The partnership with TikTok covers all five of Extreme E’s events in 2021, with each event highlighting an environment affected by climate change.
Extreme E’s Desert E-Prix, the first-ever race in the new electric SUV series, saw 18.5m organic viewers on TikTok tune in to the action taking place on the desert terrain of AlUla, Saudi Arabia.
Prior to the event which ran in the Saudi Arabian desert, Extreme E signed an agreement with TikTok to bolster its social media offering. Across the race weekend on 3 and 4 April, Extreme E pulled in 18.5m organic views across TikTok content produced by partner Little Dot Studios, with 17.2m people checking out #DesertXPrix videos alone.
Extreme E also acquired 60,000 new fans after digital media giant Little Dot Studios activated the new partnership using its vertical video expertise on behalf of the championship.
As part of the ambitious partnership, Extreme E and Little Dot Studios created an exclusive 90-minute production, which aired on Extreme E’s TikTok account on Saturday, April 3. More than 386,000 people watched the show, which gave a behind-the-scenes look at the series and the personalities at the heart of it.
One of the most popular videos was The Drop, highlighting a part of the course measuring 100 meters with a 45-degree descent. The onboard video gave a view from the cockpit, and 3.8m fans tuned in to see exactly what the drivers saw as they took on this challenging element of the course.
Ali Russell, chief marketing officer at Extreme E, said: “These numbers are phenomenal, and I’m thrilled that in our first weekend we were able to reach so many people with our unique sport for purpose. As part of the championship’s mission to keep carbon emissions to a minimum, we don’t have spectators on site, and if we did, we would never reach this level of engagement purely from attendees. It just goes to show how important our digital offering is. A massive thank you to TikTok, Little Dot Studios and our in-house social team. These numbers are awesome and a testament to the engaging and innovative motorsport series we have created.”
After Saudi Arabia and desertification, the series now moves on to Senegal (rising sea levels), Greenland (melting ice caps), Amazon, Brazil (deforestation) and Patagonia, Argentina (glacial recession).
