Tech company ABB execs are "the first to admit that when Formula E announced the Swiss engineering brand as its title sponsor, the prevailing global reaction" was, "Who?" according to Katie Deighton of CAMPAIGN LIVE. ABB Head of Brand Nicolas Ziegler said, "In the past, I think we were too humble as an engineering company to really portray what we were contributing. That needed to change." ABB "started putting together footage for a promo film" to accompany the announcement of the deal just a month ago. The speed in which the deal was signed, announced and activated "is symbolic of how quickly things have moved internally at ABB when it comes to its marketing." ABB put "brand" at the "heart of its core strategy just three years ago." Since then, it has "flattened the hierarchy of its global communications team" to make sure it is telling "the same storyline, the same look and feel." The brand "has also streamlined its partnership strategy," going from sponsoring 2,000 events to putting most of its energy behind just one -- Formula E (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 1/15).
