To celebrate Vauxhall Tigra’s sponsorship of the new series of TV show Britain’s Next Top Model, Vauxhall has asked live events agency TRO to create a regional brand experience, which features the stars of the LIVING channel programme and positions the Tigra in front of its prime young female market.

Promoting the new series, screening on Mondays in April and May, the Vauxhall Tigra Couture Fashion Show is currently mid-way through its tour of four major UK cities on Saturdays, which began on 26 April and ends on 17 May. The tour started at the Birmingham Bullring, also taking in Lakeside, the Manchester Arndale Centre and the Newcastle MetroCentre.

Model and presenter of Britain’s Next Top Model, Lisa Snowdon, is hosting the events and a selection of the programme’s model contestants are appearing on the catwalks wearing clothes produced by up-and-coming designers.

“Britain’s Next Top Model is prime viewing for Tigra’s young female target market,” said Shelley Perkins, marketing manager, Small Cars at Vauxhall. “It’s about teaming up the most stylish show on television with the most stylish car on the road. To bring the programme to a wider, live audience, while maintaining a strong fashion context, is the natural extension of our marketing strategy.”




Fashion victim: The Tigra hits the catwalk


Live events agency TRO was given the task of devising the overall concept, sourcing venues, guest management and the production and logistics for each event. John Walford and Martyn Roberts, co-founders of The Vauxhall Fashion Scout who have just finished their 4th season at London Fashion Week, are producing the catwalk shows.

This is the second year of the Vauxhall Tigra Couture Fashion Shows, and TRO’s second opportunity to produce the roadshow.

Running in tandem with the shows is a regional modelling competition, for which aspiring models at each of the four locations are invited to upload their photos onto a dedicated website (www.tigrastyle.co.uk) in the hope of being ultimately selected to appear in the 2009 series of Britain’s Next Top Model.

“We’re delighted to be working on this project again,” said Kristin Lucas, General Motors UK account manager at TRO. “The Fashion shows worked so well last year for both Tigra and LIVING that we are taking it to the next level by focusing heavily on the modelling competition.”

For each venue, 50 girls are pre-selected with a view to identifying a single winner. The shows and the competition are being heavily promoted through local and regional media in the run-up to the events. The winner from each city location is fast-tracked to the final auditions for the 2009 series of Britain’s Next Top Model and will have the chance to walk down the catwalk during London Fashion Week.