Simona De Silvestro and DigitasLBi Sign Global Partnership

Starting 2015 Simona De Silvestro is expected to make her debut as full time Formula 1 pilot, the first female to do so since Lella Lombardi in 1976. Today she signed a global partnership with marketing and technology agency DigitasLBi. The collaboration will revolve around the use of BrandLIVE. This brand new proposition combines real time social content strategies and raw creativity with the agility of a newsroom.

Imran Safiulla, Managing Director of Racing 78 GmbH and Manager of Simona De Silvestro, considers this new partnership an important piece of his company's marketing strategy. "We live in an environment where markets are continuously evolving and having a very clear and precise digital marketing strategy is key for any corporation," Safiulla said.

"The delivery of product and service advertising is under extreme pressure to be authentic and to resonate instantly with the targeted consumer. We look to be innovative in this new partnership and will jointly create a differentiator in the digital content and marketing space. The story, as it evolves around Simona's #RoadToF1, is a newsworthy and authentic story on racing and qualifying at the highest possible level and the life that comes with that. Brands wanting to connect to this adventure will now have the means, both in the real world as well as in the digital ecosystem."

"Brands want to be relevant in the daily lives of consumers and time plays a huge part in this. Half of the audience that a Facebook post will reach is created within 3.2 hours. Relevance has a deadline," says Dirk van den Bosch, Managing Director of DigitasLBi Netherlands.

The creative BrandLIVE team scopes out touch points that consumers and brands share. Using a technical advanced eco-system and state of the art analytical tools, the team creates proactive and reactive content.

"We're extremely proud of our collaboration with Simona and her terrific team," Van den Bosch says. "She's a highly inspirational role model and, just as BrandLIVE, a real game changer. We have high expectations of the reach and impact our joint efforts will have."