Case study · Formula E
Race day at the London E Prix · Clips shown without sound
Taking Formula E beyond the motorsport bubble
We built Formula E a creator led content strategy across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, designed to keep core fans close and bring a whole new audience into the sport. Together the content has reached millions of views across socials.
Not an ad. Not a highlights reel. Content people choose to watch.
The brief
Formula E came to Advertain with two goals that usually pull in opposite directions: keep its core motorsport fans engaged, and break out of the motorsport bubble to reach people who don’t normally watch racing.
Most sports brands treat social like a TV channel. They post highlights, trailers and sponsor messages. That speaks to people who already follow the sport. It rarely brings anyone new in.
Why creator led
People trust people. A creator walking you through race day feels like a recommendation from someone you already follow, not a message from a brand. That is what makes the content feel organic.
So we built the strategy around creators. They bring their own audiences, their own voice and their own curiosity, and they see the sport the way a newcomer does. When a photographer asks how you actually capture a car at 322km/h, fans learn something new and people who have never watched a race have a reason to press play.
The strategy
We gave Formula E one content strategy that worked across every platform, instead of three separate ones.
Ideas that travel
Every concept had to work for fans and for people outside motorsport, so the story leads and the racing follows.
Creators at the centre
Creators front the content, so it lands in feeds as something people want to watch, not something they scroll past.
Culture first
Stories connected to the things people already care about, putting Formula E at the front of culture rather than the back of the sports pages.
Built for each platform
Long form for YouTube, short form for Instagram and TikTok. One idea, shaped for how each audience actually watches.
From idea to upload
On the long form YouTube videos we went end to end.
- The idea. We developed the concepts, like a photographer’s view of race day, built around questions people actually search for.
- The packaging. We wrote the titles and designed the thumbnails to make people curious enough to click.
- Post production. We edited the story, colour graded the footage, and built the motion graphics, animated track map and title cards.
Views across socials
Across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, the content series has reached millions of views, taking Formula E in front of fans and plenty of people who had never watched a race.
Long form built depth with the core audience. Short form carried the stories to new people. Together they did what highlights and ads on their own can’t.
Long form
Creator led videos with the ideas, titles, thumbnails and post production handled by us, built to hold attention and keep being found.
Short form
Moments from the stories shaped for Reels, where culture and curiosity bring in people outside the sport.
Short form
Native, fast and personality led, so the sport shows up in the feeds of a younger, wider audience.
Lights out
And away we go.
Why it worked
The content did the job that highlights and ads can’t.
It felt organic
Creators made it feel like a recommendation, not a campaign, so people watched instead of skipping.
Curiosity earned the click
Ideas and packaging built around real questions pulled in people who had never followed the sport.
One idea, every platform
A single strategy meant each story worked harder, from long form on YouTube to short form on Instagram and TikTok.
Culture before racing
Leading with stories people care about put the brand in front of culture, not just in front of fans.
What we did
The sport AI explains
Ask an AI assistant how Formula E works or how its cars are so fast, and it leans on videos that answer those questions clearly. Content built around the real questions people ask puts the brand inside the answer.
How we make brands the answer →