Part of a new B2B section of the Awards designed to reward high achievers from across the wider motorsport industry, the shortlist for the Brand Partnership Award featured imaginative sponsor activations from Formula 1 and Formula E.
The nominees alongside Gulf were Hilton for their Night at McLaren campaign, CM.com for their fan-friendly activation at the Dutch Grand Prix and Dow Chemical for their work with Jaguar TCS Racing in Formula E.
"It's been great to have Williams on the journey with us this past year," said Gulf Vice President Sacha Davis. "It's not just about our heritage in racing since the 60s, but bringing the fans into it.
"It's been very much around every single turn we've made not just brand execution, but taking those fans with us."
The Award was voted on by a panel of six judges drawn from across the motorsport industry, chaired by former Alpine and Aston Martin F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer. The panel included motorsport sponsorship experts Matthew Marsh and Melissa Berry, former F1 executive Kate Beavan, now with More than Equal, research guru Nigel Geach and motorsport adviser and former CEO of FIA WEC Gerard Neveu.
The judging criteria aimed to recognise a brand that has made highly effective use of a motorsport platform to convey its brand message and to add value to the team, driver or series it partnered with. The winning sponsor’s activation will have shown high levels of creativity, scope and execution.
The judges were impressed by the execution of the Gulf campaign, assisted by their agency CAA, and by the way it grabbed attention and added value to their partnership with Williams F1 Team.
CM.com were also highly commended by the judges.
Further awards decided by expert judging panels include the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award, the Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future Award, the Autosport Gold Medal incorporating the Gregor Grant Award for lifetime legacy, the John Bolster Trophy for technical achievement, the Pioneering and Innovation Award, Moment of the Year, and Promoter of the Year.
To find out who our other Award winners are, go to autosport.com/awards.
