Racers
- Brand
- Red Bull
- Year
- 2020
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Food & Drink
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Social
- Agency
- EPIC Agency
Objective
Red Bull created the game to promote its Red Bull Ring circuit in Austria and give fans a reason to engage with motorsport around it. When COVID-19 wiped out the racing calendar, the brand repurposed it to keep fans connected to motorsport and offer them a shot at prizes, then kept it running as a reusable marketing tool for local activations worldwide.
Solution
The player picks a ride — Max Verstappen's F1 car or Marc Márquez's MotoGP bike, later joined by a hypercar, a motocross bike, and a Red Bull plane — and heads out for a lap with no steering wheel and no brakes. One button does everything: hold it down to build speed, then time a tap to crack open a can of Red Bull for a burst of boost. Mistime it and the run bleeds seconds, just like a real race. The lap ends at the finish line, where the time drops straight onto a leaderboard that pits the player against everyone else chasing that track's prizes, from merch to fully paid trips to a home Grand Prix. Some versions swap the phone screen for a controller, letting players race on a touchscreen kiosk at live events instead of in the Facebook app.
Results
The campaign has logged 8M+ games played across 140+ activations and 20+ country-specific content versions; within its first twelve months alone, it had already been customized and deployed in more than 60 countries.
- 1
The player launches the game as a Facebook Instant Game from Red Bull's page or feed, playing directly in the app or browser with nothing to download.
- 2
At the start, the player picks who to race as: Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen in his race car, or MotoGP rider Marc Márquez on his motorcycle.
- 3
There are no brakes or steering — the vehicle drives itself around the track while the player holds or releases a single button to manage speed through straights and corners.
- 4
At the right moment, the player triggers a Red Bull can for a speed boost, the core decision of each lap. Boosting too early, too late, or at the wrong speed costs precious seconds, just as in a real race.
- 5
Each run ends with the player's lap time shown as the result of the attempt.
- 6
That time is posted to a leaderboard where the player compares their result against other players in their country.
- 7
Players restart and replay the lap again and again, chasing a perfect run that takes dozens of attempts to refine.
- 8
Climbing to the top of the leaderboard earns prizes, from Red Bull merchandise to fully paid trips to a Formula 1 Grand Prix — in the UK activation, a VIP experience at the British Grand Prix.
- 9
Depending on the market, the vehicle and track change — motorcycle, supercar, motocross bike, or even a Red Bull plane, on a local track from Norwell, Australia to Mexico City. At live events, the same race is played on an interactive touchscreen with the visitor's smartphone as the controller.
