Brunel has launched the ultimate platform for fans to support Team Brunel in the Volvo Ocean Race. Via teambrunel.com fans can literally drop online buoys with support messages to the team on a virtual map, following the actual course of the boat. The most creative messages, closest to Team Brunel’s race route will have a chance to cheer for the team in person at the finish of the race in Gothenburg, Sweden.
“Drop a Buoy is a great way to express your support for Team Brunel”, says Steven Biester, project manager Volvo Ocean Race Brunel, “How else do you support a sailing team that’s out there in the middle of the ocean most of the time? We wanted to give the opportunity to all of our fans to show as much support as they can to Team Brunel, because in the end, winning this race relies not only just on the crew, but also on everyone supporting them!”.
Brunel is title sponsor of Team Brunel, the Dutch boat in the Volvo Ocean Race, the toughest and most prestigious sailing contest on the planet. Skipper Bouwe Bekking of Team Brunel and his crew of nine have started the first off shore leg of the race from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday 11 October. “Now that Team Brunel has passed Gibraltar and is currently crossing the Atlantic towards the next way point off the coast of Brazil, they will need the support of the fans more and more.”, says Biester, “As of now, fans can start dropping their buoys to cheer for Team Brunel. And, the more buoys dropped, the more support the team gets!”
Drop a Buoy was created by Amsterdam-based creative agencies CONSPIRACYSINC and Pippi as part of their campaign Get On Board for the Brunel Volvo Ocean Race sponsorship. “Brunel is a world leader in staffing and recruitment, so people are at the heart of everything they do.”, says Frank de Weijer, creative director of CONSPIRACYSINC. “We wanted to make maximum use of this human factor to get as many fans behind the team as possible. Get On Board invites everybody to support Team Brunel and Drop a Buoy is the way to do it!”. MediaMonks is responsible for the technical development of the platform.