Speed City, the unique pop-up desert camp, won over F1 revelers. Here’s how

IWC Schaffhausen, which was founded in 1868, is known for its heritage and unique engineering approach to luxury watchmaking. The brand combines high-quality human craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. IWC and Mercedes-AMG have been partners since 2004, making their collaboration one of the longest-standing between a watchmaker and an automotive brand.

Planning

The campaign brief was to come up with a new creative idea for a global launch event, with the core objective to generate as much attendance and global coverage as possible, as well as to increase brand visibility and share of voice for IWC. We created ‘AMG x IWC Speed City’ – a unique experiential pop-up desert camp and off-strip racetrack in the iconic Speed Vegas event space.

This project relied on earned media coverage to increase brand visibility and share of voice for the client. The strategy was centred on creating an impressive spectacle that would cut through during a major global moment—the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix—with the goal of generating coverage and raising awareness.

Leveraging the international attention focused on one of the most-hyped racing events of the year - the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix - we created IWC x AMG Speed City: a unique pop-up desert camp and off-strip racetrack in the iconic Speed Vegas event space in Las Vegas. ‘Speed City’ was designed to provide an immersive experience in Formula 1 racing, as well as to showcase our clients’ products, heritage and expertise, against the stunning backdrop of the Mojave desert.

The concept included a sunset race between Mercedes-AMG drivers Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell - who drove the newly-launched Mercedes coupé model - accompanied by a record-breaking drone light show that saw more than 1,000 drones light up the Nevada skyline. The strategy was centred on creating an impressive spectacle that would cut through during a major global moment, with the goal of generating coverage and raising brand awareness and share of voice for IWC.

With the Grand Prix taking place on a Saturday, the activation was developed to harness the attention focused on Las Vegas and the presence of global media, influencers and celebrities in the days leading up to the event. We activated the space throughout the week and hosted the sunset race on Tuesday - generating opportunities with global media who were on the ground to cover the Grand Prix and maximising coverage.

Execution

A bespoke area was designed for IWC to host watchmaking classes, and IWC and Mercedes-AMG hosted panel discussions attended by global media and celebrity guests. We worked with Lucy Hedges, Technology Editor at the Metro, who hosted a discussion with Christian Knoop, IWC Chief Design Officer and Robert Lesnik, Head of Exterior Design at Mercedes-Benz, discussing product and design.

On race night, attendees saw a dramatic sunset over the desert followed by a race between drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. A record-breaking 1,000 drones then lit up the night sky, with their final formation displaying the names of IWC and Mercedes-AMG.

After the race, Hamilton and Russell were interviewed by Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Principal & CEO Toto Wolf and F1 legend David Coulthard, as well as multiple media outlets.

We managed all media activity at Speed City, inviting 130 hand-picked guests - including 60 top-tier media outlets, influencers and celebrities such as actor James Marsden, artist Will.i.am and model Jordyn Woods. It was one of the most sought-after tickets in the city.

We created broadcast and online content in the form of web video and B-roll content, and provided social cuts for the IWC social teams. Our teams - both in Vegas and the UK - circulated content to media outlets globally. This approach made the event highly shareable, even for media not in attendance.

Our production team filmed the entire event, and footage was also used to create a hero film for internal engagement at IWC, providing an overview of the week’s activities to share with colleagues.

Results

The event was an enormous success. We received significant positive feedback from attendees, with members of the media personally sending the team notes of gratitude and enjoyment, thanking us for such a great event. As well as creating a spectacular, immersive event on the ground, Speed City engaged audiences globally and raised awareness of IWC’s partnership with Mercedes-AMG.

This was achieved by creating broadcast and online content which our teams on the ground in the US and the UK circulated to media outlets globally - making the event highly shareable even for media not in attendance.

The activation generated:

- 70+ international media attendance over two days.

- 616 pieces of coverage in over 34 markets globally including all IWC key markets.

- 448 broadcast hits, including all positive mentions on top-tier media outlets like Sky Sports News, Sky Sports F1, Access Hollywood, E! and Extra.

- 186 hits to online lifestyle, luxury and sports channels including Sky Sports F1, ESPN.

- 11,500,000 AVE.

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