McLaren Racing Enhances Marketing Operations with Smartsheet and Brandfolder

• Analytics & Modeling - Machine Learning
• Functional Applications - Enterprise Asset Management Systems (EAM)

• Automotive
• Equipment & Machinery

• Logistics & Transportation
• Sales & Marketing

• Time Sensitive Networking
• Track & Trace of Assets

McLaren Racing, a prominent player in the fast-paced world of Formula 1 racing, was facing challenges in streamlining its marketing operations. With a busy calendar of 22 races and eight keystone events in 2022, the company was constantly seeking ways to enhance efficiency both on and off the track. One of the key challenges was the coordination of show car bookings, which was a complex and manual process involving branding, staffing, security, and shipping. The logistics of preparing and moving show cars required a lot of time and resources. Additionally, McLaren's digital content team was tasked with providing real-time images of the drivers, team personnel, garage set-up, and on-track action to fans, partners, and the media. However, the process of uploading, cataloguing, and distributing footage was manual and time-consuming, often taking days to deliver images to partners.

McLaren Racing is a renowned name in the world of Formula 1 racing. With a busy schedule of 22 races and eight keystone events in 2022, the company is constantly striving to enhance efficiency both on and off the track. McLaren has millions of fans across the globe and is committed to providing them with a rich race experience. The company also works closely with various partners and media outlets, providing them with real-time images and footage from the races. McLaren is known for its agile working methodology and is always looking for ways to optimize the use of tools and become more efficient.

To address these challenges, McLaren partnered with Smartsheet and Brandfolder. Smartsheet was used to create a strategy map of key marketing activities and to automate the show car booking process. Partners could fill out a show car booking request with all the necessary information, and the marketing team would get notified immediately. Automated alerts were also set up for upcoming events. On the other hand, Brandfolder was used to streamline the process of managing digital assets. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, uploaded images were automatically tagged based on logo recognition. Assets were sorted and catalogued as soon as they were put into storage, making race images available within minutes instead of days. The software also provided easier access to partner-specific content capture requests and improved the management of archival footage. Over 90 TB of old images were migrated from physical hard drives into Brandfolder, making files easily searchable and discoverable.

• The implementation of Smartsheet and Brandfolder has brought significant operational benefits to McLaren Racing. The automation of the show car booking process has reduced processing time and improved coordination and communication. The marketing team now gets immediate notifications about booking requests and upcoming events, enabling them to stay updated on the status of each item. The use of AI and machine learning in managing digital assets has made race images available within minutes, allowing the marketing team, partners, and media to quickly engage with McLaren’s nine million Instagram followers. The migration of archival footage into Brandfolder has given these assets a second life, making them easily searchable and discoverable. The unified tool has also enabled the team to run smoother events and marketing campaigns. Looking ahead, McLaren plans to further optimize Smartsheet in marketing and bring more of its processes into the Smartsheet ecosystem.

• 7x faster distribution of race day footage and assets, with proper tags for searchability
• 90TB of footage migrated and made discoverable through centralized asset storage
• 800 brand assets tracked in real-time for major marketing campaign and car launch