Background

MPA Creative is always taking on exciting new challenges and we’re proud to have been a part of a cultural shift, driving female talent within motorsport…

We always love to be a part of something new and exciting here at MPA Creative, so when we were approached in 2016 to collaborate in a campaign to increase female participation in motorsport, it was a challenge we couldn’t wait to take on.

Thanks to some timely correspondence between former F1 test driver Susie Wolff and the governing body of UK motorsport (Motorsport UK) the opportunity to create something ground-breaking and unique arose and Dare To Be Different (D2BD) was born.

Not simply a stunt to find the next female F1 driver, but rather an initiative that will affect a cultural shift within a previously perceived male-dominated industry. Dare To Be Different is about driving female talent in all areas of the sport and MPA Creative was tasked with handling all Motorsport UK’s PR around the campaign.

Building the brand from the ground up, MPA Creative was responsible for managing D2BD’s website, social channels, events and online community.  In addition, and certainly not least, MPA Creative brought vital sponsorship and support to the D2BD initiative – namely the charity’s global lead partner, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management.

With an incredible response from media and public alike, Dare To Be Different grew faster than our best expectations.  In 2017, the initiative was officially launched in Germany and Australia and since then has continued to expand to further territories worldwide.

The Dare To Be Different message has been heard by around 100,000 young girls and women worldwide via events, its extensive online community and wide-reaching social media – all through a genuinely inspiring and positive programme brought to life by MPA Creative.

As of 2021, the programme was taken in house by Motorsport UK and was integrated as part of the FIA’s Girls on Track initiative.

CASE STUDY

One of Dare To Be Different’s biggest UK events in 2019 took place at Porsche Cars GB’s impressive Experience Centre at Silverstone, just days ahead the British Grand Prix.

One hundred 8 to 11-year old schoolgirls were invited to take part in a host of motorsport activities to show them what a future career in the world of motorsport could look like.

The series of challenges began with the ‘Pirelli Pit-Stop’ where they worked in teams to change a wheel against the clock. This was followed by a reaction-time test with the Batak board and a lesson in life-saving resuscitation including how to use a defibrillator. The girls then got an insight into motorsport media techniques with F1 television presenter Rosanna Tennant and a close-up tour courtesy of the world’s only tetraplegic racing driver, Natalie McGloin of her Porsche Club Championship race car.

National flagship programme STEMnet was present to assist with a fun hoverboard-building exercise and the ‘F1 in Schools’ project was there to showcase its inspirational learning resources. And then to round off an already action-packed day, the delighted girls were treated to thrilling high-speed passenger rides with Porsche’s motorsport professionals.

Also on hand to meet and talk to the girls were Dare To Be Different founder, Susie Wolff, Dare and Williams F1 Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams – both of whom were delighted to share their valuable career advice and expertise.

Porsche Cars GB were so delighted with the uptake and engagement resulting from this one event that it has now secured a further event within the Porsche Retail Group in November 2019.