why automotive brands are moving beyond

logo placement 

08 January 2026

For decades, automotive brands have invested heavily in sport sponsorships - logos on billboards, badges on kits, naming rights on stadiums. But today, visibility alone is no longer enough. What's replacing it is something far more powerful: physical participation.

For automotive brands, sport has become the ultimate experiential channel - a place where human movement, emotion, technology, and sustainability collide to create experiences people don't just see, but remember. 

How automotive sponsorship works best when fans take part

The most effective sports-led activations don't sit on the sidelines. They pull fans directly into the brand experience.

At major global sporting events - from tennis to rugby - leading automotive brands are transforming fan movement into interaction, data, and memory. A defining example was KIA's activation at the Australian Open, widely recognised as the "world's first kinetic tennis experience". Over the course of the two weeks, KIA wanted to create awareness around their range of electric cars and their sustainability commitment. The Pavegen installation did just that - generating more than 7,000 kinetic gameplays, transforming spectators into participants - ultimately pulling fans directly into the brand experience. 

At Ford Ride London, that principle scaled even further. With over 50,000 cyclists attending the event, Ford and Pavegen designed a kinetic brand challenge powered entirely by human energy. More than 7,000+ gameplays converted footsteps into electricity and real-time data, gradually decelerating a virtual Ford Mustang Mach-E within the experience. The harder participants worked, the more energy they generated - a direct, intuitive demonstration of sustainability and Ford’s regenerative braking system. Leaderboards sparked friendly competition, and every participant walked away with Ford merchandise - and a memory.

Meanwhile, at the US Open, Mercedes-Benz transformed foot traffic into purpose. Fans walked across kinetic tiles at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, generating clean energy while exploring Mercedes’ EV range. Every footstep triggered a $1 donation to the National Energy Education Development Project (NEED), funding STEM education and electrification training for students and teachers.

Rather than relying on logo visibility alone, these experiences asked fans to step in, play, compete, and engage - creating a moment people actively did, not just watched. This is the shift from sponsorship as placement to sponsorship as participation. And it's where automotive brands begin to stand out. 

why sport works so well for automotive brands

Few environments match the emotional intensity of live sport. 

Fans aren't passive. They arrive charged with anticipation, pride, rivalry, and belonging. Every collective moment creates a physical energy that brands simply cannot replicate in traditional retail or advertising environments. 

For automotive brands - built on ideas of performance, precision, and power - sport offers a natural, authentic alignment. What experiential sponsorship does - when designed well - is embed the brand into memory, not just awareness. 

Science consistently shows that physical interaction strengthens learning and recall. In short, when people move, their brains remember more. That’s why kinetic experiences outperform static brand displays. Participants don’t just learn about EVs, sustainability, or innovation - they feel the relationship between effort, energy, and impact and create neurological anchors.

The body remembers what the eyes forget.

For automotive brands, this means:

• Stronger emotional connection

• Higher recall post-event

• Deeper association between brand values and lived experience

Starting Young: where future brand loyalty is really built

What makes these experiences even more powerful is who they reach.

Sporting events attract families, students, and young audiences - the very people who will shape the future of mobility.

By blending play, movement, and learning, automotive activations increasingly double as informal STEM education. Energy generation becomes a lesson. Data becomes feedback. Sustainability becomes something you can step into, not just read about.

This is how brand values are internalised early - not through messaging, but through experience.

When a child generates electricity with their footsteps, that lesson lasts far longer than a slogan ever could.

The future of automotive sponsorship is experiential

As automotive brands look ahead - to electrification, smart mobility, and sustainable transport - sports sponsorship offers more than reach. It offers relevance.

The brands that will stand out are those that:

• Invite participation, not observation

• Turn movement into meaning

• Make innovation visible, physical, and human

• Create memories, not just impressions

Sport is no longer just a platform for awareness.
It’s a proving ground for the future of mobility.

And for automotive brands ready to move beyond logos, it remains the most powerful experiential channel there is.

For more information about how Pavegen kinetic technology is helping pave the wave for a more sustainable future, contact press@pavegen.com.

If you would like to sign-up to receive news and updates from Pavegen, complete our stay in touch contact form.

About Pavegen

Pavegen is a purpose-driven technology business that helps power change and generates positive outcomes for people and planet. Laying underfoot inside buildings, public spaces and at events, Pavegen Kinetic Paving harnesses the power of people’s footsteps, creating not only a small amount of energy – but also imaginative, interactive experiences and data, to help educate, engage and enable meaningful actions around sustainability and Net Zero intent. Pavegen calls this Citizen Impact; powered by Pavegen.

Pavegen helps power Kinetic Street Furniture applications such as USB charging, LED lights, and Green Wall irrigation systems, whilst data from the system can be used for public educational purposes on digital display screens. Kinetic Brand Experiences at live events, expos, festivals and public spaces produce data to provide gamified experiences that help brands engage meaningfully with consumers.

The company was founded in 2009 by Laurence Kemball-Cook who invented the Kinetic Paving technology that can now be seen in over 37 countries around the world.