Sport and The City details how Formula 1 technology is racing into the future.
April 6th 2011 saw Sport & the City: Formula 1, the first of a new series of SportBusiness Group events, take place at the London HQ of event sponsor Bloomberg.
The first Sport and the City event focussed on the commercial world of Formula 1. Reaching 527million viewers around the globe each year, F1 is the world’s biggest annual sport. The conference examined the commercial opportunities both within the sport and stemming from the technologies developed at top level racing. Rachel Froggatt, Director of Sport at Braben, takes us through some of the things we learned from a selection of the agencies, teams, sponsors, technology and legal service providers who spoke at this event:
Tim Bampton, Senior Vice President, Communications, Just Marketing International (JMI): With over 20 years in the communications industry, many of which in F1, Tim is very familiar with the ways and means teams and sponsors have of communicating with fans. He explained: “not only does Formula 1 reach 527million unique TV viewers globally, it generates 179 hours of original programming and 16,000 hours of associated programming each year - more than any other annual sport. The statistics online are just as impressive; F1.com, which has only been owned by Bernie since the early ‘00s after a legal dispute, now attracts over 40million unique users. Added to this, global research shows that visits to sports sites via mobile devices have increased over 30% in the past 12 months. These impressive stats show just how strong the appetite is for quality sports content, providing interesting opportunities for brands.”
Geoff McGrath, managing director, McLaren Applied Technologies: McLaren is a leader in commercialising Formula 1 technology in everything from air traffic control to military applications to the training of Britain’s Olympic athletes ahead of next year’s London Olympics. Geoff said “data drives everything we do – measurement is key, if you can’t measure, you can’t train and improve. On the track, we can measure precisely the condition of the car at any point. Algorithms allow us to look at all strategic possibilities, depending on what the competition do, in order to make the split second decisions that win races. This is also applicable to human training – McLaren now have contracts with the British cycling, rowing, canoeing, sailing and netball teams. The type of sensory technology we use on the car can now be used to measure and train our Olympians. This will be commercialised post-2012.”
Valerie Servageon Grande, marketing director, Hublot: Hublot is worldwide watch partner for Formula 1. Valerie told us the story of the famous Hublot watch advertisement following Bernie Ecclestone’s mugging in central London last year: “Hublot’s strategy is to be where the customer goes and to be unique, so we choose sports events like F1 and the FIFA World Cup. In Formula 1, we have created a limited edition watch which sells very well and we choose special opportunities to showcase our technology, such as a bespoke pitlane timer at certain races. When Mr Ecclestone was mugged last year, he told us we must create an advertisement using an image of him after the attack, he told us ‘see what people will do for a Hublot!’ It was very unique.”
Oliver Gadney, Head of UK Sponsorship, UBS: UBS is now a worldwide sponsor of Formula 1, joining just before the Singapore Grand Prix in 2010. Oliver explained: “UBS already had very successful partnerships in golf, tennis and in orchestral music. Formula 1 is all about global brand awareness and brand performance for UBS, we use hospitality for new business and employee hosting. In some ways, F1’s very popularity is a challenge in itself because there are 19 races, hopefully 20 if Bahrain comes back, and we have many thousands of employees – for them all to come is impossible!”
Dominic Crossley, partner, Collyer Bristow: Collyer Bristow has handled some of the most high-profile legal disputes in F1 in recent years, including Spygate (Ferrari, McLaren), Crashgate (Nelson Piquet Jnr, Renault F1, Flavio Briatore), former FIA President Max Mosely vs the News of the World and the current Lotus vs Lotus trademark dispute. Dominic told us: “To some degree, Formula 1 is characterised by its disputes. We all accept that these come with the game, it’s what you get when you mix money with reputation at the top. I have met some remarkable people over in F1 and the impact of these disputes is far reaching. Moseley’s successful challenge against the News of the World has had far a reaching impact on UK privacy laws.”
Mark Gallagher, general manager F1 unit, Cosworth: Cosworth is one of the oldest and most recognisable brands in F1, returning to the sport as an engine supplier after a short absence in the mid ‘00s. Mark explained: “A few years ago, F1 was in the middle of its love affair with the car manufacturers. F1 had become a global marketing tool and the type of money being spent was impossible for Cosworth. The manufacturers were using it as a loss leader. This forced us to diversify, we moved into defence – securing contracts with the MoD and DoD – into ocean racing with the Americas Cup and we also now have a contract with the US Navy. The rapid departure of the car manufacturers from F1 as the global recession began and the work of the FIA to bring down the costs in the sport saw us to return to F1. Cosworth will always be in F1 as long as it is economically viable for us. The ability for us to develop and use race technology in other industries is key – the development of electric power through the KERs system is a clean energy opportunity.”
The challenges of the past few years has led the teams, sponsors and providers in F1 to explore and find new opportunities for business development. F1, as has been the case for the past 60 years, continues to grow and develop and in that, retains the mystique and fascination for its millions of fans. Thanks to the FIA, the new regulations each year bring new ideas and technologies to the sport. With the continuing commitment of those in F1, these will continue to develop outside the sport as they become commercialised across industries as varied as automotive, air, military and even human development.
Rachel Froggatt, Director of Sport, Braben
To view a photo gallery of the event, click here.
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