Scalextric green lights E-xentric MotoGP packs

Iconic toy brand Scalextric launches its first motorbike racing product in the summer, with packaging and launch material created by E-xentric Thinking.

The MotoGP slot racing range, the first time the brand has ventured into two-wheeled racing, is part of a move to broaden its appeal and build market share, says E-xentric Thinking executive creative director Bill Smith.

‘People who are into motorbike [racing] aren’t usually into cars, they’re only interested in bikes. So this [product] should open up a whole new market for the brand,’ he explains.

The group’s work encompasses packaging, trade marketing material including a microsite, www.scalextricmotogp. com, exhibition panels and a short film. It also includes the creation of point-of-sale material and press and television advertising, to support the product’s global launch in late May.

Smith says the group’s work aims to convey ‘the feeling you get from bike racing and being on a circuit – the sense of speed, action, colour and sound’.

Packaging has been deliberately differentiated from the car-based range to ensure it ‘appeals to bike fans’, he adds.

It uses live action photography on-pack, a departure for the brand, which usually uses product shots, and a silver rather than the traditional yellow and black colour scheme.

E-xentric Thinking was appointed by brand owner Hornby in July last year, following a credentials pitch and on the strength of its existing relationship with Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder for MotoGP.

MotoGP is the motorbike equivalent of F1 Grand Prix.