Campaign Spotlight: London powers up this race car through dance ahead of Formula E Championship

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MUMBAI, INDIA / LONDON, UK – Mahindra Racing, the only Indian team to compete in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, geared up to compete at the London e-Prix with a special collaboration with creative agency BBH India. As an extension of its commitment to sustainability, Mahindra Racing commissioned a state-of-the-art stage at Potters Field Park in London which would harness renewable energy to fuel the Mahindra e-race car through dance.

Commenting on the initiative, Asha Kharga, chief customer and brand officer, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “Mahindra Racing is India’s only OEM to participate in a truly global, sustainable motorsport – The Formula E World Championship. At the heart of Mahindra Racing is technology that combines with sustainability to make it the greenest team in motor sport. The #DanceForGood campaign is to create salience around Mahindra Racing and build engagement around sustainability by leveraging popular culture that makes it exciting and fun.”

Dutch firm Energy Floors designed a smart, interactive stage that instantly converted the kinetic energy generated through people’s dance moves into electricity. This electricity was then transmitted through cables to boost Mahindra electric racing car’s battery. The initiative made renewable energy generation visible, giving people a chance to make a positive impact collectively.

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British Choreographer Katie Priest kickstarted the dance on the electronic mix of iconic Bollywood song “Chaiyya Chaiyya,” rallying passersby to join in. The stage set up in Potters Field Park to the backdrop of the historic London Tower Bridge was a crowd puller hosting thousands of locals and tourists throughout the day.

Commenting on this initiative, Russell Barrett, CCO & CEO, BBH India, said, “Formula E is is the racing sport of the future and Mahindra Racing has been at the forefront of the sport since 2014. Our task is always to generate interest in the various e-prix, support for team Mahindra and the sport itself. This idea weaves technology, culture, sustainability and the excitement of the London E Prix into a modern, famous piece of activation and content. We will continuously seek newer, dynamic ways of drawing more and more people to this sport and more and more fans to rally under the Mahindra Racing banner.”

The campaign video has crossed 10 million views on Youtube, over 2 million views on Facebook & Instagram and over 1 million views on Twitter. Malaika Arora (on whom the song was originally picturized) and Mahindra Group Chairman – Anand Mahindra have shared this on their social channels. Farah Khan Kundra, the original choreographer can be noted making friendly banter with Malaika in the comments section. Malaika has also kicked off the #DanceForGood Challenge on Instagram. The campaign video is currently also gaining momentum on Whatsapp and is ubiquitously shared across family and other groups.

Watch the campaign below:

CREDITS:

Brand Team:
Abhimanyu Mathur (Head-Brand, Mahindra & Mahindra)
Apoorv Jain (Brand Manager, Mahindra & Mahindra)

Agency:
Agency: BBH India
CCO and CEO: Russell Barrett
Chairman: Dheeraj Sinha
MD & Head of Strategy: Sanjay Sharma
Executive Creative Director: Aarti Srinivasan
SVP: Aalok Vashi
AVP Strategy: Pranoy Kanojia
Copy Supervisor: Puneet Naik & Khushali Bhansali
Creative Supervisor – Art: Mihir Padia
Sr. Animator: Nilesh Jadhav
Brand Services Partner: Rachit Koradia
Brand Strategy Associate: Arshavi Buch