SMC Community Activation

Thanks to SMG’s longstanding professional relationship with the Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC), we were again appointed to conceptualise and implement the client’s CSR outreach activities ahead of the Formula 1 stc Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024, with the aim of continuing to raise awareness of the vast social progress being made in the Kingdom since F1’s arrival in December 2021. 

With more than 70% of the Saudi population aged 35 and under, SMG’s brief was to use the presence of the biggest sporting and entertainment event in the Kingdom’s history to showcase the many varied career opportunities that exist within motorsport to the Kingdom’s youth. As such, our team conceptualised, organised, and executed an insightful event on International Women’s Day in March with the express aim to help inspire Saudi students – especially female students – to pursue a career in motorsport. 

For the event during the F1 race week, SMG collaborated with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team and the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah to host a special Q&A for hundreds of high school students from all across Jeddah at the city’s Al Andalus International School. MoneyGram Haas’s Junior Aerodynamics Engineer, Anna Saad – born and raised in Saudi Arabia – spoke at the event with Saudi Aramco’s Petroleum Engineer, Fatima Alramadan. The pair opened up a lively and engaging discussion focused on motivating the students to understand more about the many professional opportunities that studying STEM subjects can lead to.  

SMG also helped devise and deliver two other events at The British International School of Jeddah and the Italian International School of Jeddah, where F1 Legend and SAGP Race Ambassador, Johnny Herbert, met with hundreds of local school children to speak about the world of motorsport, as well as his own experiences, to help inspire them to consider a future in this exciting arena. Johnny shed light on the highs and lows of his sporting career, and passionately outlined what it takes to succeed in life – not just in motorsports.  

To make these events happen, SMG first initiated conversations with both schools, arranged Johnny’s schedule, set the agenda, and scripted the basis of the event to ensure his visits to both schools were memorable, informative and successful in inspiring the Jeddah youth to explore possible careers they may not have considered beforehand. Our team also arranged for content to be captured on the day, sending expert personnel to photograph and video for media and social distribution.