The solution
When WhatsApp became official messaging partner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team, the default move was obvious: another large logo on the car's bodywork, fighting for attention against dozens of others. Formula 1 sponsorship is a game of square centimeters, and every brand plays it the same way — bigger.
Creative X (Meta's in-house agency) did the opposite: the smallest brand placement in sports history. The radio button on the steering wheels of the 2024 Mercedes F1 cars — the button Lewis Hamilton and George Russell press every time they talk to the pit wall — was rebuilt in WhatsApp's logo and colors. One centimeter in diameter, but the only branded object on the grid with a functional role, and one that literally demonstrates WhatsApp's promise of secure, reliable communication at the moment it happens.
The button had to be engineered to F1 regulations and work flawlessly at racing speed. It appears whenever the broadcast cuts to the in-car or helmet camera, generating organic reach of 1.86 billion, earning a place in Google's knowledge panel, and even showing up in EA's official F1 game. The work was shortlisted in Brand Experience & Activation at Cannes Lions 2024.
What it achieved
Buy the smallest spot in sport — the one the cameras must show
Why it worked
The button is in every in-car shot — broadcast coverage does the media buying for free.
The placement is self-explanatory: a messaging brand on the device used for team messaging needs no tagline.
Going smallest was itself the story, generating earned PR that a bigger logo never would.
A functional component can't be cropped out or switched off like a decal; it is used on camera every race.
What can be applied
Placement beats size. A brand that owns the functional moment the broadcast cannot avoid gets more meaning per square centimeter than the biggest decal on the car.
Aftermath
The button stayed on the Mercedes steering wheel through the 2024 season, accumulating 1.86 billion in organic reach and migrating into EA's F1 video game. It was shortlisted at Cannes Lions 2024 in Brand Experience & Activation and at The One Show 2025, and is regularly cited as the benchmark for micro-placement sponsorship.
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