Event Review: TRO, BMW and Mini at Goodwood Revival

Goodwood Revival presents a unique chance for automotive brands to dip into their heritage whilst keeping the future very much in view. FMBE’s Frank Wainwright went along to the show to find out how TRO, together with clients BMW and Mini delivered that.

Goodwood Revival has become an important date for many automotive brands and one with its own unique set of challenges and rewards. This is an event with clear nostalgic guidelines. Brands can’t just turn up and show themselves according to a pre-ordained plan. They need to work with the event and its remit.

Goodwood Revival is a dress up day that celebrates the nostalgic best of 40’s, 50’s and 60’s motorsport and there is just one spot for modern day marques to promote themselves. It is a good spot though, a reimagining for the old Earl’s Court Motor Show. The location means that the car brands in there are competing with each other for attention whilst enjoying the luxury of an indoors location at a time of year when the weather is highly unpredictable.

On the day that I went, the opening Friday, an indoors location proved to be an excellent choice. The rain blattered down in regular showery bursts and clear ponchos and umbrellas were the order of the day, but this didn’t stop an enthusiastic turn out of Revival guests.

The Earl’s Court attraction was buzzing from the moment it opened its doors and a quick scan of it showed that both BMW and Mini had taken up the Revival creative challenge with flair and imagination, BMW delivering a retro gaming arcade and Mini making its statement in the shape of a laundrette.

Both stands had vintage models on display – for BMW and 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL – ‘Batmobile’ – and for Mini the car star was Issi, a jade-coloured charmer named ‘Issi’ that evoked the heyday of the original Mini production line in Oxford, 1959-68.

That’s where the similarities ended.

BMW at Goodwood Revival 

BMW’s experience, ‘Racing Through Time’ focussed gamification with a nostalgic arcade, designed to create discussion and intrigue about the modern-day role of in-car gaming and the advances in in-car gaming that BMW provides.

The experience had a classic Pong front and centre. There were popcorn and gumball machines and even a tattoo parlour – a feature that I later discovered had been a client initiative from BMW, and one that added an accurate time stamp to the date of the earliest arcades.

This nostalgic era also chimed in well with the aforementioned 1973 Batmobile parked alongside and attracting a queue of visitors taking selfies with it.

The coup de grace of this stand was an arcade games machine fronted portal. Opening this and walking through it brought visitors forwards in time. In the next space, visitors could get hands on with the new BMW i5 Touring and explore the latest in-car gaming technology. I enjoyed walking through the experience and engaging with it.

It was especially rewarding to see this this stand as Robyn Rawlings arrived at it. As senior graphic designer and creative lead for the project, this was the moment when Robyn saw her work populated and functioning as a visitor space and entertainment for the first time. It was obvious that the stand was busy and engaging on all levels. She told me about how the project had been an exciting one to work on, enjoying the collaborative approach that she had been able to establish with BMW. Whilst the tattoo parlour had come from BMW, the portal had been something she had envisioned for BMW.

At Goodwood Revival I was able to ask questions of Robyn Rawlings (RR) and Michelle Horn (MH), account director:  

FMBE: How important is Goodwood Revival to you? Why?

MH: Goodwood Revival is the beloved extension of the iconic Goodwood Festival of Speed, where automotive history comes alive each year with a unique period theme. It’s an event like no other, attracting thousands of petrolheads and automotive fans each year.

RR: Having designed for BMW at Goodwood Revival for 3 years, this show is such a special event and the only one of its kind that I have been lucky enough to be involved in. It’s an event that’s super creative, everyone gets involved and dressed up for the occasion and you can really transport people back in time in such a creative and exciting way. For a designer, this is a dream job, I can get fully immersed in it, flex my creative muscle and create some really impactful spaces.

FMBE: What are the disadvantages and advantages of the event location and the time of year of Revival?

MH: Advantage wise, there’s more flexibility and opportunity with the creative and design elements. Because we’re inside, it’s a huge benefit compared to the likes of GFOS and PGA. The only disadvantage, I’d say is the limited space and number of cars we can display.

FMBE: How does the event you planned resonate with the core brand message and its values?

RR: Showing the visual story of the old and the new, shows how far BMW have come through the decades. The Ultimate Driving Machine at Revival highlights the longevity of the brand through the years, the ‘ultimate’ level being the top of its game. It was a joy to bring this concept to life in a fun and interesting way, where we can creatively flex the brand whilst staying true to messaging over the years.

When designing this stand, we also wanted to bring in some easter eggs from the past with the BMW slogan messaging, ‘Sheer Driving Pleasure’, by integrating it in the artwork, and highlighting its Bavarian heritage.

FMBE: What are the challenges of playing to a nostalgic audience when the product is designed for future use?

RR: Being such an innovative and technology led brand, the pressure to create an impactful and immersive experience that feels authentic to the year brackets was a challenge, but the concept (taking inspiration from TRO) really helped bring this arcade to life. Focusing on the journey of exploring an authentic 60s arcade, to be transported into a new futuristic realm, helped link the two cars together and compliment the past and future elements of Revival.

It also sets creative boundaries. But we can use this to our advantage to make it relevant to the decade bracket which gives us a fraction of guidance of the look and feel we aim for.

Having to tap into design trends and aesthetic from 2 different time zones. One being more maximalist with multiple colours, fonts and using illustrations and the other being minimal and clean aesthetic. I had to balance the 2to achieve this goal, and this worked well as blending the 2 styles naturally creates a modern retro look and feel which keeps you linked to both worlds.

Mini at Goodwood Revival

At the Mini stand, car fans were immersed in a retro style (and bubble filled) laundrette, inspired by self-serve detergent stations in 1940s-50s. The stand included various touchpoints, such as a scent booster station offering sweets; an iron-press transfer station for customer handkerchief giveaways and the return of the fan-favourite: spin-to-win machine.

Washing machine drums were also be transformed into screens, showcasing Mini’s latest OLED display technology – playfully demonstrating the brand’s commitment to blending tradition with innovation.

The striking stand used a two-colour pairing from the Mini Aceman palette (Aceman red and Aceman turquoise), which I felt worked well for stand out. The Aceman is billed as a thrilling car to drive, and you could feel ‘energy’ when visiting the stand. Once again, brand ambassadors were on hand to guide visitors through the various points of engagement.

On this stand I put some of the same questions that I had to BMW, but this time to Blythe Grieve (BG), account manager, who had been a key part of team for Issi’s Laundrette.

FMBE: What are the disadvantages and advantages of the event location?

BG: The team are able to be creative with the brand identity, colours and showcase the Mini individuality. We’re able to display the fun side of Mini that everyone loves to see and be a part of – which is a huge advantage.

The main disadvantage is space, we’re limited to the area we have which has an impact on how we creatively bring to life all the story telling within Issi’s Laundrette whilst maximising on having the products within the space.

FMBE: How does the event you are planning resonate with the core brand message and its values?

BG: Mini is extremely proud of its heritage and where they have come from, we’re celebrating the 65^th Anniversary of Mini this year and we’re excited to be a small part of that. Another big part of Mini are their charity partners and the BIG LOVE between them. So, on the stand we’re donating 50% of every purchase at the Bubble Shop to Calm.

FMBE: What are the challenges of playing to a nostalgic audience when the product is designed for future use?

BG: When speaking with a nostalgic audience about Classic Mini people love to reminisce about their first Mini, what life was like when they bought their Classic. It’s our job to show them they can have the same Classic Mini feel in today’s Mini family. They still pride themselves on being the Go Kart that can work for everyone, if that’s inner city living, or out in the countryside (or even on the racetrack).