Same race, New name, No recognition

A recent Scuttlebutt report noted how “events need consistent branding which should not include sponsors in the name. Sponsors are never forever, and change causes disruption.” And this is happening as the organizers of the Transat Jacques Vabre, a very popular double-handed race from France to Martinique in the Caribbean, are changing the name of the 2025 race to Transat Café L’Or.

In this instance, race sponsor JDE Peet – a Dutch coffee and tea company – wants to move from promoting their Jacques Vabre coffee to activating their L’Or brand which is the best-selling coffee in France.

“When we carried out awareness studies on the latter, almost after each edition, we realized that people knew the name, but didn’t necessarily identify it with a brand of coffee, so for JDE, it was no longer a brand likely to carry the event,” reports Race co-director Gildas Gautie.

Okay, but who will know the Transat Café L’Or? For the full report, click here.