Repco and independent agency Thinkerbell are taking fans for a ride, literally, with their latest campaign, Bathurst Bus Tours, created to celebrate the legacy of the iconic Bathurst 1000 motor race.
Now in its fifth year as naming rights sponsor, Repco is bringing the campaign to life with a comedic take on guided tours of Mt Panorama. The work leans into nostalgia and fan service, featuring celebrity cameos, re-creations of classic V8 Supercars crashes, and cheeky nods to race day culture, complete with the scent of cooked sausages and burnt rubber.
Launched with a hero film and 15-second cutdowns available via Vimeo and YouTube, the campaign features unsuspecting tourists being taken on a full-throttle tour of the track, with famous faces such as Marcos Ambrose and Greg Murphy along for the ride. The films are backed by a full media rollout across TV, out-of-home, digital, print, and social.
Mitch Wiley, Executive General Manager of Marketing at Repco, said: “The Bathurst 1000 has such an enormous legacy and we wanted to celebrate it in a way that was both high octane, and full of nuggets for the fans. Our Bathurst work takes it to the limit every year and this time we’re proud to say we’ve left it all on the track.”
Ben Couzens, Executive Creative Tinker at Thinkerbell, added: “Bathurst is iconic for a reason. Hundreds of reasons, in fact. And Bathurst Bus Tours is our way to pay homage to those iconic moments of Australian racing folklore, all while keeping our foot to the floor where it should be.”
The campaign will be active in the lead-up to and throughout the Repco Bathurst 1000 in October. Fans are encouraged to look, and listen, for the bus both at the track and in the broadcast. On-site activations and fan giveaways are also planned across the event window.
The campaign was developed by Thinkerbell, with production by Sedona and direction by Matt Murphy. Media planning and buying was handled by Initiative, with post-production by The Editors and Manimal. Music and sound design were created by Electric Sheep Music.