Bowers & Wilkins partners with FAZZT IndyCar Team

British loudspeaker manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins is using motorsport as a crucial element of its strategy to increase awareness of the brand in new sectors as well as increasing awareness of the firm’s increasing automotive activity. The firm is sponsoring the FAZZT team with lead driver Alex Tagliani.
 
“The agreement with the FAZZT team is part of an on-going partnership that started with the Brazilian Sao Paulo Indy 300,” says Bowers & Wilkins’ executive vice-president Every Huizing. “Motorsport provides the right profile to increase awareness of our brand, particularly as we expand into new markets such as automotive and our new media products such as the Zeppelin. Motorsport enthusiasts tie in well with our desired customer base. For Bowers & Wilkins, motorsport offers a novel approach to reach customers  beyond the traditional luxury audio promotional avenues the firm has relied upon.
 
Beyond the sponsorship element, the firm pushing to activate other elements that can benefit the firm. "Motorsport is a very harsh environment requiring durable products that offer genuine performance for extended periods," says Huizing. “Our sound engineers are tasked with extracting the best performance from their own designs and i think we can learn from the FAZZT team.”
 
Like the FAZZT team, based in Indianapolis and headed by Rob Edwards, Bowers & Wilkins runs a separate research establishment. Here, engineers isolated from the commercial constraints of a manufacturing environment, can focus on innovation and finding performance gains.  At Indianapolis, the first of Bowers & Wilkins’ engineers visited the team. “We intend to get other engineers from our dedicated Research Facility in Steyning to share knowledge with their FAZZT counterparts," adds Huizing. "Attention to detail, reducing development times, continuous improvement and learning about new materials are ideas we can envisage but there others.
 
Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers, renowned throughout the audio industry are now also available as an option across the Jaguar range including the latest XJ, the latter an application where engineers in collaboration with Jaguar have developed truly authentic sound reproduction. “Bowers & Wilkins is already using materials found on the IndyCar including Rohacell®, aluminium, glass fibre, titanium, magnesium and Kevlar. Kevlar, and its ability to dissipate energy have made the technology widely used in motorsport offering impact protection whilst it is also ideally suited as the cones of the firm’s speaker lines such as the 800 Series Diamond. The yellow composite is a Bowers & Wilkins signature, part of the DNA and is a prominent feature of the Jaguar systems.
 
For the motorsport industry, it is heartening that it can offer a valuable engineering and marketing opportunity to a trusted and renowned brand "Motorsport can provide lighter, stronger alternatives that can enhance audio, durability or even aesthetics,” concludes Huizing. “It works for us on many levels.”

www.fazztraceteam.com