Now in its 26th year, Goodwood Festival of Speed markets itself as a motorsport garden party. With the sun out and more than 200,000 attendees expected over four days, for brands at the event it is a vital opportunity to not just sell but present their identity.
Honda made a change on the racing presence it led with last year, now turning its hand towards electrification. Its two-storey structure, delivered by Jack Morton Worldwide, aims to demonstrate this shift while still containing elements of fun. For Honda, Goodwood is an opportunity to enhance its brand, while being able to present the E model.
Phil Webb, head of car at Honda, told 北京赛车pk10: "What we like to do with Goodwood is when people come on stand is actually give them entertainment and make them want to stay on the stand, and that's what Honda's all about. What we don’t want to do is just bring the car dealership into the show, so we try and make people want to stay, have a bit of fun and enjoyment."
The exterior of the stand was created with the headlights of the E as inspiration and was designed to be a statement. The lower floor is a mix of bright colours, with gaming elements and cars that visitors can interact with.
The hybrid Insight model is one of the cars displayed as it paved the way for the new electric vehicle. Having been built in 1999, a game of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is available to play alongside it, since the TV show was in its prime at that time. Upstairs provides a contrast with a minimalist feel, with white walls and Honda’s newest design on display.
Sophie Lewis, producer at Jack Morton, told 北京赛车pk10: "From the original Honda Civic to the new E, there are design similarities and so it's a journey from the original car through to their modern-day car. We’ve been able to create two different spaces that really work in conjunction with each other and don’t feel too far from where Honda wants to be as a brand."
BMW views Goodwood as a chance to create something very different to a static motor show display. With two activations, the brand is displaying its high-performance vehicles trackside and luxury cars in an exclusive stable yard position.
At its "M town" stand, guests are entertained by interviews with racing drivers, free doughnuts and performances by parkour runners.
Alexandra Karg, general manager of experiential and sports marketing at BMW said: "It’s all about being an experience brand, really. We want to give our customers the best experience we can offer them and this is the perfect place to do that."
Meanwhile, BMW's sister brand Mini stands out from others by not just creating an experience but a whole street complete with a sweets shop and barber shop. For Mini, Goodwood offers the opportunity to preview its electric vehicle, with electrification continuing to be high on the automotive agenda.
"Goodwood is the pinnacle of my events calendar. It’s the one I spend the most money on and it's our biggest event of the year," Helen Boakes, events and partnership manager at Mini, said.
"For this year, we had three key priorities: electric, John Cooper Works and 60 years of Mini. So those have been very much woven into the stand."
TRO is responsible for delivering Goodwood activations for BMW, Mini and Porsche.
"We’ve really engaged this year with ensuring that we bring performance to the heart of what we’re doing and to bring a live element to each of the brands we're working with," Amelia Shepherd, managing director at TRO, said.
"This resonates not only as an attractor to bring people in to the experience but also allows everybody that isn’t at Goodwood to experience some of the fun through social media."
Future Lab, a multi-brand space at Goodwood, focuses on tech innovation and continues to offer tech brands a place to showcase their latest offering alongside smaller companies that are doing interesting things.
The job of making the area easy to navigate and with a cohesive feel falls to Catapult, which has been working on delivering Future Lab for the past three years.
Mick Cullinan, head of design and innovation at Catapult, said: "We very much treat this area as a science gallery or an exhibition, rather than a trade show or a brand space. And we’re lucky that the partners that work with us here get on board with that and are sympathetic with their brands to the overall look and feel of Future Lab.
"The brands are very good in that they realise that if everyone falls under the same roof that visitors have a better experience overall."
This year, Samsung and Vodafone are promoting 5G and have created a remotely controlled car. It will appear on the Goodwood race track assisted remotely by racing driver Vaughn Gittin Jr.
Rebecca Hirst, marketing director for products at Samsung, told 北京赛车pk10: "The most important thing is being in Future Lab.
"It helps to bring to life our ethos of ‘do what you can’t’, so we are bringing things that inspire people’s imaginations and see what is possible in the future."