Google Chrome x McLaren’s Brilliant Marketing with Maluma

Have you ever heard of a tech search engine and artist coming together to produce a track using the engine sounds of the Formula 1 race car?

Neither have I, which is why I think this brilliant partnership between 3 brands: Google, McLaren, and Maluma bring together 3 creatives of different spheres for the perfect blend of user interaction.

It’s not too late! If you are an avid fan of Formula 1 racing as I am, you could have a chance to win a Grand Prize Trip to Las Vegas to attend the 2024 Formula 1 Grand Prix. How?

Well, I love a good challenge and so does Google Chrome and McLaren too!

From now until June 25th, you can enter this challenge by watching the ‘Pit Stop’ music video and finding clues. Now I won’t tell you what they are, because that is unfair. Instead, I want to compliment the genius marketing methods behind this challenge.

As excited as I am for a chance to win a roundtrip, I am even more stoked to know that this partnership went beyond the surface level of what we normally see from brands. Transcending their competition, this Google Chrome x Maluma x McLaren sponsored challenge is next level as it promotes all involved parties in a way that forces users to interact with the music video.

With Google being the main sponsor for all the ads on TikTok and the grand prize, I have to praise their unique marketing tool that forces users to interact with the Google Lens product. Unlike past ads, Google does not need to be obvious, the product speaks for itself! For you to get the clues, you have to scan screenshot photos of the music video to reveal a website and translate clues in a different language. In record time, the mobile app on my phone was able to not only scan the photo but was able to offer suggestions from the search.

For McLaren’s marketing strategy, this music video features McLaren’s new car that current F1 racers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, drive in. Within the first two seconds of the music video, you can hear the acceleration of the impressive car engine and even before the audio cue of the McLaren engine, you can read the captions or text that provide you with some context clue as to what this song and collaboration is about. Then, your eyes focus on the screen as McLaren’s deep volcanic orange car is such a pop of color that you fully take in its beauty and elegance. The exposure that comes with introducing a different audience, say Maluma’s listeners, to McLaren’s racing creates a fan base that could last a lifetime.

As for Maluma, I heard of him before this challenge but did not check out his music. Due to this grand prize's nature, you will almost surely rewatch that music video several times before catching all the clues. Driving views up by having F1 fans interact with the music video and listen to the track multiple times is an excellent marketing strategy - one rarely seen in the music industry. Everything from the dialogue to the editing to the set design with F1 racing easter eggs all around was such a feast for me as a lover of both the sport and the music.

I hope to see more partnerships like this in the future! Fun spins on marketing are always appreciated and are an art form that few ever really craft well. This one was so innovative and fresh that I spent 30 minutes trying to solve all the clues.

Perhaps you can be one of the three winners alongside me in Las Vegas this November.