The 2016 Maven Awards

Surprise & Delight Plan Activation

Allen & Gerritsen for Sunoco

Sunoco is the Official Fuel of NSCAR, INDYCAR and the NHRA.

While conventional motorsports advertising tends to be drivers in their fire suits spouting testimonials with a bunch of sponsor logos, we wanted to tap into the thrill of racing, that unique visceral experience that it provides, and Sunoco’s love for the sport. Because there’s nothing like the sights, sounds and smells of race day.

So how’d we bottle all this up?

We enlisted the best-known drivers in motorsports, like Jimmie Johnson, to star in a high-fashion campaign for a new fragrance created by Sunoco. And then we actually invented it. And called it Burnt Rubbér.

We developed a non-traditional concept that broke through the typical in-race buy. That started with the media and our key influencers. Our Burnt Rubbér PR outreach catapulted the product and brand into a whole new conversation you wouldn’t have expected. The brand became a hot topic in fashion magazines, with lifestyle bloggers and pretty much became part of the pop culture conversation overnight.

Social, print, and broadcast also created demand among core motorsports fans. Through all our media, fans got a glimpse of their favorite drivers’ personalities by seeing what it was like to try out and be the stars of a high fashion fragrance campaign. The buy included TV (FOX, ABC, ESPN), Print (USA Today), NASCAR.com homepage takeover, paid search and digital pre-roll. And some were so inspired they’d do anything to get their own bottle of Burnt Rubbér (even bidding on eBay).