Sports journalist Antonio Lobato was in charge of narrating the competition along with racing engineer and Formula 1 commentator Toni Cuquerella, from a set located at the Fuente de las Batallas. The competition was, in essence, a show that mixed the intensity of the races with live entertainment and representation of the participating brands. One of the most powerful proposals of this type of format is its phigital dimension. As we told you in our analysis of Red Bull’s strategy, one of the values of this type of event lies in the additional performance that brands get from being broadcast to millions of viewers who are far away from the event’s location.

Reinvention of a format that is familiar to us all

It was a race, yes, but not the traditional ones Lobato has us used to. The format was directly inspired by video games like Mario Kart to enhance the spectacular, fulfilling the dream of many of the children who have grown up with this type of video games, to bring it to reality. The experience was carried out with 100% electric karts to minimize the environmental impact. In addition, the format included:

• Urban circuit: Events can be a very powerful tool to promote a destination, especially an event like this one, with so much performance beyond attendance. The route strategically passed through emblematic places in Granada, such as the Puerta Real, the Plaza del Campillo and the Carrera de la Virgen. Thus, in an event that was reproduced, not only by millions of cell phones, but also on streaming platforms, the destination was portrayed showing its best.

• Mystery boxes: During the race, drivers could activate “mystery boxes” that gave them advantages, such as power-ups, or disadvantages with dynamic penalties. Among the actions that started from the brands, during the competition, Pepsi provided mystery boxes that gave the participating drivers decisive advantages during the race, such as the ‘Lima Fast Lane’, offering the possibility of driving in a faster lane; or the ‘Cherry’ advantage, increasing the speed of the kart by 10%.

• Inverted grids: To increase excitement, some races used inverted starting grids, i.e., the fastest drivers started last. This increased interest in a race that broke with motorsport formats in a context whose main objective was to entertain rather than to compete.

The protagonists

The event was organized around 10 teams, each sponsored by a major brand and led by a team leader, who was a top influencer. This, in turn, led their drivers who were also content creators. The day included practice, qualifying, semi-finals and a grand final to decide the winning team.

The fan experience

The event, held with the support of the Granada City Council, was not only for the pilots, access to the circuit to watch the races was free. In addition, a large Fan Zone was set up in the Paseo del Salón de Granada, which could be accessed with the purchase of a ticket. This area had food trucks and a food court, sponsors’ stands with activities and experiences and live concerts and DJ sessions, such as the one offered by Pepsi’s mistery driver, Saiko from Granada. The event culminated with an afterparty in this area to close the event.