TAKEAWAYS FROM LKYSUNZ SOCIAL TAKEOVERS

SWITCHIN' IT UP CHAMPIONS THE THUMPING HEART BEAT OF OUR SPORT: THE FANS. SO, WHAT IS SWITCHIN IT UP? WHY ARE LKYSUNZ DOING IT? HOW DOES SWITCHIN IT UP WORK AND WHAT THE FUCK HAVE LKYSUNZ LEARNED?

WHAT IS SWITCHIN IT UP?

“good artists borrow, great artists steal.”–Picasso

Picasso was ?? right. We stole the idea from Sweden and Vikki Ross.

Between 2011-2018 the Swedish tourist board welcomed 365 Swedish citizens to takeover their official twitter account for one week at a time to talk about anything they like.

My friend Vikki Ross hands over the keys to her Twitter account once a month to an up-and-coming, female copywriter.

Inspired, I created SWITCHIN IT UP for LKYSUNZ . Handing over the reins of our Twitter and Linkedin feeds to a fan of motorsport/F1 for five days, every Wednesday to Sunday.

SWITCHIN' IT UP - WHAT'S IT MEAN?

SWITCH UP comes from basketball; when you switch up your defence to challenge the offence of the opposing team.

There's a rumour that 'SWITCHIN' IT UP' when said quickly sounds like 'SWITCHIN SHIT UP'. LKYSUNZ can neither confirm or deny this rumour.

WHY ARE LKYSUNZ SWITCHIN IT UP?

'Great, go for it.'

F1 is regarded by most as 'the pinnacle of world motorsport'. The dizzying talent of all twenty drivers on-track. Their lifestyle on and off the track, the glitz and glam of the paddock and grid walks - whilst a great attraction, and entertaining (to a point), it's a sport that has a growing divide between those inside and the hard-working, loyal fans on the outside who hand over small fortunes to go to a race weekend or pay subscriptions to tune in to watch every race, in their millions, globally. LKYSUNZ intends to remove as many of these barriers as possible, wherever and whenever we can.

LKYSUNZ exists to win races and championships, but the championship we know we will win is as off the track as reigning, super-heavy weight champions of diversity, equality and inclusivity.

And yes, it's super easy to say all this as a new team. Big plans, BIG ideas, BIG mouth, with a tiny, you know... following. We hear you. We agree ??. But we're prepared to put our money where our mouth is and it starts by showing our intentions now. To start as we mean to go on.

Gatekeepers be gatekeeping

With Formula One Management (FOM - the F1 rights holder) restricting current F1 teams from filming behind the scenes, more corporations, partners and sponsors influencing what teams can and cannot share on social and a general lack of originality across the F1 paddock, there are many ways LKYSUNZ plan on switching up the play.

We're doing SWITCHIN IT UP because we can. The sponsors we have interested in LKYSUNZ know this, love this and support us 100%.

Why? These gatekeeping tactics only mean one thing: fans miss out on the access they'd love, that they're crying out for. Some see this as a block. But LKYSUNZ is like flowing water: we'll find a way to the ocean. Fans get it first, and we'll make sure of that. Where there's a will, there's a LKYSUNZ way.

Drive To Survive (DTS) is a huge success and a great series, but waiting a whole year for each series to drop, one week before the new season starts and preventing teams from providing content for their fans the whole year round is... Gatekeeping 101.

So F1 has put all the eggs in one basket: DTS. Which coincidentally means the sport is missing an enormous opportunity for growth online and with content; something all new team applicants were tasked with addressing in our FIA F1 license bid submission.

Yet, sadly, it seems the gatekeepers intent is clear: protect their IP (understandable, but short sighted) at all costs. Prevent any dilution of their 'brand'. By doing so exposing their lack of awareness of what fans actually want. We know, because we've talked to hundreds of them, personally. One on one.

Preventing teams from making their own 'behind the scenes' content is to suggest teams content competes with DTS or that DTS competes with the teams content. Neither is true. Both are fundamentally different productions.

One can be made simply, easily, on the fly, on and away from race weekends and pushed to socials to maintain and consistent engagement with fans: new and current.

The other is a masterclass in film production (SHOUT OUT: Box To Box Films ). With multiple units, directors, DOP's, cameramen and women, voiceovers, talking heads interviews, lighting, and sound engineers. Hours of captured footage painstakingly and beautifull cut (edited), voiceovers scripted, recorded and edited. Released as a major annual event on a global streaming service to millions of eager fans.

The decision to restrict teams making their content could be detriment and might spark a downward spiral in fandom popularity for the F1 rights holders. If they can't get it when and where they want it, and the racing 'entertainment' doesn't entertain... the kids are going to go elsewhere. Discover other formulas where content is less restricted. Where team members make and share their own content (follow Bozi Tatarevic on X for the epic content he makes, live during IMSA weekends)

F1 socials are in decline. Fans are consume content like a ravenous Queen at a royal banquet and it's not just 'behind the scenes'. New fans, particularly female fans are craving for and creating their own incredible content around the racing, engineering, tech, fashion, music, drivers and whatever they damn well like. Don't believe us? Content creators numbers speak for themselves. We know. We've spoken to lots of them, personally. One on one. Why else is their a surge in content - supply + demand.

LKYSUNZ is doing SWITCHIN IT UP because no other team would dare. Too concerned with rocking the boat, upsetting a partner, sponsor or the governing body. And yes, we know RedBull did something similar years ago, back when they were 'underdogs'. But where is that 'activation' now? Could it be it was just a 'strategy' to get some attention; that got shelved the minute shit got too real? Did you even know Red Bull Racing did that? Exactly.

We're doing SWITCHIN IT UP because we can. The sponsors we have interested in LKYSUNZ know this, love this and support us 100%.

We're doing SWITCHIN IT UP to prove that giving fans more access makes them feel part of our story, our journey - because they are! SWITCHIN IT UP makes them feel appreciated. We know this because that's exactly what they say, to our smiling, happy, appreciative little faces.

And the numbers don't lie. For a new team with less followers than Steve's OnlyFans account, our SWITCHR stats speak for themselves:

'Agreed.' said Andy. 'What do you want to do then?'

It was late November 2023 when I called LKYSUNZ co-founder and CCO, Andrew Pyrah and told him LKYSUNZ couldn't, in all good conscience, claim to champion diversity if I was the only one 'doing the socials' [for LKYSUNZ]. 'Agreed.' said Andy. 'What do you want to do then?'

SWITCHIN IT UP was born.

A few days later, during our weekly teams call on Zoom, I presented SWITCHIN IT UP to the team, after a brief pause the conversation went something like this:

'So, we're going to give our socials accounts over to a fan, for five days?', they asked.

'Yup! Correct.' I answered.

'Great, go for it.' came the reply.

Their diversity filling our feeds, instead of ours trying to represent them.

SWITCHIN IT UP is not a 'flash in the pan', vanity project, virtue signalling or a desperate marketing ploy that'll fade once the ink on the deal is dry.

SWITCHIN IT UP is a simple but effective way to challenge the norm and change the dynamics of the game.

More importantly SWITCHIN IT UP brings a treasure trove of new voices, ideas, thoughts, experiences and insights from across the globe by the thumping heartbeat of any sport: the fan community.

SWITCHIN IT UP has been the best initiative we've introduced. I've met incredible people, fuelled by their passion for the sport. We've welcomed F1 fans who are content creators, a Canadian racing circuit track marshal, a female racing driver from Malaysia, a Marine Biologist, a TV production manager from LA, a real-life Firefighter, a Ghanian born, Australian living, neurodiverse design student from Melbourne, a Lab manager from the UK and many more.

What unites them all? Dedicated passion, enthusiasm and diverse viewpoints and insights. Their views, their passion, their diversity filling our feeds, instead of ours trying to represent them.

HOW DOES SWITCHIN IT UP WORK?

Super simple. It started with me finally having a great reason to emerse myself in the F1 Community most on Twitter ("F1twt"), YouTube, TikTok and Linkedin to get the ball rolling. Getting to know some amazing individuals who live and breathe F1 and motorsport in-amongst their daily lives.

I have a Zoom call with each SWITCHR to introduce LKYSUNZ and answer any questions our SWITCHR may have. We send over our SWITCHIN IT UP SLEEVE NOTES, including information on what it is, where the idea comes from, how it works and our seven golden rules (which each SWITCHR must agree to before taking part).

GOLDEN RULES (in black and white, oh the irony)

SWITCHRS are given access to our Buffer account as a team member from 00:01 on a Wednesday until 00:00 the following Sunday.

We ask each SWITCHR for a short biography, their preferred name/nickname (for their ‘digital’ SWITCHR Jersey). Their favourite racing series, favourite track, favourite racing driver and team. Their preferred racing number (for their SWITCHR Jersey and some pictures of themselves - for their tribute jersey.

We use this information when we announce each SWITCHR on our socials, accompanied with a custom designed basketball inspired SWITCHR jersey to celebrate their participation. That's it. We don't curate or edit. We're on-hand if they need help or want to sanity check a post. We keep an eye on the content, but overall they're in the driving seat to share whatever they like.

COMMEMORATIVE SWITCHR JERSEYS:

Lastly, we ask each SWITCHR that takes part to nominate three people to take part in SWITCHIN IT UP; empowering the fan community. So far, so good.

WHAT HAVE LKYSUNZ LEARNED?

1. We're never too old to learn and try new things.
2. SWITCHIN IT UP has confirmed our trust in fans. To trust their passion. Trust in diversity to deliver beautiful moments, stories and insight from real people who love motorsport and F1.
3. SWITCHIN IT UP is proof that handing the keys of our platforms to fans helps make them feel seen, heard and appreciated.
4. People are unlikely (not impossible, but unlikely) to undertake the responsibility of taking over a new F1 teams socials and make a fool of themselves.
5. Fans care about their sport and are proud to revel and celebrate their passion. We're merely providing a channel to share that passion.
6. LKYSUNZ has learned to believe in the power of people. Have faith in fans passion. You should try it. We recommend it.

We ain't fools. We know that somewhere along the way a SWITCHR might post something that they shouldn't; consciously or otherwise. People are human. Humans make mistakes. We'll deal with it.

'One fan at a time Steve, one fan at a time'– Dolphus Ramseur

SWITCHIN IT UP ain't about trying to earn more followers. I believe in a saying a very wise, lovely man from North Carolina once said to me 'One fan at a time Steve, one fan at a time'. We're not bothered about engagement or impressions; by its very nature, those analytics will and have increased.

To all our seventeen SWITCHRS who've taken part so far and to those who are scheduled to take part we say THANK-YOU. Here's a short tribute to y'all, from all of us at LKYSUNZ:

SOME SWITCHR HIGHLIGHTS:

Want to take part SWITCHIN IT UP?

Follow LKYSUNZ on Twitter or Linkedin and slide in to our (safe!) DMs. OR go bold and email me direct: [email protected] - I dare you. Heck, if you're reading this you DEFINITELY should.