Building the future of consumer data ownership as the CEO & Co-Founder of Surf.
Formula 1’s (F1) popularity in North America was minuscule for a long time, but it has recently started to swell, with the Harvard Crimson reporting that viewership per race nearly tripled in the United States between 2018 and 2022.
This isn’t an accident. In this article, I will explore how F1 has leveraged technology and a digital-first approach to grow its audience and then share some insights into what tech leaders can learn from this strategy.
F1’s Resurgence
In January 2017, F1 was acquired by Liberty Media Corporation. In Liberty’s first full season as owners, they leveraged their media expertise and entered into a partnership with Netflix to produce a docuseries of the 2018 season, Formula 1: Drive to Survive.
The impact of the series was felt in the U.S., with the Athletic reporting that “the F1 series is said to provide a halo effect that’s boosted live race viewership on ABC and ESPN networks—which are enjoying F1 sponsorship revenue gains. A poll by Morning Consult in March 2022 of nearly 1,900 self-identified adult U.S. F1 fans showed that 53% credited ‘Drive to Survive’ as a reason they became viewers of F1 races.”
In short, the decision to take a media-first approach and distribute its content through digital channels has paid off.
Deepening The Relationship
Drive to Survive has been great for boosting F1’s viewership in the U.S., but it’s not enough to keep fans engaged throughout the year. With that in mind, here are two ways that F1 has looked to technology to build their relationship with fans throughout the race season:
1. Social Media
Almost immediately after the acquisition, Liberty Media gave its drivers and teams more freedom on social media. Social media has become a hub for F1 fans to engage with teams, drivers and each other, with commentary, opinions and memes flooding social networks before, during and after each race.
David Webb, CEO of the sport and entertainment agency CSM, told Motorsport.com about social media’s importance on the sport: “Ten years ago, no driver had a significant social media platform. And now every single driver is communicating to at least 300,000 people and in some cases many more. Lewis Hamilton has 46 million followers. … It’s huge, it’s made a dramatic difference allowing the drivers to be able to communicate through platforms with their own content.”
2. Fantasy
While most other leagues have had their own fantasy platforms for a long time, Formula 1 only rolled out F1 Fantasy in the 2018 season (shortly after its acquisition). Fantasy leagues encourage fans to stay up-to-date with F1 news and events so that they are able to update their teams every race.
What The Tech Industry Can Learn
As a lifelong fan of F1, it has been interesting and exciting to watch its growth in North America. More importantly, as a founder in the tech industry, I’ve found that this strategy has broader lessons for my company and others. Here are three insights to consider:
People don’t buy your product, they buy your story.
F1’s brand has grown tremendously due to its focus on telling the real stories of its teams and drivers. You might not have the resources to produce a fully-fledged docuseries like they did but there are still ways you can tell your company’s story.
For example, consider your social media strategy. These platforms do not require a fancy production; in fact, viewers tend to prefer a lower-quality look as it feels more “real.” With a large suite of creator tools, you can start producing behind-the-scenes content that humanizes your brand. Remember: People buy from people, not from logos.
Make your customers a part of your story.
As a result of F1’s prioritization of social media, fans feel as though they are a part of the race-day story. While social media is accessible to you—and is something you should be doing, as mentioned above—there are more ways to engage your customers to make them feel a deeper connection with your brand:
• You can create a customer advisory board and meet with customers on a regular basis to get their feedback and make changes based on their experience with your company.
• You can host in-person events for your customers to attend.
• You can launch your very own Discord channel. Here you can engage directly with your biggest supporters, gather feedback and share news with them.
Relationship building is a two-way street. It’s important that you put the time and effort into fostering a relationship with your customers.
Free products can funnel to your main product.
F1 Fantasy is a free-to-play product for F1 fans. F1 devoted time, budget and resources to building and maintaining this product. Why? Because it ultimately led to them retaining and acquiring more customers.
You might not necessarily be able to launch your own fantasy league, but you can build a simple product as a way of attracting new users. A great example of this is Crew (later acquired by Dribble). Crew was a freelance designer marketplace that launched a free-to-use royalty-free image site in a couple of hours using a $19 Tumblr blog template. They did this knowing that designers were always on the hunt for royalty-free images, so if they created a solution to that problem, it could attract designers and ultimately funnel them to their marketplace.
Now, there’s no one-size-fits-all option for building a free product, but there are two criteria you should consider when planning a free product:
1. It’s something your target market would actually use.
2. It’s quick, easy and affordable to build.
Conclusion
As a fan, it’s been fun to watch the rise of F1. As a tech founder, it’s been just as fun to find lessons I can apply to my own company. In fact, I’ve learned that studying other industries and bringing their strategies back to your own can give you a bigger advantage than just studying your direct competition.
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