Dakar In The Dust

Reimagining Red Bull’s coverage of the Dakar Rally from a roving social-first studio

Talk about legendary

An otherworldly desert backdrop, an endless horizon of unforgiving terrain, and motorsport at its absolute pinnacle—watch any footage of Dakar, and you’ll realise it’s no ordinary adventure.

To make Dakar Rally 2024 more accessible to a wider audience, we created a new format for Red Bull’s event coverage. This format was to attract new audiences while keeping current motorsports enthusiasts engaged by offering fresh perspectives and comprehensive coverage throughout the three weeks of the rally.

The challenge

Deliver a fresh long-form format for Red Bull TV that also creates evergreen, reusable social media content for all screen sizes
Move away from traditional event highlights and open up deeper stories
To be feasible within the highly challenging logistic boundaries of the Dakar Rally, an event that moves each day and covers thousands of km across the desert
Activate Red Bull brand investment in the event and athletes

Hosted by the inimitable Nicola Hume and her charismatic co-pilots Matt Jones and Rob Warner, ‘In The Dust’ told the raw, uncompromised Dakar Rally story.

Setting the stage

It wouldn't be Dakar without head-turning vehicles, and our studio was no different.

Collaborating with Movico, we transported our hosts, guests, and viewers across endless desert terrain, broadcasting a studio show from the middle of nowhere—a brand-new concept for Red Bull.

The brief? To showcase the heart-pounding action from the races and the remarkable individuals—and machines—that define the spirit of the Dakar Rally.

Full 30-minute episodes left rally raid fanatics on the edge of their seat with in-depth insights, memorable moments, and stories that appealed to the core audience. At the same time, it was our goal to take new viewers on a journey through the eyes of a first-timer.

So, it was crucial to ensure the show format delivered on social, too. Instead of simply cutting teasers, we created standalone short-form content pieces that not only captured the essence of the episode in bite-sized portions but let it thrive in the space where comedic clips, shareable quotes, and soundbites perform.

From dust ‘til dawn

A meticulously planned production (or, as our host Nicola called it, a "bonkers operation") was one thing; creating a narrative that resonated was another.

With each episode, we aimed to connect viewers with the human side of the competition through relatable stories, unskippable clips of the action, and the best moments right from the middle of nowhere.

And we kept the Dakar die-hards engaged by capturing the unseen, behind-the-scenes camaraderie and emotions that surfaced from such an intense experience.

Eat, sleep, rally, repeat. Once wrapped, we pack up, and the studio draws in its walls to hit the road again.

What we delivered

8x 30+ minute studio shows shot as-live for Red Bull TV
A solution making the sport more accessible and explaining details to new audiences
Daily content created for TikTok, Instagram, Smart TV, and Spotify
5x high-profile YouTube-specific features from the event
Full pre-production, episode development, shoot and edit crews on site, travelling, working, and sleeping on the move for three weeks in the desert
Activated investment in key sponsorship of the event and positioned Red Bull athletes at the pinnacle of the Dakar Rally
A welcoming environment for athletes away from the media scrum, encouraging comfort and storytelling