1. Promoting F1 as a lifestyle and entertainment sport.

“ is not just about sport and technology. What attracts people is: the glamour, the lifestyle, the drama.” Flavio Briatore

''No sport owns the brand equity of technology and glamorous lifestyle like Formula 1 does,'' said Michael Payne, a former marketing director of the International Olympic Committee, who has worked as a consultant for Formula One. ''Nobody comes close. Those two equities for an advertiser-sponsor are some of the most valuable equities that you can have.''

Measures taken:

- The Paddock Club, formed in 1984, is Formula One's corporate hospitality organisation, which provides a luxury area for VIP's and sponsors for the Grand Prix weekend, and also gives access to teams and drivers and tours of the pits. It is a place where deals can be done. Teams include the Paddock Club in their presentation to sponsors. Ninety percent of the guests are invited by sponsors.

- always runs in May, at the same time as the nearby Cannes Film Festival. Formula 1 invites the stars to the track, sometimes flying them in by helicopter and entertaining them in lavish hospitality suites. At each race, a representative of the Formula One Management company, the sport's promoter, asks teams to list their celebrity visitors so they can be identified on the television broadcast.

- New concepts such as night races (Singapore and ).

Feasibility:

- Motorsport fans and spectators not here just for the celebrities. Have the opposite effect of using celebrities. Promotes the image of elitism and consumerism scoffed at by some fans.

2. Appealing to motorsport fans (Technical side)

-Changing rules and regulations to rejuvenate the sport and excite fans

Move to strategic racing (Add in a host of new strategic elements)

- Switch from Michelin to Pirelli tyres which were easily degradable. This leads to more exciting racing (requiring a lot of pit stops). Put tyres into the equation in terms of strategy.

“They committed to making tyres that were not as good as the best tyres they could make because that was what F1 decided it needed to spice up the show.”

Increase chances of cars overtaking

A great overtaking move is one of the most thrilling sights during a Grand Prix, but critics have argued for some time that passing has become too difficult for even the world’s best drivers. Recent attempts by the FIA and engineers to develop technology to help drivers pass rivals have enjoyed variable success. The Overtaking Working Group (OWG) was instigated by the FIA at the beginning of 2007, comprising top engineers from Ferrari, McLaren and Renault, with the task of finding ways to improve overtaking in F1.

Measures taken:

- Minor changes made to tracks (turns) and road surface improvements at the Marina Bay circuit to increase the potential for overtaking

-Changes to car design.

 Moveable rear wing  Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS)- KERS turns the waste energy generated under braking into additional power, which is then made available to the driver via a steering wheel-mounted “boost button”.

Effectiveness

4. Making Formula 1 relevant in society

- Increase likeability and sustainability of the sport -> Bring in sponsorship dollars as sponsors are able to justify their investments.

4.1 Formula One to become ‘green’. Attempt to shake of the image of being a gas-guzzling motor- sport which is destroying the planet in the name of entertainment.

 Transition from V8 engines to V6 engines with a turbo. Refuelling ban at pitstops.  F1 should spend more money on technology that can be transferred to road cars, rather than irrelevant technology such as aerodynamics.

Effectiveness:

That entertainment could be said to be in the form of the fastest men on the planet driving the ultimate racing machines. It could also be said that one of the main attractions to Formula One is the sound, the deep growl of the V10 engines a decade ago were the very thing that attracted me to the sport. Those days are long gone and we now live in an age were motor-sport is being bullied into becoming as green as possible. It could be said however that Formula One can never be green. The reason for saying this is that the whole point of the V6 engines is to reduce the amount of fuel used by the cars but currently in Formula One the amount of fuel used to transport everything a team needs around the world for a season is 1083 times the amount of fuel used to run both cars for a year. This is the reasoning for the theory that this change is just to silence the activists and politicians who are criticizing the sport for their impact on the planet.

4.2 Making F1 more accessible

 Bringing F1 races around the world o 22 races in 2014 o Seek emerging markets where investment dollars are used for global legitimacy and national pride.  PR/Side events to increase publicity of F1 races in their countries and encourage involvement in the sport.

Other factors hindering current strategies:

1. New broadcasting model

This is part of a Europe-wide trend which has seen Formula One move from primarily a free-to-air model to one which has half of the races exclusively live on a pay TV station.

Evidence from the first year of the plan in the UK shows that the move has turned viewers off. UK television audiences dropped to their lowest level since 2008. Furthermore, audience levels decreased an average of 12.7 percent compared with 2011, the last season broadcast live only on BBC:

2. Competition from other mega sporting events

Decrease in viewing figures also affected by external events. In 2012 competition for sports’ fans eyeballs in the UK came from the Olympics, Euro 2012 and Andy Murray making it to the Wimbledon final.

4. Trend of pay drivers

- Hindering top skilled drivers from getting a seat. Degrades the sport. Fans become disillusioned by the sport. A purely technological battle. Sacrifice driver performance for the desire to improve the car and therefore the team. Encourage a young driver making his way through the ranks to prioritise commercial capacities over his driving talents

5. Costs threatening smaller F1 teams. Formula 1 is allowing the financial terms for smaller teams to become so unfavourable. F1 costs are not in line with helping deliver the best show for the sport

Customer teams: Allow smaller teams to buy year-old cars. This would not only help them financially - because they would not need the expense of designing and building their own challenger - but would also make the grid more competitive. (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100562)

Feasibility: Some argue once you bring in 'customer teams' you've lost the identity of Formula One. And you as a team have lost your identity. (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/25/motor-racing- prix-costs-idUKL3N0E603J20130525)

As Korea's not exactly bursting with F1 fans, what's the reason that this project has been getting ₩78.5 billion, or about US$70 million (56 percent of which is government funding) for the past five years?

As usual, the reason is tourism.

As part of a project called the "J-project," an attempt to make the aforementioned neglected corner of South Korea more attractive, the Formula One event is only one component in a huge and ambitious blueprint for a brand-new city of leisure travel.

Unfortunately, while the vague hope of future profits for municipal governments may be a worthwhile goal, it doesn't necessarily translate into crowds.

Also, has a B-team (or a sister team) in Toro Rosso, which is now an independent privateer team in the sport. 'Red Bull Juniour' is Red Bull's program to hunt for young racing talent and is one of the most successful ones in the sport till date.

Red Bull's off-track activities have been most notable of all F1 teams till date as they believe in making F1 'fun'. Their marketing efforts with Superman Returns, Star Wars and Ocean's Twelve have been one of the most talked in the pit lane.

India Connect * Red Bull Racing was one of the first F1 teams to bring its show car to for a demo run when it brought to in 2009.

Pre-Indian GP activities * Red Bull Speed Street was organised in post the Singapore GP where Red Bull's test driver Daniel Ricciardo drove the Red Bull showcar on . * Red Bull Racing has tied up with retail chain Big Bazaar for events and promotions leading up to the Indian Grand Prix. * Red Bull Racing and Amity University are running contest based promotions for engineering students who stand to win a chance to spend a day at the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes.

Connections

In the future, Gen Y will have less “connections” and the connections they do keep will be more relevant and contextual to their particular needs. Formula One doesn’t stand a chance of surviving the curating process if they do not add relevancy to the timeline. The owners, CVC Capital Partners, are surely interested in their investment and perhaps they will, some day, realize the loss of revenue over the past three years alone would have made a serious impact on the long-term debt structure they posses in the acquisition of the series. There is is an age-old notion that business is motivated more by loss aversion than it is in revenue gain and that’s really a human nature if you consider it in context. Is there any surprise then that F1 is so reticent in moving toward a digital, connected world where content is accessible and at the head of the wave of mobility? That seems risky but risks can and should be taken. What may be more critical is that this seems like a loss of your content copyright and the flood of pirating as well as sharing and that is loss aversion.

The old marketing strategy of gaining interest and leading this interest to intent doesn’t work. Connected consumers have more resources and vet their decision in trusted circles and insight from trusted sources. They form opinion based on the collective aggregation of their trusted circle which remains salient to their opinion process which forms a basis by which to measure their opinion before proclaiming it (or in the context of consumer speak, buy it). In the end, F1 will have to re- fashion their whole approach to marketing. One can simply look at America’s NASCAR, Indycar and ALMS for an example of what can happen as the demographic changes with the advent of technology that has allowed them to change more rapidly than ever before. NASCAR and other major sports in America have resorted to T-shirt cannons, drink koozies, cheap swag and patronizing merchandise. No one wants their schlockmeister efforts, they want relevancy, access, insight and meaningful experiences. F1, perhaps chief among all, is woefully bereft of this concept.

What the heck do they want?

Over 80% of consumers want deals and relevancy from their brand engagement. If a Gen Y “likes” your Facebook page, that’s great but what do they get in return? Sure, a “like” is social currency but it is fleeting. Can it really be as simple as listening? Possibly.

I’ve advocated that F1 needs to understand that fans want three things from their brand engagement: Exclusive content, deals or promotions and rewards programs. What F1 seems to think their fans want in their brand engagement is: aid for viewing outlets, series news and possibly some customer service or programs to allow customers to attend or consume their series with an “official” endorsement sticker. Fans are left wanting.

Ultimately Martin Whitmarsh speaks of the waning importance of race attendance and more to the myriad outlets that F1 could be facing in the future. Creativity for the future? You’re already at least 3 years behind, Martin. They are just now starting to consider a segment they may recognize as the connected consumer. The problem with this notion is that this isn’t a segment unto its own these days…this IS the consumer base as a whole. Hopefully Formula One will understand that listening (this doesn’t mean another fan survey…look what that got us? DRS) and engaging in meaningful strategies that are aligned with the conditions of their competitive environment are critical for survival in the future. Gen X rode the wave of our fathers before us as we grew to love the sport in a sort of borrowed fan-ism but Gen Y isn’t that pliable, they are more elusive than that and more connected (some say distracted) and thus, need more from the brands they choose to engage.