The competition’s marketing since its launch has been essential, and a key player has emerged as the driving force behind the competition.

He is Ali Russell, a workhorse in marketing and communications dedicated to promote an idea that many thought was crazy in its early days. 

Long experience

The Briton’s appearance on the scene was not an improvisation, as he has a distinguished career, especially in sports. And in those experiences not related to any discipline, sustainability and social responsibility were always in his path.

In 1995, Russell began his journey with organizations that had a vision of protecting the environment. So, he joined Tetra Pack, a company specializing in packaging development to protect nutritional value as well as the taste of products inside them.

Related content: Sparkcharge launches Roadie, a powerful portable battery charger to prevent electric vehicles from running out of power

Then, in 1998, he made a career breakthrough that would catapult him. He joined Coca Cola’s team in London. There he worked as marketing director, a position he occupied for three years.

A landing in sports

After major experiences at Coca Cola and Tetra Pack, Russell turned his focus to sports marketing. He started his career in this field when joining Edinburgh’s rugby team, which marked a milestone in his professional life.

That was his starting point to join solid institutions such as English Premier League’s Queens Park Rangers, ranked as one of the best tournaments in soccer worldwide.

Read also: NIO 333’s disappointment due to weak performance in Formula E’s “season seven”

He was also part of Rangers Soccer Club in Glasgow, Scotland, one of the most winning teams along with Celtic. After six years of advising organizations in that discipline, Russell moved on to other competitions.

Moving into new-age motorsport 

Ali Russell switched companies on several occasions, but never gave up on his vision for sustainability and fighting climate change. This is how in 2012 he began his electric motorsport experience, joining Formula E.

In early 2014, the world got to know the first 3.44-kilometer, 20-turn circuit in Beijing’s Olympic Park. Since then, Russell has been widely credited with grabbing TV channels’ interest and contracts were signed with Fox, ITV, CCTV, Canal+, Sky Deutschland and Mediaset. 

With just two years of racing, Formula E has signed deals with more than 200 broadcasters around the world and viewing figures are impressive. The decisive E-Prix races in recent years have attracted approximately 1.2 million viewers.

Alongside Formula E, Russell faces new challenges with Extreme E, a successful project with two impressive days seen in all corners of the world, through partnerships with various broadcasting platforms.

Russell’s latest coup so far is the contract signed with National Geographic to broadcast interesting content related to the series of electric sports cars throughout Latin America.

Written by I Jhonattan González

The post Ali Russell, a strategist who has spread Formula E and Extreme E’s message around the world appeared first on Green Racing News.

The partnership involves an agreement with National Geographic channel, which will air programs related to electric car construction, climate change awareness and the first season’s X-Prix on tape-delayed transmission for the region.

After two successful events in Saudi Arabia and Senegal’s Lac Rose, Extreme E is working every day to strengthen the series, which is just getting started.

A partnership that fits perfectly

“We are delighted to be working with National Geographic. The channel is famous for its brilliant and fascinating documentaries on science, adventure, nature and environmental issues, all of which are close to the heart of our championship,” said Ali Russell, Extreme E’s marketing director, on an official statement.

He emphasized that the category is not limited to a simple sporting event. “In addition to our major races, Extreme E is, in essence, a groundbreaking adventure for all of us. I believe the stories behind the series, the people involved, our legacy projects and even the story of our floating centerpiece, the St. Helena, will delight and inspire National Geographic audiences.” 

Related content: Tamara Molinaro joins Extreme E as championship driver replacing Kleinschmidt

“Along with with our current scientific research about the the effects of climate change and what can be done to reduce the terrible damage it is causing, makes the broadcast both captivating and eye-opening, and we want to share this with as many people as possible,” concluded Russell.

Focus on destination plans

It is worth noting that alongside organizing the competitions at destinations hit by pollution and global warming, the tournament organizers are also implementing legacy programs within regions to achieve a positive change. 

This includes working with Senegalese communities to plant one million Mangrove trees, and coordinate local school building improvements, to beach clean-ups with plastic waste removal, and turtle conservation in Saudi Arabia.

Following the well-received Extreme E kick-off, the tournament will continue the weekend of August 28-29 in Greenland, with the goal of providing a spectacle and raising awareness about the importance of conserving the planet for future generations.

Written by I Jhonattan González

The post Latin America will have Extreme E exclusive content in National Geographic appeared first on Green Racing News.

Sky is one of the largest providers of live sports action in Germany, famous for broadcasting Bundesliga matches live for the last 30 years, and in 2020 they signed an exclusive deal to broadcast all Formula 1 races.

Ali Russell, Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme E, said: “Germany is a key market for us and I’m delighted Sky Germany has joined our 40-strong list of broadcasters”.

“Not only is Sky Germany home to top quality sports, just like Extreme E, it has a strong environmental focus with Sky’s international sustainability programmes Sky Zero and Sky Ocean Rescue highlighting its carbon neutral and plastic reduction ambitions. We are delighted the channel will air our exciting racing concept, but also our wider storytelling around electrification and the environment.”

Ali Russell

Charly Classen, Executive Vice President Sport at Sky Deutschland, said: “Extreme E is a spectacular new racing series and a great addition to our motorsports lineup on Sky Sport F1. Extreme E also strengthens our already rich on-demand motorsport offering. Not least because of our sustainability initiatives Sky Zero and Sky Ocean Rescue, the race series fits very well into our programme.”  

Extreme E’s first X Prix will take place in less than 40 days in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. Ten teams entered to compete in Season 1, and the championship stipulates that each squad must feature a male and female driver, a world first in motorsport.

The post Extreme E is now associated with sports broadcasting giant Sky Germany appeared first on Green Racing News.

Operating as a futuristic strategy room, this purpose-built studio is where the team’s key players will come together to watch the race unfold and make strategic decisions.

The series has partnered with live event production specialists ADI to deliver this state-of-the-art sports presentation solution within the Extreme E “Command Center”.

Related content: Jenson Button joins Extreme E as pilot and owner of his own “JBXE” team

Technical production designs Extreme E help achieve the look of a state of the art. It is an art broadcast studio, despite the remote environments to which it travels.

The solution will feature 2mm indoor LED displays and LED lighting fixtures, positioned around an arched desk that will host representatives from five teams during the race, including drivers, team managers and engineers, who will have access to the computer radio, TV broadcast and telemetry.

Read also: The Extreme E makes an alliance to reach the public in China

Ali Russell, Chief of the Marketing Office at Extreme E, said: “The ‘Command Centre’ is something completely new, and another fantastic innovation from the Extreme E team. It’s a really exciting proposition for race fans who will get to follow all the action and drama through the key players as it unfolds.

“It’s great to have ADI’s support in providing this concept as we plan and deliver this pioneering project across the most remote parts of the world. ADI brings unique qualities in technical infrastructure, Sports Presentation and operational delivery, which will create outstanding production values at the ‘Command Centre’, and our live broadcast of Extreme E.”

Related content: The countdown begins for the exciting debut of the Extreme E

A dedicated ADI team will be on-hand to manage and cue all audio, 4k video and lighting play-out inside the “Command Centre”, utilising a single software platform to run the show.

ADI’s platform brings flexibility to the play-back, capable of supporting up to 40 layers of digital media across the fine pitch LED screens, and allows changes to the studio AV to be triggered by live action that happens during the race.

The post This is how the spectacular Extreme E “Command Center” will be appeared first on Green Racing News.

Ali Russell, Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme E said: “ESPN is one of the biggest names in sports broadcasting and I’m delighted they’ll be airing Extreme E in Latin America.

“We have recently added Argentina as our finale event in 2021, alongside Brazil, making South America a very important market for Extreme E. At both events we will not only display wheel-to-wheel racing, but also leave a long-lasting positive impact through our Legacy Programmes in each destination. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Latin American motorsport fans make of Extreme E.” 

The alliance will serve to strengthen the three key approaches of Extreme E; electrification, environment and equality and will highlight the difficult situation facing Latin America and its communities due to the climate crisis. Also, it will encourage everyone to make a change to reduce their carbon footprint.

The deal with ESPN is the latest in a long list of broadcast partnerships already announced by Extreme E, including the BBC, Discovery, FOX Sports, Sony India (Indian subcontinent), TVNZ (New Zealand), RTM (Malaysia), Dubai Sports (Middle East), RDS (Canada), China Sports Zhibo.tv and Huya (China), RTL 7 (Netherlands), ORF (Austria), Arena Sport (Balkans), MySports (Switzerland), Virgin Media Television ( Ireland) and BTRC (Belarus).

The post The excitement of the Extreme E will arrive to Latin America appeared first on Green Racing News.

Through this alliance, Telescope will be in charge of activating voting on the official Extreme E website, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, with similar plans to expand to the Twitch streaming platform.

The initiative invites fans to vote for their favorite team and the team with the most votes will be able to choose their place on the grid. Those who don’t make it to the final race can “give away” their votes to their preferred opponent. The rest of the grid will be decided by points from previous races.

Important alliance

“Telescope has a wealth of experience in the fan voting space having worked on a variety of  high-profile projects including American Idol, NBA and E! People’s Choice Awards. The company has over 18 years experience and I’m delighted they are bringing its expertise to our championship,” said Ali Russell, Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme E.

Russell also said that Extreme E is a youth-focused sport and they seek to engage a young audience in our product, so initiatives like fan voting are really important to get people to join.

Telescope has worked with Formula E for more than 6 years to deliver its Fanboost product, the only event in the world that allows fans to play an active role in influencing the outcome of the race.

Telescope also works with companies and media brands to make their content more fan-friendly. By using her custom suite of digital products and services, they create unique creative solutions to help brands build their long-term engagement strategy.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to embrace this incredible new sport. There is nothing like it out there and we’re looking forward to bringing our unique audience engagement technology and insights to what is set to be an exhilarating new race format,” said Kevin Brown, Managing Director at Telescope.

The post Fans will take center stage at Extreme E appeared first on Green Racing News.