2018 marks the 25th anniversary of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Image credit: Porsche
The 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed is the starting line for several luxury automakers looking to show off their brand prowess through a variety of installations and displays.
This year marks the silver jubilee of the event, which calls itself the largest automotive garden party in the world. The annual hill climb features historic motor racing vehicles and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors, making it a prime marketing opportunity for high-end automakers.
"Goodwood has a deeply rooted traditional sporting heritage," said Chris Ramey, president of Affluent Insights, Miami, FL. "Brands define events and vice versa. And sometimes it’s as simple as ‘this is who we are; we’re supposed to be here.’"
Motor milestones
Two luxury car brands are celebrating their own milestones at the 25th Goodwood festival, which takes place from July 12 to 15.
The honored marque of the festival is German automaker Porsche, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the brand's first sports car.
A special parade of Porsche cars will take place at Goodwood Hill, including the 1948 356 No. 1 and the 919 Hybrid LMP1 race car. Visitors will also have the opportunity to virtually drive a Porsche race car using simulators and even take a ride in the new Cayenne as passengers.
Land Rover is celebrating its 70th anniversary at Goodwood
British automaker Land Rover is also marking its 70th anniversary at the Goodwood FOS with its own anniversary parade of 70 vehicles. Among the models in the anniversary parade are the first 1947 Land Rover prototype Hue 166 and the Series II 1959 Land Rover African Expedition.
Land Rover’s technology partner will also present its software at the FOS Futures Lab. The automaker forged a partnership with geocoding solution what3words to help medical response teams locate remote addresses (see story).
Aston Martin will be debuting three new models, and has eight cars participating in the hillclimb. The new DBS Superleggera and the V12 Vantage V600 will both be on display, as well as the DB11 V8, DB11 Volante and range-topping DB11 AMR.
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan will be exhibited at Goodwood. Image credit: Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce will exhibit its entire portfolio of bespoke motor cars, including its just-released SUV. The Cullinan is also the subject of a photography exhibit at the FOS, "Crafting Cullinan," which showcases the craftsmanship behind the vehicle.
McLaren Automotive, one of the youngest British luxury brands, will have the recently released Senna on display at Goodwood. Its lineup also includes the 720S and 570S Spider.
Bentley Motors will showcase three of its new cars at the FOS, including the Bentayga W12. The BMW 8 Series Coupé and BMW Concept M8 Gran Coupé will be making their United Kingdom debuts as well.
Sporting events as marketing inspiration
Goodwood is one of several sporting events this summer that luxury automakers have been using to jumpstart marketing initiatives.
For last month's 24 Hours of Le Mans, Aston Martin commemorated the race with the release of a humorous short film starring its racing team. The automaker gave fans an "inside look" at the training process that makes its racing team winners (see story).
To celebrate this summer's men's World Cup, Aston Martin and BMW had their drivers compete head-to-head. The friendly competition, which mirrored the rivalry in soccer, pitted the brands’ drivers against each other in a penalty shootout (see story).
"There are events where a brands’ absence is more noticeable than their presence," Mr. Ramey said.