Pre-Race Analysis
Early YouTube sponsorship is similar to what it feels like to sell motorsport sponsorship now
Early Youtube for creators was a lot of educating sponsors what Youtube was and how it’s a good advertising tool.
Sponsor meetings would usually start with what a Youtube viewer was, how many viewers were on Youtube and the scale of the platform and then shift to who the creator was.
Explaining the fact that creators were making with the audience not for the audience.
It still feels like a lot of teams/drivers are still at a stage of explaining the motorsport audience and what impact it has. I know DTS did it’s part in helping bridge that gap. But watching the sport & understanding the business implications of the sport is another.
Sponsors still need that time to build a solid foundation of how it builds their business and works for them. Teams & Drivers from what I have seen have a me, me, me approach. But instead it should have an approach explaining how to it helps the brand.
When the brands finally were able to understand Youtube and their creators they jumped on board because not only could they get new viewers, they also built systems to retain them.
Motorsport professionals can learn a lot from early Youtube and how it brought in more sponsors and how it built ways to skip the education part and go straight to selling.
The best of the best seem to understand that; like McLaren.
The best team/driver (right-holder) sponsor relations come have nailed down three stages:
- Excellent product fit for the sponsor & right-holder (Sell something people really want)
- Finding growth hacks to generate customer demand (Cost-effective)
- High-retention (Sticky or repeat customers)
(If you want to help building this for yourself, respond to this email with “YES”)
Most people in motorsport have figured out the 1st one:
1st part: Good product fit.
But need help with the
2nd: Finding growth hacks & 3rd: Building high-retention
The best modern representation of this is McLaren & Hilton & their 19-year long partnership which I wrote about 1 month ago.
To hear more about this, I went to this Colin and Samir episode. Listen starting from 17:30
Post-Race Analysis
Williams Racing is Poised to Become F1’s Next Big Franchise
Context: I wrote a post 2 months ago about why I think Williams will be the next big franchise. There is a reason they have gone from the bottom to 3rd in fan engagement metrics and perception.
This was 2 months ago, and let’s just say they have taken a beating in the media with the chassis issue, excel run team memes and a whole lot of crashes.
Some didn’t seem to agree with me, fair enough. That judgement make sense if you only see whats happening in the present and looking at race results to rate a team.
Thoughts: Yes a race team is there to race and win races. But we know racing requires more than on-track action. There are huge businesses and work going on behind these teams.
My thinking for this stems from seeing how Mclaren transformed their structure to being a top team once again. It started with a leadership understanding how sponsors play a part in a team’s success. James Vowles might not be Zak Brown, but it’s owned by an American company, Dorilton Capital that understands how to commercialize a team.
🍾 THE PODIUM
- Katelyn Bourgoin's tweet sums up where I think most people in motorsport go wrong.
- Andretti's Indycar livery announcement has to be the most unserious but stands out.
- Tom Littlechild, Global Head of the Brand at Formula 1, did a great job explaining their new Marketing Director position.
How I Can Help
- I created a sponsorship email course to teach people the growth hack way to acquire sponsors.
- If you're still looking for a job in motorsport and don't know what to do. Here is a free resource on what you need to know.
- Are you in motorsport and looking for help with your messaging and social. Book a call.
