In the driving seat - Sowdens support Ron Dearing UTC students as they accelerate F1 ambitions

WORKING in partnership to help UTC students as they prepare  for the world’s largest schools Engineering competition.
 
As Ron Dearing UTC students are preparing to go head-to-head with peers across the globe, Sowdens offered their marketing expertise to help them stand against the competition and establish their teams amongst thousands of pupils that enter every year.  

 The F1 in Schools competition requires teams to design, test, manufacture and race a scale F1 car, as well as produce engineering and marketing portfolios which must include information about creating industry links, raising funds through sponsorship and generating brand awareness through websites, events and social media 

 Building on an award-winning marketing partnership of 7+ years 
 
With an agency-client relationship that was established when the UTC was launched in Hull, in the North East of England, Sowdens offered their business knowledge, marketing expertise and support to mentor the group of four student teams, with  
Art Directors, Chris Dimmack and Polly Sowden, leading on the project.  

Through four engaging sessions, students learnt the importance of a brand and how it could help distinguish them amongst competitors, each team developed concept boards and learnt how a creative studio would approach the project.  

Sowdens are no strangers to living life in the fast lane and 2022 is going to be a big year of celebrations for Sowden & Sowden as they triumph their 40th year in business. As part of this celebration, the Marketing Agency found an opportune moment to give back when their client asked for support. 

The teams this year are Vortex Racing, Delta Racing, Mach Racing and Team Overflow. Sowdens started the mentorship programme by meeting the teams and delivering a presentation on the power of branding, this gave students the opportunity to ask any questions, get guidance on the design, how it works within different mediums and ultimately the importance of the message that their brand will portray, right from the offset of their F1 journey.  

The teams then had a deadline to submit their designs and subsequently Sowdens fed back, worked together to create design sheets for the development of the logo style and created a final brand design.  

 All to play for as the competition ramps up and fundraising targets are set  

As part of the task, students must fundraise to pay for 100% of the competition independently – this includes the materials to design prototypes, expenses at different rounds in various locations, accommodation and travel, and any other materials they may need.

With the help of, and hosted at, Porche Centre Hull - teams held an impressive fundraising evening including pitch presentations, a silent auction and opportunities to test the prototypes on the track. With the evening to shape the success of the next round of the competition, the stakes were high and all teams showed incredible effort and commitment.  

The event put the teams in pole position raising nearly £10,000 between them.

Polly, Director of Sowden & Sowden commented: 

“The confidence and commitment of the students was really impressive. Eloquent, intelligent and knowledgeable, all teams upped the ante and gave a professional pitch performance – as a business that knows the pressure of a pitch situation, we were blown away by the teams.

Their branding looked great on screen and it was a good opportunity for us to offer more advice and support on how to handle a ‘selling situation’. We’re looking forward to working with the teams as they progress through the competition.” 

Simon Edwards, Teacher of Engineering at Ron Dearing UTC, said:

“I’m so proud of all our students involved in the F1 in Schools challenge. The work they’ve produced so far is fantastic.

“We’d like to thank Porsche Centre Hull for their support and enabling our students to host such a great event in a fantastic space.  We’d also like to thank our employer partners and everyone who attended to help them achieve their fundraising goals.”