]

Performance Communications Transitions To Employee Ownership

Performance Communications, a leading provider of specialist communications services to the Automotive, Sport and Technology industries is delighted to announce that it has transitioned to employee ownership via an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). The move secures the agency’s long-term independence and will provide its employees with both a greater level of involvement and a share […]

Cricket at the Olympics, it’s just not cricket!

Let’s set the record straight, I don’t like cricket, I love it* but cricket at the 2028 Olympics, is that really necessary? The IOC has announced the five new sports that will be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Funnily enough some of the new sports that will appeal to a Northern American […]

Top 5 Sports Documentaries – The Power of Sports Documentaries

It seems that recently a new pro sports documentary appears on an almost daily basis, 24-7 viewing if you need to get away from the family over Christmas! While the docs undoubtedly provide the streaming channels with engaging content to draw subscriptions and drive revenue, should sporting associations or teams always give the green light […]

Unveiling Threads: Exploring the Disruptive Factors and Success Behind the New Social Media App

In a rapidly evolving social media landscape, new platforms emerge, seeking to disrupt the status quo and capture users’ attention. Can Threads go the distance though?