We heard Jenson Button would be teaming up with Walkers Crisps to film some adverts, and the tabloids have been full of sneak peeks at Jenson in a tailor-made cab. I even referenced one particular picture for Christine's Rankings this week - marking JB down for the corny cab name.
With perfect timing, Walkers posted the first video to their YouTube channel.
Initial thoughts range from amusement at watching Button in action, confusion over the lack of Walkers branding, and bemusement over McLaren's use of taxis in a viral F1 video yet again. Are marketing departments that unoriginal?
Let us know what you think of the ad, of cabbie Jenson, and if it makes you hungry for a potato chip or two and thanks to Maverick for the heads-up.
For the first time in six years neither Christine nor I will be attending Autosport International at the NEC, Birmingham today. We began attending the event before Sidepodcast existed, but this year we're keeping our money in our wallets and staying put.
Credit: Sidepodcast
DTM drivers talk motor sport at Autosport International 2009
Twelve months ago we reported from the event how much of a disappointment the trip had been, and little has changed in the intervening period to convince us this year might be different.
Part of the problem is the venue. The NEC has always managed to provide the worst event lighting ever experienced, casting as it does an awful orange glow across photographs that might be taken. Additionally, due to its location the National Exhibition Centre may change punters what it chooses for car parking, on top of the entry ticket price (£31 per person, per day this year by the way).
Zero Emissions
Another venue related issue is the environmental cost of travelling to such an event. I couldn't find any mention of it, so I'm assuming that the organisers Haymarket haven't considered making the event carbon neutral, including accounting for those travelling to Birmingham from far and wide. The FIA are attempting the same thing for every Grand Prix on the calendar, so you can't argue it's not a relevant concept to motor sport. Maybe they think it's someone else's problem.
Isn't there a more modern, more eco-friendly solution to promoting motor sport than this?
Cost and the environment aren't the only problems though, I'm beginning to question the relevance of attending trade shows in the age of instant media. Autosport International, like many shows of this nature, tries to appeal to two audiences. Those in the trade and also the general public - in this case, motor sport fans. I can see a certain appeal for fans queuing up for autographs of your racing hero (although predictably a large number are ebay bound), but for the life of me I can't fathom the appeal for traders.
Do companies still hold back product announcements until a conveniently scheduled show happens to pass through town, and if so, why? We live in a real-time world where information can be pinged around the globe in an instant, why would a company want to make a product release at a time that doesn't suit them? Especially if lots of people in the same field intend on doing exactly the same thing. How many small announcements will get lost during the next four days, because Jenson Button said something that stole the headlines?
Travel Trouble
The logic of it all doesn't make any sense to me any more. The UK is currently experiencing some pretty awful weather, travelling is hazardous unless absolutely necessary, yet because of Autosport for many it is very necessary.
Isn't there a more modern, more eco-friendly solution to promoting motor sport than this?
Trade shows seem to be something who's days must soon be numbered. Right now, I can browse the whole Demon Tweeks catalogue from the comfort of my couch. I know what's in stock and I don't have to fight to get attention from the person behind the counter. Why in the world do I need to drive to Birmingham to do the same thing?
McLaren have confirmed that they will still partner with Santander going forward to next year, with the Chief Exec at Abbey pointing out that the brand works particularly well with Hamilton:
"The year 2010 will create a newly-refreshed scenario for Santander in terms of Formula 1 sponsorship. Our continuing partnership with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - and especially with Lewis Hamilton - will fit very well with our ongoing development of the Santander brand, not only in the UK but globally too."
Lewis is looking forward to working with them some more as well:
“Everything we do together is always thinking outside of the box, and I am looking forward to continuing that work together with them and the team. Over the past couple of years we have filmed some great TV ads - one of them turned me into an Airfix kit and then in the other I got to play on a life-sized Scalextric set!"
You just know he is thinking: Thank god they didn't make me go on stage!
Anyway, the rumours were true and Santander will sponsor two teams next year. What do you make of this?
Earlier today I had a bit of a rant about how physical paper makes it very hard to share content amongst friends, especially when all your friends are online. The replacement of print material with its digital counterpart is a large subject and not all of it can be pointed in the direction of Formula 1, but there are a couple of further aspects I wanted to briefly cover.
Advertising Space
Many, many moons ago we took out an advertisment in the weekly magazine, Autosport. It was reasonably priced, located near the back, and ran for 12 weeks or so. Creating the initial advert wasn't hugely complicated, but we chose not to take out a second run of banners because we had absolutely no idea if, or how well, the promotion worked. Herein lies the second major problem with print.
We actually still regularly pay Haymarket money in return for promotion, we pay them a small amount every month to advertise on Autosport.com, using Google AdWords. As it's an online solution, we only pay for individual clicks and we can see if the clickthough has led to more page views or if the person took one look and went elsewhere. It's very simple to see what worked and what didn't because you have solid metrics to back you up.
Do some keywords fare better than others? Which headlines provided the most interest? Everything is completely transparent, it's quick and easy to tailor things on the fly and straightforward to vary advertisements according to budget. We have, in the past, run an advertising campaign purely for the live commenting of races. At most that means running ads for a maximum of four hours before closing them again. Try doing that in print.
Admittedly online marketing isn't perfect, many web users block banners completely for instance, but by and large paying for an appearance on Autosport.com is preferable to paying for something similar in the paper magazine. Once you've compared online versus offline, there really is no going back.
Seek and You Shall Find
Talking of going back, have you ever tried to find anything in a back issue of print magazine? You may have a vague idea of what you're looking for, and can possibly take a guess at when it occurred, but where do you start looking?
We frequently have this problem, and no matter which solution we've tried, the only thing that works is spreading a couple of years worth of content across the floor and turning pages. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Predictably digital search is much easier and we've discussed the convenience of having issue of the very searchable Grand Prix+ on your desktop several times in the past (incidentally GP+ doesn't have usable links this side of the paywall, and that's something of a pain when sharing). Autosport.com also has a useful search service that can scan the restricted content which is invisible to regular search engines.
It's still too hard to find content online, requiring multiple searches across many services, but I'll take that over flipping pages on the living room floor any day.
One thing to think about is the idea of putting back issues of magazines online. Would you be interested in searching old copies of F1 Racing right back to the first issue. I know I would and I'd be happy to pay for that too. Is it remotely possible? I have no idea but it is something to aim for.
Me and Page 22
It would be remiss of me not to mention me and page 22. Earlier this year we had a huge amount of fun after Sidepodpictures appeared in copies of F1 Racing and Racecar Engineering. I won't deny we were ecstatic to see them there. You could also argue that people photographing themselves with physical magazines is far more interesting than if they'd appeared online.
I would say that as the two magazines are published monthly there's much less emphasis on timely news stories and therefore they become obsolete less quickly. I suspect though that one day the monthly magazine's time will eventually come, and the inability to search, link, and share may mean we eventually rethink how we consume those too.
Sometimes I feel sorry for the Bridgestone Corporation. Ever since the FIA opened the tender process to be Formula 1's single tyre supplier, their marketing department have been struggling to keep the black and round things at the forefront of our minds, and in most cases they've failed.
The manufacturer did manage to convince the powers that be to mandate two types of rubber be used per race. However that's served only to confuse race fans and quash any action during the final third of a GP. They only get press coverage when something goes wrong and teams are constantly referring to one their products as the "less favourable" or "inferior" compound.
Keeping all this in mind, my charitable side could almost forgive them for coming up with this loony marketing pitch:
Bridgestone may have created the ugliest Formula 1 tyre of all time.
Supposedly these things have been cooked up to promote the idea of reducing the impact of motoring on the environment, but let's not indulge anyone in such altruistic fantasies for one second. It's Bridgestone's home race and they are desperate to do anything that'll generate them a headline or two.
The tyres pictured above are to be used by F1 teams during this coming weekend. I've no idea how anyone is going to tell the one with the white and green stripes from the other one with just the green stripes, but I am now resolutely hoping for a very wet weekend - lest we have to set eyes on the damn things again.
Of course if you genuinely want green rubber, stuff that actually makes a difference and looks after the environment, you'll be wanting a some Michelin Energy Saver tyres. Those things have been proven to last longer and offer better fuel economy to the likes of you and I. Now that is something worth shouting about.
Am I being harsh or missing the point, is this a good initiative for the sport to be involved with? And has there ever been an uglier tyre in F1?
F1 Racing magazine has come in for a lot of stick in recent months, exacerbated by the personal attack on Ralf Schumacher by The Bish. It was branded outdated and unnecessary, and generally written off by a lot of previously dedicated readers.
Personally, I’m a fan of the magazine. There are few periodicals I get these days that can hold my attention, and considering how much F1 already consumes my world, I’m impressed that F1 Racing can get me to read it from cover to cover. (Back to front, incidentally, always.)
It’s glossy and beautiful and focuses on the people rather than the action. Whilst we spend ages analysing results and reading up on the intricacies of the Dumbo-Flugel, F1 Racing does the opposite. For every two pages of race coverage, there is a six page interview with Frank Dernie. A couple of pages on tyre technology is evened out with a ten page special on the three championship contenders. There’s something insightful about it that I love.
Clearly I'm sold, but what can be done to turn it around so that everyone else loves them too?
Everyday People
Firstly, the Bish left. He now works for McLaren, doing a sterling job in the marketing and media department. There haven’t been many visible changes since he left, although the mood of the magazine does seem to be slightly more uplifting than it had been under his watchful rule. According to the back page, the July issue is going to be all-change, so new editor Hans Seeburg will finally be able to stamp his mark.
Elsewhere in the team, F1 Racing has some stunning names. They acquired Bradley Lord from the Renault press office, they have all the experience of Peter Windsor, and the technical expertise of Steve Matchett. Plus, the photographers they have out in the field are all incredible.
With these top bods on board, I don’t see how F1 Racing can do anything other than go from strength to strength.
So Retro
The one thing the mag is missing is an online presence. Of course they have a site, and it’s got the details about the latest issue and the obligatory F1 calendar and championship stats. But there’s not much scope for interacting with the fans, the people that are going to buy the magazine.
Recently, we have been able to get involved with the Reader Panel, where questions are submitted to be posed to people like Frank Williams and Ross Brawn. That’s good. And F1 Racing have awards and surveys where they print the ACTUAL results and take on board the publics opinions.
It’s still not enough though. We’ve already seen that Steve Matchett is capable of presenting great video content and F1 Racing once made a solitary video podcast back in 2006.
Bradley Lord did a stunning job at Renault, as the driving force behind their official blog. Comments and questions were, get this, answered by someone within the team. Of course he was constrained on some of the things he could and couldn’t say, but it was definitely something special. I can’t tell you the heartbreak in Sidepodcast Towers when he left for this mag. Where’s the Renault blog now, eh?
F1 Racing could capitalise on these skills and knowledge. They’ve got the talent on board and they’ve got the scope to expand on their existing material. It’s a difficult world for print media at the moment, but I see the way forward as embracing the online experience, rather than just clinging on to the edge of it.
