Title	ABB - LET’S WRITE THE FUTURE.
Brand	ABB
Product/Service	ABB
Category	E02. Sponsorship & Brand Partnership
Entrant	SERVICEPLAN SUISSE Zürich, SWITZERLAND
Idea Creation	SERVICEPLAN SUISSE Zürich, SWITZERLAND
Media Placement	ABB Zürich, SWITZERLAND
PR	ABB Zürich, SWITZERLAND
Production	SERVICEPLAN SUISSE Zürich, SWITZERLAND
Production 2	GARRIGOSA STUDIOS Barcelona, SPAIN
Production 3	NEVEREST München, GERMANY
Production 4	PLAN.NET Zürich, SWITZERLAND

Name	Company	Position
Raul Serrat	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Executive Creative Director
Michael Kathe	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Creative Director
Nicolas Vontobel	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Creative Direction
Jan Krohn	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Copywriter
Henry Clarke	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Copywriter
Denis Schwarz	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Art Director
Tizian Lienhard	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Graphic Designer
Christian Baertschi	Serviceplan Suisse AG	CEO
Muriel Laporta Asté	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Group Account Director
Nicolas Gspan	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Account Director
Aline Litchenhaus	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Account Director
Nadine Stüssi	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Account Director
Laura Besselaar	Serviceplan Suisse AG	Account Manager

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

This work used the title sponsorship of a major motorsports event to raise international awareness and engagement with a brand and make its products tangible to a global audience. It drove the perception of the brand towards that of an agile, digital technology company whose activities are highly relevant to the theme of innovation in sustainable technologies. Ultimately, this work was a business activation and revitalized a slow-moving conglomerate in the eyes of key decision makers at both local and international level. It extended a long-term platform to further build the brand and showcase its capabilities.

background

ABB has a 130-year history of pioneering technology leadership. Electrification Products is one of its biggest divisions. In today’s highly competitive field, ABB has an even greater stake in being at the forefront of innovation and providing a lower-carbon, sustainable, smart future. In 2015 ABB was being overshadowed and outspent on media and advertising by its two largest competitors: Siemens (with triple the manpower and revenue of ABB) and General Electric (double ABB’s manpower and nearly five times its revenue). So in 2016, ABB announced a 10-year partnership with Formula E to quickly grow its Electrification Products division and shift from an industrial giant to an agile, sustainable, and future-proof challenger brand. The racing series offered a platform to revitalize ABB, position it as a leader in electrification, and make its products visible and exciting to all target groups. Now, our brief was to continue activating the partnership.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

It is exciting to consider an entirely electric, sustainable future, but this vision alone will not create buzz or excitement without something to put it into perspective. As electrification is largely invisible, our idea was to showcase the power and excitement of electrification in a new and compelling way that grabs the attention of many different target groups and places ABB exactly where its products are needed: in the middle of the world’s biggest cities. The FIA Formula E is the world’s premier electric-powered motor racing series, a bravely innovative format created to “demonstrate the potential of sustainable mobility to help create a better, cleaner world”- a natural fit with ABB, that has the capabilities to realize this potential thanks to its sustainable solutions. By making ABB an intrinsic part of the Formula E, we created a fresh perspective on an electric, sustainable future.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our approach was to circumvent the costs of traditional advertising and make the partnership a business platform to entertain and interact with our target groups and visualize ABB’s electrification expertise. ABB’s external target group was composed of current and potential customers who would need ABB products to create an electric, sustainable future: 1) public officials and infrastructure providers in cities 2) manufacturers of mobility solutions 3) the general public A globe-trotting race ensured access to our targets and the opportunity to tailor our message and the experience to each different sub-group. Formula E races are held in the middle of major cities, and ABB would involve local politicians and industry leaders in the organization and execution of the racing events.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

The campaign built on and extended ABB’s title sponsorship of the Formula E racing series throughout its second year. Host-city specific key visuals and animations highlighted the urban, international aspect of the championship and presented the brand’s vision for the cities of the future. ABB invited existing clients, potential customers, and public officials to each race weekend, where they could view the event from the exclusive ABB Race Suite. Guests could participate in the ABB technology-forum, a panel discussion gathering key opinion leaders and players in the field of mobility and electrification, as well as pit lane walks, gala dinners and ABB Tech Talks with drivers and mechanics. ABB products and services were exhibited at races, giving fans an opportunity to come face to face with technologies they would otherwise never encounter.

List the results (30% of vote)

Results for the partnership’s success from September 2018 to September 2019 are still pending. Given the continued growth of Formula E, we expect these to be higher than the following results from 2018: • 21.1% increase in ABB’s brand value (30.5% and 26% when measured against GE and Siemens respectively) • ABB gained 28 places in the Brand Finance 2018 Global 500 report. • ABB’s brand reputation increased 4% in the 2018 Ipsos Brand Reputation & Activation Study (placing it second in the overall ranking) and 9% in the category “Digital Competence”. • The partnership generated more than 6,600 articles in target-group relevant media, and 104,000 external social media mentions. • 17% increase in order volume for ABB electrification products. • 7.7% increase in operating EBITA. • ABB’s electrification business accounted for 41% of ABB’s yearly revenue in 2018, up by 3% on 2017.