Emap and Vauxhall to repeat £1m-plus racing activity

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 06-Dec-05, 11:00

LONDON – Vauxhall has signed a seven-figure deal through Initiative with men's monthly FHM to run a second sports driving competition promoting its high-performance VXR range.

The second FHM/VXR Sports Driver of the Year Competition will be opened with the January issue of FHM and continue until the winner is decided in August. The prize is a new Astra VXR worth £20,000 and the chance to test drive for the Vauxhall touring cars team.

The first competition ran this year and drew 12,000 applicants. It won Emap Advertising a Campaign Media award for Print Sales Team of the Year and a Media Week award for Grand Prix Sales Pitch of the Year.

Claudette Laws, Emap's head of men's creative solutions, said: "The FHM/Vauxhall partnership is an example of how we want to develop projects with our clients now and in the future. Long-term partnerships like this provide true editorial value for the FHM brand, as well as an effective communication channel for our clients."

According to Initiative press manager Vanessa Doyle, the next competition will allow the brand more interaction with its target audience.

Whereas this year just 40 of the applicants were selected to participate in the racing event, next year's competition will allow 1,600 people to attend a qualifying race, and meet Vauxhall's racing team and five girls known as the "Trackside Totty".

Sophie Duffy, Vauxhall's VXR communications manager, said: "FHM has a deep and significant knowledge of its target market, with 4.5m monthly consumers who are the perfect audience for the Vauxhall range of high0performance vehicles."

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.