Talisman wins Silver for Best Launch in 2021 for Free Fire x McLaren partnership

• The launch was a well coordinated global launch between Talisman, George P. Johnson, Free Fire & McLaren Racing

• Launch events across New York, New Delhi & Sao Paulo

Singapore, April 28th 2022 | Singapore based agency Talisman founded by Dharpan Randhawa has taken out Silver at the prestigious Campaign’s Event Marketing Awards. The award was shared by Talisman’s partner agency George P. Johnson as it toppled several high profile launches to take out the Silver award for Best Launch in 2021.

Talisman was the lead agency on this groundbreaking partnership between one of the world’s biggest battle royale games Free Fire and world famous F1 team and supercar brand McLaren.

Talisman President Dharpan Randhawa: “When we brokered this one of a kind partnership between Free Fire and McLaren, we knew that it was going to be very special. Both brands have an uncompromising passion to go 'above & beyond ' for their fans and our mandate was very clear - create some magic for the fans who have grown to love both brands so much across the globe.

The mammoth global launch also would not have been executed the way it was without the support & hard work of our awesome partner George p. Johnson who we share this award with.

"Three on-ground launch events were created across New York, New Delhi and Sao Paulo which brought together some of the biggest gaming influencers and McLaren superfans to launch the most talked about gaming collab of the year. Talisman worked tirelessly with agency partner George P. Johnson to execute mega on-ground activations across three cities in a span of a month during the peak of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Video: NYC launch setup

“It was intense what we did. To coordinate not one, but three mega events when the world was closed and hamstrung with restrictions was a mammoth task. We also managed to capture it all on film to create the engaging documentary For The Fans. A big thanks goes to our awesome brand partners McLaren and Free Fire and to all on their team. This was truly a massive group effort to pull off and I cannot be prouder of our awesome partners & agency partners who all worked tirelessly to make this a huge success.” continued Randhawa.

Groundbreaking Documentary: For The Fans produced by Talisman

he campaign also brought together McLaren’s Formula One drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo to create some hyper-engaging content for fans of both brands to enjoy.

Lindsey Eckhouse, Director of Licensing, Ecommerce & esports at McLaren Racing: “It is such an honour to be awarded a Silver at this year’s Campaign’s Event Marketing Awards. Our fans are always looking for ways to connect with our team and this collaboration with Free Fire allowed them a new, surprising way to experience McLaren like never before. On behalf of McLaren Racing, I would like to thank Free Fire and our agency partner Talisman for all their hard work that has been applied to make this collaboration a success.”

Cindy Chen, Free Fire Marketing Lead, Garena: "We wanted to deliver something new and innovative for our players all over the world, and we are glad this collaboration with McLaren did just that. This recognition is a reminder for us to keep doing the very best for our Free Fire community. We would also like to extend a word of thanks to McLaren and Talisman, whose incredible work led to the collaboration's success and this Campaign Marketing Awards' recognition."

About Talisman

Talisman is an award-winning global agency redefining sports, entertainment, gaming & Web3 partnerships across key industries and regions. With offices in Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai, Talisman thrives on unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the great brands and creative minds they have the pleasure of working with. With global resources and connectivity in key markets, Talisman has won prominent industry awards for executing groundbreaking partnerships & activations across sports & gaming.

Media Contact

Amanda Dyer

Director of Marketing(e): amanda.dyer@thetalismanagency.com