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Digital PR Agency

Content Creation Agency

Prestone BRC

objectives

Despite being the number one selling brand for automotive products such as coolant, screen wash and antifreeze in the US, Prestone needed to boost its brand name in the UK, where the company was not widely known. As such Smoking Gun was assigned to:

  • Drive expert advocacy by focussing on the idea that ‘those in the know use Prestone’, targeting a well-informed audience dubbed ‘Driveway DIYers’
  • Hero Prestone Coolant & Screen Wash outside of the traditional winter sales period
  • Get the brand into people’s hands via samples delivered direct to the target demographic, proving its quality against competitors
  • Meet the KPI of lifting brand awareness by 2%  (via Brand Tracking Study with Research Craft)

A VR rally simulator gave fans a chance to enter a season-long competition with the hope of winning a ride with one of the BRC’s top teams, with product samples and branded items given away during events.

Using The Autosport International Show we officially launched the Prestone BRC 2017. Smoking Gun worked hard at the event to establish relationships with the competing teams, and learn of newsworthy stories that could be used to secure press. One of which centred on the Ypres stage of the series, which would coincide with the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele. A British Army team would be competing, and an exclusive deal was agreed with them.

Interview opportunities were secured with high profile drivers and their support teams, which were then offered to large media titles. Pre and post race press releases were also issued, with a pair of influential bloggers invited to attend and cover the final race in real time, ensuring Prestone was tagged in all activity.

Not forgetting in-store opportunities, a special line of Prestone BRC-branded screenwash, anti-freeze and coolant products went on sale in Tesco sites across the UK.

results

53

individual pieces of coverage producing 117,000 opportunities to see

60million people

reached

2000%

increase in Facebook reach, with 25% rise in followers

261,400

visitors to the BRC microsite, trumping the target of 144,000

132,000

video views

504,627

page views

550,000

Channel 4 audience for live TV reports and an additional 3,184,000 on BBC One North East

15,500

product samples were given out for free

Growth from 1 to 36

Research showed the public’s likelihood to recommend had grown by 35 points, from 1 to 36

11%

Brand awareness reached its highest ever point in the UK (11%)

5

of the BRC’s top teams became product partners, using Prestone’s products throughout the championship

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