F1 Air Race Sandown 2016 case study

The Model Aeronautical Association of Australia (MAAA) is the largest aeromodelling organisation in Australia and encourages Australians to enjoy aeromodelling in a safe and fun environment, with adequate support.

This event showcased the best of the best in model aircraft, from world class pilots and drivers to some of the best models in the world including:

• Formula 1 Air Race
• High speed Pylon Racing at over 320km/h
• Best Scale Models in the World
• Unbelievable Aerobatics
• Extreme Helicopters

Catch some of the exciting action of the event on the F1 Air Race video here.

Sustainable Marketing Services put together a fully integrated event marketing, public relations and event management strategy that included:

• National coverage on TV
• Advertorials in industry magazines such as RCM and Airborne
• Promotion in the MAAA in-house digital magazine Wingspan created by us
• Radio advertising on GoldFM
• Dedicated campaign website attracting thousands of visitors
• Facebook promotion
• Marketing program

A key objective of the MAAA event was to raise awareness of the association with families and attract the next generation of aeromodellers

Another key objective was to raise the profile of aeromodelling as a sport with a wider audience.

The results speak for themselves:

• Approximately 3,500 people visited the event
• The majority of visitors were families and there was 20% increase on 2015 numbers
• The event generated National TV coverage (see the F1 Sandown Race video coverage here)
• The event showcased the sport of aeromodelling to Melbournians
• Over 7,300 unique visitors to the Sandown Campaign Website
• Word of mouth feedback that the event was a resounding success

The F-1 Air Race at Sandown took six months of planning but not every marketing event needs to be on that scale. Even a small event can boost awareness of your brand, a build a valuable connection with your target audience.

"Sustainable Marketing Services started work with the Model Aeronautical Association of Australia (MAAA) in 2014 and worked as our marketing team for over 7 years. They helped us build our brand reputation, our visibility online with our members and assisted us achieve an average new membership growth of 9.2% each year. Our online search visibility within Aeromodelling grew to 17% (source: Moz). In addition, they helped us retain members and improve member perceptions with new marketing communications such as the launch of a quarterly Wingspan Magazine which helped us increase our net promote score from a negative -11.77 in 2014 to a positive 40 in 2020. This approach was adopted and driven due to a new aeromodelling association competitor within Australia. Wingspan has been very popular with our members and is seen as adding considerable value to members by sharing their club and member stories. During the time they worked for MAAA, they regularly achieved some PR/media coverage of our hobby/sport on National TV, radio, national press and local coverage. They built our Facebook presence from 1,450 In October 2016 to over 13,000 today and it has one of the strongest engagement rates in the world for our industry. In addition, they created and implemented a digital strategy and built a range of websites for us during that time from our industry website to specific national modelling events. The team at Sustainable Marketing Services have a high level of expertise and marketing, PR, digital marketing and social media. They are a delight to work with and always go above and to help us. Importantly, the team at Sustainable Marketing helped MAAA to drive the marketing existence we needed for our sport with the demonstrated results mentioned above."

Tyson Dodd, past secretary, Model Aeronautical Association of Australia, August 2021