AND THE NEW ADDS CLASS 1 POWERBOAT RACING SERIES TO ITS CLIENT BASE

Class 1 powerboat racing has become the latest sports rights holder to place its trust in AND THE NEW to activate its creative and digital marketing strategy, with the series appointing the agency to bring its brand into a social and digital-first era for 2022 and beyond.

The series, formally titled the UIM Class 1 World Powerboat Championship and sitting within the umbrella Powerboat P1, which includes leading marine motorsport brands such as P1 Offshore and P1 AquaX, is the pinnacle of the powerboat world. It currently operates a US-based seasonal calendar containing teams and drivers such as Huski Chocolate and the world-famous stunt performer and motorsports athlete Travis Pastrana.

Class 1 now aims to become the ultimate international powerboat racing series, with designs on introducing a global calendar for 2024.

An historic championship with a growing US audience, Class 1 has retained AND THE NEW to add to its traditionally broadcast-first approach to engaging markets and has appointed the specialist agency to transition the brand into a social-first series fit for the digital age as an integral part of its expansion plans.

AND THE NEW will take responsibility for Class 1's social media channels, holistic digital and content strategy, on-the-ground social-first coverage and production and offer wide-ranging consultancy to the championship.

Speaking after a successful onboarding phase that saw AND THE NEW cover the fourth round of the UIM Class 1 World Championship in St Petersburg, Florida last month, Powerboat P1 CEO Azam Rangoonwala said: "AND THE NEW have been on my radar for some time following recommendations from high-profile figures in the sport and entertainment space, and I'm delighted to have appointed them to help Class 1 enter its next phase of growth.

"We have huge ambitions to take Class 1 onto the international scene in the next few years and know how crucial taking a digital and social-first approach to our brand will be in helping us achieve it. The sport is full of fascinating stories, people and cultures that are ready to be taken to the world and, in particular, a new generation of fans. There’s also some hugely exciting brands set to be involved next year that help us take things to the next level.

"We're off to a great start, with AND THE NEW having helped us achieve our most successful event ever across digital channels in St Petersburg, which peaked at more than 1 million TikTok views in our first focused week on the channel! I look forward to seeing what else we can achieve together for the remainder of 2022 and beyond."

AND THE NEW Digital and Content Director, Dan Connor, said: "We're delighted to have onboarded Class 1 as a new client and can't wait to start showing what we can do as we enter the latter stages of a hugely exciting season.

"Covering sport and all its intricacies in a social-first capacity that engages fan bases, grows commercial potential and attracts new audiences is a real sweet spot of ours at AND THE NEW, and I'm thrilled that the team are already getting stuck in to bringing to life the series' great storylines across social, video and editorial output. The championship has so much potential and we're committed to playing a huge role in its growth over the coming years."