If we think back to when we were children or if we look at children playing in the park or in the sand at the sea, certainly one of the toys they have in their hands is a “toy car”. Yes, because cars and motorcycles have always had a certain charm in the eyes of a boy and even a girl like me, so much so that they are one of the most appreciated and used games, kids and adults use to collect them as well; this funny metal box with wheels that you turned on with a key, now not even with that anymore but by pushing a button, and then it starts and takes you wherever you want.
Cars are part of our daily life; they still are one of the main means of transport and certainly a purchase that involves the whole family when it comes to changing it or getting a new one. The idea of ​​a mere means of transport of our daily lives is then accompanied by a sort of more “glamorous” image of the car, seen almost as an object of desire, a dream to be realized.
This idea partially comes from the world of racing, where the racing versions of cars are shown at their best making us dream like when we were children. The racing car that we see whizzing in the circuits around the world is an incredible object that we associate with fun, speed, technology, and exclusivity.
Cars and motorcycle races are a proper show, a form of entertainment that has kept the public at home in front of the telly for decades and that sees the world’s most important car brands contend for victory at every corner.
But why does motorsport have so much appeal and it is so much followed globally?
As a motorsports marketing agency, we quite often receive this question. The first and most immediate answer is amazingly simple: first because motorsport races are fun, speed is exciting, the roar of engines gives you goosebumps, cars are incredible technological objects we dream of, powerful and fragile at the same time; people love watching them. The public loves both attending racing on the circuits and watching them on screen because it is fun.
Since the 1960s, car races have become part of the fixed appointments of families on Sunday afternoons, all over the world. And this is one of the main reasons why companies have started investing in motorsport. It became pretty clear that there was a traveling platform, full of positive values, on which to invest in order to communicate with your target around the world.
And this applies to both Formula 1 and MotoGP as well as Formula E: millions of viewers in front of the screen passionate about motorsports and willing to get messages from brands involved in the show. Motorsports can help sponsors to push and improve their sales because they can exploit the values ​​associated within it and count on an extremely broad and passionate audience.
Sponsors do not interrupt the show we are watching but are part of it.
This is a fundamental point when it comes to sponsorships and motorsport. The messages that companies or brands will communicate through a sponsorship have a different impact on viewers rather than traditional advertising.
The sponsor is an integral part of a show that we are passionate about, that we like and decided to watch; brands do not interrupt us while we are watching, on the contrary, we see them with more positive eyes because they are an active part of the sport we love. And by watching them there, race after race, years after years, we will end up memorizing them and then we will remember them at the time of our purchases.
The feelings we have towards those brands are positive, we will not resent them. It’s not like the commercials on the telly, interrupting us every now and again and annoying us all the times. Just think about what you do when there the breaks? You jump off the sofa and go the loo. When a race is on, you re are just glued to the sofa.Â
A traveling circus that guarantees a unique coverage of the territory for a wide length of months
The third reason why a company should invest in motorsport is the territorial coverage of this sport and the length of time the championships cover the season. We have the television broadcasts, digital contents, social media sharing, and audiences on the circuits; the world of motorsports engages billions of people around the world for a span of 9 months. Viewers and motorsports fans have the opportunity to watch the brands involved in the motorsports championships every two weeks for 8/9 months thus fixing their memory in time.
If you think of Formula 1 alone, in 2019 it had over 1.5 billion spectators globally, an average of 87.4 million spectators at GP, 433 million unique spectators. MotoGp has reached more than 200 nations with live TV signal, over 432 million homes, over 12.2 billion impressions, 3 billion videos viewed. The MotoGP races take place on 16 different nations, starting from Qtar to arrive in Europe, also passing through America, Argentina, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia … These are all numbers that companies willing to invest in motorsports should consider and evaluate if they use sponsorship as a real international sports marketing tool to improve the business.
Not only B2C but B2B as well
Motorsports is an area in which many of the biggest companies in the world are investing, in various and different product sectors. This aspect is certainly to be considered if B2B is one of your objectives. The opportunity to get in touch with companies that sponsor the same team is a certainty. Companies and managers can meet at the presentation of the teams, at the events organized for the sponsors, they meet on the track to cheer for their team. And it is always in a relaxed environment and with shared interests and passions that meetings and introductions are easier to be done. Our agency, which has been working as a business consultant in motorsport for over 20 years, can be a useful partner to facilitate relationships between companies, introduce new prospects, promote B2B, licensing and co-branding activities.
Hospitalities will be back soon and will return to be an exclusive place to experience a memorable event
When we will be able to attend races on the tracks again, the hospitality facilities will come back to life and will once again be an exclusive place to entertain your guests. Privileged positions and views, usually on the start of the races, high standard dedicated services for guests who will be able to visit the paddock and see the teams more closely, top quality catering to entertain their customers or friends while waiting for the races. The motorsports hospitality services have always been of an exceptional level and quality and have never disappointed the hundreds of guests that we have accompanied every year during the race weekends. In fact, this too is one of the services that RTR, as an international sports marketing agency, offers its customers together with the whole strategic part of defining the sponsorship program.