The rise of Crypto in Formula 1
In the past 15 months, there has been a substantial influx of Crypto-related companies joining the highly-contested space of F1 sponsorship deals.
Here is a quick list of teams, each with its own cryptocurrency/blockchain partner:
- Mercedes AMG Petronas — FTX
- Oracle Red Bull Racing — ByBit
- Scuderia Ferrari — Velas
- McLaren F1 — Tezos
- BWT Alpine F1 — Binance
- Scuderia AlphaTauri — Fantom
- Aston Martin Cognizant — Crypto.com
- Alfa Romeo Orlen — Floki Inu (yeah, really)
Not to mention the $100 million series global partnership deal between Formula One and Crypto.com.
That’s 8 out of 10 teams, and the series itself is involved with cryptocurrency and blockchain.
So, why F1?
Whilst all the above crypto companies differ in their structure, they all have one essential requirement that ensures their relevance and growth: getting more users.
Formula One is a massive billboard for companies, activism, sport and technology. One that travels worldwide, attracting hundreds of thousands to the track and millions behind the screen.
To give you an idea of the series’ media impact: F1’s media team recently compared viewership of the 2021 NFL Superbowl (heralded to be the most viewed annual event on earth) with the F1 final in Abu Dhabi.
The numbers were 101 million for the NFL to a whopping 108 million for Formula One — for a single race.
In 2022, there will be 23 such races likely attracting similar viewership numbers.
This kind of brand exposure is attractive to any company, Crypto or other.
Social Media & Targeted Branding
Beyond the TV and trackside exposure that these brands benefit from, F1 team partners also get access to one of the most valuable assets in marketing & advertising: a proven demographic of followers.
All F1 teams and drivers have a robust social media presence on which fans interact with one another daily.
As a brand and partner of these teams, you can tap into this demographic directly and push offers, promotions and messages to responsive individuals.
Herein lies the most considerable significance (in my opinion) for crypto-related companies: breaking past the first barrier of being accepted by a community.
Though growing in adoption and recognition, Crypto is still somewhat of a niche that requires scaling. Therefore, addressing hundreds of thousands of marketing-qualified leads with a single post carries immeasurable value.
But, of course, what messages these companies decide to push will have varying degrees of success, bringing us to the following: understanding the audience.
Treading Carefully
Just because you have access to the crowd does not always mean they will buy into what you’re selling. Even with a history as young as one of crypto money in F1, we have examples of strategies that worked and others that did not.
A motorsport fan will want from its favourite team’s sponsor to also be a fan of racing. Preferably an even bigger one than they ever were.
People understand that there is a commercial benefit for both the team and the company to collaborate — hence it is essential to demonstrate a passion for the sport beyond just the cash.
Most crypto sponsors are doing a great job of showing their love for racing. Where some fall short, however, is in the message behind the product that they derive from the partnership itself.
Take the Alpine F1 Fan Token as an example. The token empowers fans to participate in team voting polls, hunt for digital collectables, purchase NFTs, and enjoy gamification features connected to fan rewards or great experiences. This idea brings fans closer to the team whilst familiarising them with the Binance platform.
All in all, this sounds pretty sweet — so where lies the problem?
We’ve taken some time scouring Alpine’s and Binance’s social media pages, looking for mentions of this collaboration.
The difference in response from the two follower bases is staggering. Camp Binance celebrates every time there is a picture of the pink-and-blue racer. On the other hand, Camp Alpine is deeply dissatisfied, calling the fan token the king of all shitcoins, causing people to lose money. This obviously does not sing praise for the partnership between Binance and Alpine F1.
There is an issue in communication here, where F1 fans see the token as a speculative crypto-asset rather than an engagement tool for fans.
Though the partnership carries excellent opportunity and a strong sense of passion for the team and company, fans need to understand better how they benefit from this partnership and why it belongs in the world of F1.
Seeing the bigger picture
Having been involved with Crypto over the better part of 5 years, one can quickly forget that more than 95% of people on this planet are not familiar with this space. Once you dive into the vast number of discord, telegram, WhatsApp and Twitter groups, you believe that all anyone ever talks about is Crypto.
Many of the projects that are being launched as a result from these partnerships are very early-stage. Utility in such an environment is not that evident, which carries a risk of people becoming impatient.
The PR teams of F1(and other racing) brands must understand the learning curve for their fans if they genuinely want to deliver on the immense commercial asset they hold. We see a bright future ahead for Crypto and Motorsport — only if there is a genuine understanding of the win-win-win of these partnerships.
–––––––––––
AEW Motorsport are experts in the field of business development and communication in motorsport. If you have any questions on how to integrate Crypto into your business, get in touch with us: alex@aew-communications.com
–––––––––––
Join Coinmonks Telegram Channel and Youtube Channel learn about crypto trading and investing
