LIQUI MOLY opens the 2019 financial year by announcing it is going into Formula 1. It will be advertising on the race track at eleven races – as one of just a few select brands.

“We hope that out of the more than 1 billion viewers who follow this spectacle on television all over the world every year, it may occur to some of them to take a closer look at LIQUI MOLY and purchase our products,” explains CEO Ernst Prost.

LIQUI MOLY will be showcased on a large scale for the first time at the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 31. “Formula 1 and LIQUI MOLY are a great match – after all, both stand for absolute top-class performance,” says Prost.

After the Bahrain Grand Prix, the LIQUI MOLY logo will be on show at half of the remaining races. The campaign will cost the company several millions. “If you want to reach that many people all over the world, you can’t be a penny pincher: you have to think globally and make huge investments,” says Prost. Formula 1 is not new to the lubricant brand as LIQUI MOLY was involved with Team Jordan in the 2000s.

“The aim of advertising in Formula 1 is to raise our brand profile. Oils and additives do their job invisibly, hidden in the depths of the engine. They’re not products that drivers see and get thrilled about on a day-to-day basis. This is why brand visibility is all the more important for LIQUI MOLY. Top-class quality alone is not much help if nobody knows about the benefits,” explains Prost.

In addition to Formula 1, LIQUI MOLY’s international activities include the motorcycle world championship MotoGP and the touring car championship TCR. In addition, the company has a whole range of involvements at the national, regional and even local level.

But LIQUI MOLY doesn’t limit its activities to motor racing. The blue, red and white logo has been in view this winter at the world handball championships, at the ice hockey world championships, at the Four Hills Tournament, at the world ski championships and with the Chicago Bulls in the NBA.

“This taps into new target groups and customers for us, as well as bridging over the winter break in motor racing. Three factors are always crucial: the number of spectators on site, the media presence and the potential for creating positive associations with our own brand image,” explains Marketing Director Peter Baumann.

“Formula 1, MotoGP, world handball championships, ice hockey world championships – the potential in all of those is simply enormous,” says Ernst Prost. “It just shows the level we’re now operating at. You can hardly get any better than this. As a sponsor, we only purchase excellent sports events with outstanding TV coverage – mainly events with an international and global impact.”

In addition to its sponsorship, LIQUI MOLY, also stimulates business by means of classic advertising. In autumn 2018 the company kicked off its first worldwide digital campaign, which generated 1.6 billion contacts. “We’re sensing that the pressure to advertise has increased in recent years,” says Prost. “We have to promote ourselves even more to even get noticed – which means investing more money on raising our brand profile.”

Another advertising campaign costing millions is shortly due to get underway in Germany and Austria. This will involve LIQUI MOLY placing double-page advertisements in all the relevant automobile magazines. The campaign was prompted by a recent vote held by “Auto Zeitung.” Readers of the German automobile magazine were called upon to name the best oil brand. The result was: LIQUI MOLY. LIQUI MOLY has now been voted “Top Brand” among the oils by readers every year since 2010. The German oil and additive specialist also finished second in the car care product category. “The aim of this campaign is not just to promote our products but also to thank all those people who have placed their trust in us,” says Prost.

LIQUI MOLY set a new sales record in 2018 once again, but success is a question of perspective, too. Two percent sales growth is not that much of an achievement for a company that is so used to performing well. This is why Ernst Prost is now going on the offensive: “We’re really going to make splash in 2019. Part of this will be our appearance in Formula 1.”