The Best Marketing Strategy Of The Decade?

I am a huge fan of F1, since my aunt gifted me with a PlayStation Console and the Formula One 99 video game back in the day. As I grew older though it always bummed me out that there wasn't a lot of content to engage with outside the races themselves.

F1 is a very painful sport for the drivers. I was shocked to discover that each driver sweats over 3kg body weight, withstands constant temperatures of over 55 Degrees Celsius and loses an average of 40% brain function by the end. Drivers are so weak by the end of the race that there are rules about how heavy the trophies can be.

Anyway Back To The Problem

Before Liberty Media took control of the overall commercial operations in 2017 it was clear that F1 essentially had an image and reach problem. There was no direct relationship with fans and they were failing to attract premium advertisers outside Europe. I found it a bit annoying that the most technologically advanced sport in the world was struggling to enter the 21st century. All of this summed up by the former CEO Bernie Ecclestone:

"I’m not interested in tweeting, Facebook and whatever this nonsense is. I’d rather get to the 70-year-old guy who’s got plenty of cash. So, there’s no point trying to reach these kids because they won’t buy any of the products here and if marketers are aiming at this audience, then maybe they should advertise with Disney."

The Transformation

Yes the change came in the form of Liberty Media. Since the company came from a media background, it treated F1 as a media rather than a sports problem. Liberty started addressing their image and reach issue by turning F1 into a content generating machine, using a data first marketing approach to engage with fans across the world.

F1’s Brilliant Content Marketing Strategy

For casual viewers of the sport watching it can be extremely confusing. Even with all the stats and commentary there are a lot of terms that would leave you confused. F1 is not a self evident sport. To solidify the casual viewers into regular fans, F1 utilized forms of digital outreach that not only kept the fans entertained, but also educated them about the intricacies of the sport. We witnessed an increased effort to connect with a younger audience and build a strong digital presence. It started with simple things like YouTube videos delving into the drivers’ personalities, behind-the-scenes action, and listicles.

To deal with the issue of fans being disconnected F1 strategically released campaigns with unique viewpoints to target potential viewers for example Engineered Insanity and Man vs Machine. All this added to F1 podcasts, apps and F1Tv, a streaming platform that ensured that fans could tune in to F1 content whenever, wherever and however they want which is something that was definitely lacking in the past.

Not forgetting the docuseries on Netflix, Drive to Survive which initially some in F1 thought was stupid with Ferrari and Mercedes refusing to participate in the first season. Redbull was the only top team to participate which forced the producers to focus on the championship battle, mid tier and bottom tier teams. In my opinion this was a blessing in disguise, it gave viewers a relationship with all 20 drivers. Since Drive to Survive launched in 2019, F1 has seen a 40% increase in US viewership, 7 of the most watched races ever and the most attended race which was at the US Grand Prix in Austin. They have since doubled down on the US starting with a Miami Grand Prix this season. During this period F1 valuation has grown by 63% to $13B from $8B.

Teams are also seeing an influx of cash from some of the world’s biggest brands like the Redbull Oracle title sponsorship deal. To think that Netflix is paying F1 a licensing fee is crazy for me because it means F1 is getting paid to air its best ever commercial.

Data First Marketing Strategy? What Data?

Each F1 car pushes out 1.1 million data points every second through 300 sensors. Are you impressed? Liberty Media took this insane amount of data, past and present, to tell stories that generate fan engagement.

While earlier this data was being used by the teams to make better cars and improve strategy, it could now be used by fans to understand the races better. Using this treasure trove of data allowed F1 to bring better content to the hardcore fans.

F1 partnered with AWS to use this data to create a better fan experience, enabling them to analyze race strategy, compare competitors, and interpret car/driver performance in real-time. For the hardcore F1 fan, this means there are a lot more points to discuss in that debate of Verstappen vs Hamilton.

Conclusion

Formula one has had quite the journey in the last few years. Their marketing strategy has seen them increase TV and digital viewership and added a significant number of fans in critical demographics. 61% of new fans are under the age of 35 and 25% are between 16-24 years of age. There are now so many ways that fans can be constantly engaged outside of watching or attending the races themselves. The sport itself has always had everything. It just lacked that connection with the fans. As much as I applaud Liberty and the marketing strategy the best thing they did was put the focus on the fan, then everything became clearer.

Thank you for reading today's article of The Lunio Marketing Newsletter. I help brands 3x their revenue in 12 months by enhancing their brand equity through optimizing their digital strategy. Subscribe for more valuable content. Also subscribe to my podcast The Disruptor Journals where I talk about disruptive innovation in Africa.

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