INFINITI puts F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo in the hot seat as dealership employee

INFINITI, the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Nissan and a technical partner of the Renault F1 team, has launched a campaign featuring F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, as he bids to become the "Employee of the Month" at an INFINITI dealership.In an attempt to prove himself in another field during the F1 summer shut down, Ricciardo tries to introduce F1 efficiencies to the dealership as well as his own personal style in customer service, people management and marketing ideas. The film is part of a wider campaign that aims to highlight INFINITI's active role in F1 and the brand's technical partnership with the Renault F1 team. An Instagram story teaser was released earlier this week, followed by a content takeover on the INFINITI global Instagram account for a week beginning today.Phil York, senior director, INFINITI global marketing said it adopted an unconventional digital strategy with this campaign. Typically, video content is uploaded to native social networks. However this time round, it decided on an “all in one place” approach with multiple traffic boost sources, York explained. The hero video exists on YouTube, centralising all video views. To create traffic drivers, York said that the company then developed social media toolkits for all INFINITI markets that leverage its owned social audiences."Finally, we also partnered with targeted paid publications where the hero video is embedded, generating additional traffic to the centralised video," he added. As for earned views, INFINITI is counting on Ricciardo (2.4 million followers), Renault F1 Team (1 million followers) and Formula One™ (7.6 million followers) to amplify the campaign on their social media channels.Tommaso Volpe, director, INFINITI Global Motorsports added that the INFINITI technical partnership with the Renault F1 Team has ensured Ricciardo is a regular on set for INFINITI photo and video shoots. "Often being on the receiving end of his quick wit and cheeky charm, we knew we could step outside traditional Formula One™ driver content. The mockumentary style content was a natural fit," he said.Campaign creditsAntoine Malin: Manager, INFINITI Global Marketing Paul Trouble: Manager, INFINITI Global Motorsports Agency: Prism Sport + Entertainment London