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Lotus is on a mission to become a truly global performance car brand . Since taking over the business in 2017 , Chinese auto giant , Geely , has already invested over £ 100 million in the company ’ s UK facilities – but this is just a fraction of the funds set aside to make the switch to selling only electric cars by 2028 .
Before completely embracing electrification though , Lotus planned a “ last hurrah ” to the petrol sports car with the launch of the Emira at its headquarters in Hethel in July 2021 .
Lotus turned to Blueprint Partners for event design and it , in turn , enlisted Anna Valley to production manage a spectacular launch that marked the end of an era .
Concept
A hybrid launch event to mark end of an era for petrol sports cars
“ Emira Unboxed ” was a live , one-hour broadcast and in-person launch that defied the limitations of social distancing and exemplified the benefits of a hybrid approach to events .
The show took place in front of a massive LED cube on the skidpan of the Hethel test track and was hosted by Andy Jaye and Helen Stanley , alongside Formula 1 World Champion , Jenson Button .
In addition to the 200 press and VIPs in attendance , the event was live streamed to a host of online and social platforms . It also featured a virtual audience of 131 super fans ( as a nod to the fact that the Emira is the 131st car that Lotus has taken from design to production ), and contributions from experts via live feeds and in video packages that were pre-recorded at a purpose-built studio on site .
But the cars took centre stage with a ballet of historic Lotus cars preceding Emira ’ s explosion onto the track and the dramatic finale when the front wall of the “ LED box ” lifted into the air and the Emira emerged for the first time .
Execution
Blueprint Partners relied on three categories of suppliers to help it deliver the ambitious event : a team of freelancers to work on the creative production ; NEP UK to provide outside broadcast technology and support ; and Anna Valley to production manage the event and supply additional services including lighting , power , structures , video streaming and displays .
“ After using Anna Valley for screens for years , and more recently with the Matrix acquisition , its ability to fully production manage and look after elements that are outside the purview of pure AV is really useful ,” explains Blueprint MD Mark Anand . “ It means we can cut down on the number of suppliers that we need to interface with , and they can join all the dots .”
With twelve 45-foot artic trailers of equipment , a production team of up to a 100 crew members on site for seven days and tens of kilometres of fibre , camera and power cables linking up multiple sites at the venue , this event had a lot of dots to join .
In addition to translating Blueprint Partners ’ vision into a technical plan and providing a safety overlay to the whole show , Anna Valley was also responsible for converting a disused part of the factory into a television studio and delivering the key element of the unboxing : a 147 cubic meter structure , wrapped in LED , with a front wall that lifted into the air .
While unboxing the Emira was Blueprint Partners idea , it was up to Anna Valley to figure out the mechanics behind the reveal .
“ Originally the car was going to rise on a lift from inside the box but , because it was a pre-production model rather than a finished car , it was too heavy to lift up ,” explains Anna Valley ’ s project director , Ben ‘ O Shea .