Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) through its iconic whisky brand, Johnnie Walker has unveiled 20 teams that will compete to win an all-expenses paid Formula 1 Championship trip.
The 20 teams will be subjected to a month-long competition dubbed Kenya Racing Festival. The Kenya Racing Festival is competition that combines both Go-Kart racing and F1 Virtual Reality Simulation – an F1 simulator takes you through a virtual journey of full F1 experience. The winning team will get to travel to Abu Dhabi for Formula 1 Championship later in the year.
Speaking at the unveil ceremony in Nairobi, KBL Head of Premium Spirits, Grace Nshemeire-Gwaku said that KBL was excited to host the inaugural Kenya Racing Festival competition under its Johnnie Walker Brand.
“The final 20 teams were selected from over 80 hopeful teams across the country in a grueling qualifier held at Whistling Moran. Tonight, we present to you these 20 teams that will compete amongst each other to beat the fastest time. We believe this is an exciting chapter for Kenya to show the world that there are Go Kart champions in this part of the world and Johnnie Walker is proud to sponsor them,” said Mrs Nshemeire-Gwaku.
She added, “This competition affirms KBL’s position as the leading alcoholic beverage company in East Africa, while at the same time strengthening the historical connections that the Walker family has with the world of motorsport and Grand Prix racing which go back to the 1950s.”
The decision to leverage Formula 1 sport is to tap to it growing popularity in Kenya and marrying it with Diageo premiumization trends. “This is the coming together of two globally acclaimed brands. Formula 1 is the perfect fit for Johnnie Walker, which inspires and is giving consumers the opportunity to explore the rich possibilities of their world. This association will enable Johnnie Walker to greatly extend its reach to F1 fans,” added Mrs Nshemeire-Gwaku.
The competition feeds into the larger Johnnie Walker serve campaign that is ongoing across the country whose aim is to energizing consumers to push their boundaries and taste more out of life by exploring the unfamiliar.
The aim of the serve campaign is to recruit non-scotch drinkers into the category with “surprising and accessible flavours”, while offering an inspirational menu for bartenders to build upon.
According to Diageo National Advocacy Brand Ambassador, Douglas Duncanson, “The popularity of the whisky highball is soaring right now – and it’s easy to see why. It’s where the ease and refreshing taste of a cool beer meets the colourful, visceral world of cocktails. And for those who think they ‘won’t like whisky’ it’s a real game-changer.”
“We’ve celebrated the Highball at Johnnie Walker for the last few years, but with the trend for longer drinks on the rise, it feels like now is the right time to really explode the amazing possibilities which this category can offer,” he added.
