The captain of GP Management, mister Jonny Dodge, gives us five tips on how to get the absolute maximum from your Formula 1 sponsorship.
- Unique hospitality
Diversify what hospitality you offer – the greater need to impress guests means more creative ideas. We’ve taken some of most popular races like Monaco and Abu Dhabi and built new opportunities to host guests, such as trackside superyachts, which really add to the glamour of their experience and give a unique vantage point. Alternatively, getting a driver or a Formula 1 legend to make an appearance in your suite or dinner really sets you apart.
- Telling your story
A great way to add to your sponsorship is through content and the many broadcasters across the globe. Captivating video pieces get you more eyeballs and some time to tell your brand’s story. We often work with sponsors to create custom content for them prior to a race weekend at a nominal cost compared to viewers. This is particularly useful to target a certain market with tools like our ‘video postcard’, similar to the ‘Lap of London’ we created for EMC with Lotus F1 team earlier this year, which got 27 million viewers.
- Look outside the racetrack
Creating your own event allows you to really own your sponsorship. We all know that sponsoring a car, a team, a driver or a track is an expensive and crowded marketplace, so taking advantage of satellite events around a Grand Prix weekend gives you real flexibility to get your message across to a much wider audience. For example, we run Race Week right in the heart of London during the week preceding the British Grand Prix where our title sponsors were able to customise all the aspects of the event to communicate their brand to a huge crowd of people that ordinarily may not have made it to Silverstone.
- Make your guest experience the priority
Look at your whole guest programme for a weekend and find ways to make it extra special. We’re experts on looking after guests and we’ve found that utilising team hospitality is a great insight into the inner workings of Formula 1, but then why not give your VIPs something with extra added value to make their trip with you really remarkable? Making their entire weekend seamless from the moment they arrive in the country to the minute they shake your hand and thank you for an amazing weekend is vital. When a guest programme is managed well, it’s an invaluable way to get potential business on board and get continued client support too.
- Give something back
Corporate social responsibility is always something to bear in mind and bringing a charity on board with your Formula 1 sponsorship opens doors across the paddock and can bring your efforts to the attention of non-F1 fans too. Again, this can be a great way to concentrate on a particular market by supporting a local or national charity and get drivers or celebrities from that part of the world involved to boost your efforts. Some of our previous events, such as the Grand Prix Ball, have donated to The Prince’s Trust and featured Damon Hill and Eddie Jordan’s support, but there are plenty more examples, like Lewis Hamilton’s actions with worldwide charity Unicef. Connecting your brand with these campaigns allows you to give something back with your sponsorship.