A+E Networks flies the flag for branded content in Asia this quarter with season three of the Caltex-based reality show, Celebrity Car Wars.

The series is a tentpole property of History’s global Car Week in Asia in September, and also part of a long-running campaign by Chevron-owned Caltex in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

Dorothy Cheong, Chevron’s regional integrated marketing manager (brand and communication), is clearly a Celebrity Car Wars fan, returning season after season with a stash of research and data that helps inform the challenges that stay in the race and those that are added.

Celebrity Car Wars, featuring six celebs from different parts of Asia, had its roots in Caltex’s tagline, Enjoy the Journey.

But the original brief, distributed in 2015, was wide, and Cheong was ready and willing to listen to everything from food and travel to lifestyle.

“We were hoping for a tighter link to driving, but we didn’t want it to be dry. We wanted to showcase our formulation in a more interesting way,” she says.

History/A+E Networks Asia and Michael McKay’s production house, activeTV, co-created Celebrity Car Wars for Caltex and the product – Techron – as a bespoke property.

The format IP is still owned jointly by A+E Networks and activeTV. activeTV produces the show.

Celebrity Car Wars, which kicked off in 2015 and premiered on History in 2016, is by no means Cheong’s first branded content ride.

Premium video and high-end television formats have long been a vibrant part of Caltex’s marketing strategy, along with short-form digital content created by local teams in each market.

Caltex was, for instance, involved in The Amazing Race Asia in the early days, as well as big-budget talent show Asia’s Got Talent, both for Sony Pictures Entertainment Networks Asia’s AXN. Cheong also highlights the five-country Driving Change with Caltex community project with what was then Fox International Channels and activeTV.

The whole drive aims at connecting with audiences using all available channels and taking the Caltex story beyond conversations about fuel prices, Cheong says.

Content is used to “interest and engage”, with the ultimate goal of attracting more drivers to the stations.

“We constantly pump out digital [content] to keep our brand top of mind. That said, we are a brick-and-mortar, location-based purchase,” Cheong says, adding: “Hence we have to be careful to find a balance between spend and business results”.

Celebrity Car Wars checks multiple important boxes for Cheong. There’s strong product integration, the show demonstrates in an entertaining way what Caltex fuels can do, the long-form format offers broadcast opportunities, and the celebrity component means bringing in the whole lovely world of social media influencer marketing.

“We cut a lot of digital content that can be used on social platforms,” Cheong says, adding the benefit of retail activation with the celebrity stars of the show.

The celebs this year include Singapore actor/comedian Munah Bagharib; Malaysian actor/producer/director Hans Isaac; Filipino actor/VJ Diego Loyzaga; American-Filipino actor/singer Xian Lim; and Thai R&B idol/actress/social media influencer Lydia Sarunrat.

Cheong adds that there’s no shortage of research and data. The challenge is making use of the insights.

“For me, it’s what insights come out of the data,” she says. “It’s what I have to do with the data to improve my programme and my connection”.

Published on ContentAsia eNewsletter, 23 July 2018