A STREET-TO-OBSERVATORY TAKEOVER WITH LEWIS HAMILTON, WHATSAPP, AND THE MERCEDES-AMG PETRONAS F1 TEAM.
OVERVIEW
As Formula 1 continued to gain cultural momentum in the U.S., the Empire State Building had an opportunity to help turn that energy into a high-impact New York City experience for WhatsApp and the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. The challenge was to create a campaign that worked equally hard for each brand: giving WhatsApp and Mercedes-AMG F1 a landmark-scale platform for fan connection, tech-forward storytelling, and cultural visibility, while driving awareness, visitation, ticket purchase, and premium brand relevance for the Empire State Building.
The result was a street-to-Observatory takeover that transformed the building into a full-funnel sports and entertainment experience, featuring Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff, a Fifth Avenue F1 demo run, a dynamic WhatsApp x Mercedes-AMG F1 light show on the building’s façade, emoji-themed Fifth Avenue windows, an immersive pit stop experience, F1 memorabilia, a WhatsApp chat photo moment, and a Mercedes-AMG F1 show car on the 86th Floor Observatory.
SOLUTION
We turned the Empire State Building into a street-to-Observatory F1 destination experience, designed to drive Observatory visitation while giving WhatsApp and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 a landmark-scale platform for fan engagement, brand storytelling, and cultural visibility. The campaign connected live spectacle, celebrity participation, social-first content moments, interactive exhibits, F1 technology, a Fifth Avenue demo run, and a large-scale animated light show into one cohesive takeover. Each layer gave fans a new reason to visit, share, and engage, while extending the partnership beyond traditional media and into a real-world New York City spectacle.
MY ROLE
I led the campaign narrative and digital storytelling strategy, working with internal leadership, executive stakeholders, and brand partners to shape how the WhatsApp x Mercedes-AMG F1 partnership came to life across the Empire State Building experience. As the creative lead across campaign assets, final video, and photography, I helped ensure the content could support PR, owned channels, paid media, and partner amplification while guiding post-engagement strategy to convert a major cultural moment into sustained engagement, ticket interest, and brand relevance.
CAMPAIGN IN
ACTION
RESULTS AND IMPACT
876M+
Media Impressions
Featured by AP, Complex, CBS, WWD, GPblog
15M+
Social Engagements
Fans interacted across posts, shares, comments, and partner amplification
+22%
Paid Ad Conversions
Compared to the same period the year prior
social channels featured
STRATEGY&
LONG-TERM VISION
Turn cultural momentum into a brand platform.
The strategy was to meet Formula 1’s growing U.S. relevance with a high-energy New York City activation that felt live, premium, and culturally immediate. Instead of treating the moment as a stunt, the goal was to turn the partnership into a brand platform that could connect sports, technology, celebrity, and destination marketing.
Design for live attention and digital afterlife.
The campaign was built around a moment people would want to witness, film, and share, from the Fifth Avenue demo run to Lewis Hamilton’s presence at the building. The creative system then extended that energy across PR, social, paid media, owned channels, and partner content so the activation could keep working after the live moment ended.
Create value across the partnership.
For WhatsApp, the activation supported U.S. brand growth by tying the platform to real-world connection, fandom, and culture. For Mercedes-AMG F1, it brought team storytelling and fan excitement to New York. For ESB, it created a compelling reason to visit, drive ticket purchase, and reinforce premium brand relevance.
Turn spectacle into engagement.
The street-level demo run and dynamic light show created mass awareness, but the campaign needed to move audiences beyond passive attention. Post-event content, campaign messaging, paid amplification, and digital storytelling helped convert the spectacle into deeper interaction, continued conversation, ticket interest, and measurable brand value.
Make every asset work harder.
The creative challenge was developing videos, photography, and campaign assets that could travel across multiple channels without losing the story. Every asset needed to serve more than one purpose: PR visibility, social engagement, paid media performance, partner amplification, and a cohesive fan-facing narrative.
Position ESB at the intersection of culture, sport, and technology.
Long term, the campaign reinforced the Empire State Building as a place where global brands can enter the New York conversation through live experience and premium content. It showed how ESB could help translate cultural momentum into visibility, engagement, visitation, and commercial impact.