Press releases

2012-09-24A second winning season for Europcar and Team Europcar

September 24, 2012

A second winning season for Europcar and Team Europcar

 

• A successful Tour de France, with three wonderful stage wins, 4 most aggressive rider prizes and the polka dot jersey at the finish line on the Champs-Elysés
• A 13% rise in media exposure on last year
• Media exposure valued at 18 million Euros in 2012
• Leading French Facebook page for a cycling team in France with over 40,000 fans
• 5,600 followers on the French Twitter account
• Around 7,000 Europcar employees involved in local activation. 
•  230 customers, partners, and institutional investors invited on the 2012 Tour de France

 

Europcar, the leading car rental company in Europe, is proud of its second "Tour" and the entire 2012 season as title sponsor for Team Europcar. After an exceptional first season in 2011, both in terms of cycling results and media exposure, Europcar is building on its success thanks to the remarkable work of Team Europcar riders over the entire season. To crown this exceptional season, Thomas Voeckler, Team Europcar leader, headed the French cycling team at the World Championships this weekend, while Bryan Coquard, Olympic Omnium silver-medallist this summer, finished second in the under-23 race at the UCI Road World Championships.

Marine Boulot, communications director for the Europcar Group commented: "Last year, for our first season as team partner, Team Europcar set the bar very high. In 2012, the team confirmed it was one of the best in the peloton with results, tenacity and characteristic panache. All the internal and external feedback we have received is extremely positive. Thanks to cycling, Europcar has successfully strengthened its ties with its wide-ranging audience and has consolidated its B2C approach by raising its brand awareness. Finally, the values of proximity and commitment which Europcar shares with the Team reflect well on the brand and generate preference."

Increased media exposure in 2012
Team results once again provided an incredible opportunity to increase Europcar brand visibility, as shown by a Kantar Study, carried out in 7 European countries (Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Great Britain, Italy and Portugal) between January and the end of the Tour de France at the end of July:
- 30 hours and 17 minutes of television exposure (against 23 hours in 2011)
- The equivalent of 3,634 30-second adverts
- Media exposure valued at the equivalent of 18 million Euros worth of advertising, or +38% on last year
- Team Europcar enjoyed better coverage on all races in the UK (+306%), one of the main Europcar markets. This development is due, in particular, to cycling races being broadcast on Eurosport for the first time, but also the victory of a British team and a British cyclist.

 

Europcar, a connected team
To strengthen its connections with its fans and the wider public, and unite communities around its Team, Europcar has developed a real digital ecosystem by developing its presence on social networks since January 2012. 
- Over 40,000 fans on Facebook thanks to a number of applications, such as competitions during events (Team presentation, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, the classics races, Tour de France, etc.)
- The Team Europcar page has more fans than that of any other French cycling team
- 5,600 followers on the French version and 2,640 followers on the English version of the Team Europcar Twitter account with, in particular, competitions organised for Paris-Nice and live tweets for major cycling events (Tour de France, Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, etc.)
- A dedicated website, www.teameuropcar.com, which attracted 495,594 unique visitors on its French version and 66,661 on its English version and recorded 2,529,471 French page views and 265,067 English ones. (Numbers as of September 2012)
- A trailblazer on the Google+ platform, Team Europcar has become the world's number 1 cycling team on the network with 4,200 fans

Strong internal deployment
The 6,500 Group Europcar employees are the team's top supporters. As such, a complete communication plan was implemented to provide access to team life throughout the entire season and more particularly for the Tour de France, with:
- An ambassador programme in the main Group countries to relay team information internally, in particular on a dedicated space on the teameuropcar.com site
- A competition involving international teams to win places for the Tour de France arrival
- A photography competition to support Team Europcar with T-shirts signed by the team as prizes
- Distributing exclusive goodies to feed into the feeling of belonging to the team and being close to the team

An exclusive public relations team
Europcar put in place an exclusive public relations team for the Tour de France to share special moments with customer, partners, or institutional investors (team Director's car, helicopter, and places for stage arrivals). Altogether, 230 people from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, and UK enjoyed an experience at the heart of the cycling team.

Significant local activation
A worldwide sports event, the Tour de France was an opportunity for Group Europcar countries as well as franchisees to implement the Group communication plan locally (dressing for agencies, internet competitions, etc.) around Team Europcar, particularly in South Africa, Australia, Germany, France, etc.  To support them, a sponsorship guide was distributed at the start of the year, to the top 30 countries of the Group, with information about the team, the public relations programme for the Tour de France, and communication tools available to them (posters, goodies, etc.) to deploy locally.

About Europcar:
Europcar is the leader in car rental services in Europe. Present in 140 countries, the company provides customers with access to the world's largest vehicle rental network through its own operations, franchisees and partnerships. With 6,500 employees committed to delivering customer satisfaction and an average fleet of 190,000 vehicles, Europcar is conscious of its corporate citizenship responsibilities. Winner of the first World Travel Award recognizing the World's Leading Green Transport Solutions Company, Europcar also was honored with the Award in 2010 and 2011. Europcar is owned by Eurazeo.

 

Press contacts
Europcar International
Marine Boulot/Nathalie Poujol
+33 (0)1 30 44 98 82
europcarpressoffice@europcar.com

Havas Sports & Entertainment
Laurent Dupont
+33(0)1 58 47 82 64
+33(0)6 07 04 92 93
laurent.dupont@havas-se.com

Marine Carrié
+33(0)1 58 47 82 59
+33 (0)6 88 67 87 91
marine.carrie@havas-se.com

 

 

 

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