Location, Location, Location: Fan Engagement and Geography

I live in Sydney, Australia. Sydney is approximately 17,000km (10,500 miles) from the HQs of the UK-based Formula 1 teams, and is only very slightly closer to those based in Italy.

Sydney, for reference, is also 900km (550 miles) from the Australian home of F1 in Melbourne, which is only slightly less than the entire length of the UK (or 50km less than a trip from London to Monza).

Why am I telling you this? To contextualise the rest of this post, in which I get frustrated with the lack of attempts of teams to engage with non-UK (or on their best days, non-European) fans.

Before anyone gets ready to respond with their “yes, but-s”, I just want you to know that whatever rebuttal you have, I’ve already considered it. Yes, of course the teams can’t help that their HQs are where they are! Yes, I know it makes sense that the area with the highest concentration of races and driver residencies has more opportunities for engagement! Yes, I know the there’s only so much the drivers contractually have to do in terms of marketing and fan engagement!

BUT. We live in a global society with technology that breaks down borders. There is no excuse to limit yourselves to things that rely on physical presence.

Showing what can be done

To prove that fan engagement isn’t inherently bound by physical geography, we need to look no further than Williams.

Williams – as I’ve continually discussed – are the only team on the grid who have made any effort in significantly engaging with fans outside of their UK (and increasingly US) hub.

Some highlights:

Fan Zones

Williams make the effort to take infrastructure on the road to give fans in all corners of the world a chance to participate and connect.

I’ve previously shared my experience at the Melbourne Fan Zone earlier this year, but as a recap, it was the highlight of my fan experience over the weekend.

The Fan Zone offers in-person meet and greets with the drivers, but these were held early in the week before I had made the trip down. However, as you can see, I did get to meet Team Principal James Vowles.

The Fan Zone also gives fans a chance to see a show car, have a go on e-sports rigs, and take part in various sponsor activations (my personal low was an attempt on the Batak wall so poor the staff member said, “well…you sure gave it a go!”).

Williams were the only team who gave fans any form of on-the-ground engagement at the Grand Prix, which is such a missed opportunity from the other nine organisations. Fans can’t connect with you if you’re not giving them anything to connect with!

Virtual Meet and Greets

Virtual meet and greets are one of the most low-effort, high-impact forms of engagement a team can run.

As I explored in my PhD thesis, M&Gs are one of the most significant drivers of fan loyalty and connection. The chance to be the center of a celebrity’s attention, even for a moment, is an unparalleled experience. And yet, it is only Williams who offer them.

At the start of 2023, I won a virtual M&G with Logan. After waiting in a waiting room with other fans, you got 90 seconds to ask a question while he signed a digital autograph for you (I spent thirty of those seconds apologising for having no voice as I’d just come home from a Harry Styles concert).

All in all, it would have been 30mins of Logan’s day, but those 30mins can turn into life-long loyalty for ~15 fans.

Virtual Q&As

Along the same lines of the virtual M&G is the virtual Q&A. While less personal, the Q&A is more accessible, giving a range of fans the chance to participate.

Williams run a range of Q&As each year, with fans either entering a draw to win a slot (when the drivers are involved), or receiving a random invite when it’s other team personnel.

This season, I’ve received invites to Q&As with Alex, Logan and Alex’s trainer, Patrick.

Even though Q&As just involve fans watching a conversation, there’s something about it being live and the chance that your question could be answered that makes it so much more special than a Youtube video. They only run for 15-30mins, so it’s another low time commitment with a high payoff.

Reminding us of What Could Be

Then, we have the well-meaning but poorly executed attempts of McLaren and Aston Martin.

McLaren

While McLaren offer global competitions, these are relatively infrequent (stay tuned for a future post examining competition offerings across the grid), and limited to merchandise products.

However, they also love to hype up their HQ tours which…rely on a fan being able to self-fund a trip to their base in Woking, England. Which is all well and good for those who live nearby, but it cuts off most of the world.

Aston Martin

Like McLaren, Aston Martin really emphasise the fact they offer fans access to tours of their factory headquarters.

It may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it’s also completely limited to fans who can easily make it to their British HQ.

The emphasis on British fans continues with their social media accounts frequently featuring members of their I/AM fan club invited to exclusive experiences…at their headquarters. It’s very cool that they involve fans in these ways, but far less cool when you realise how many fans are being left out of the experiences and given no virtual alternative.

Driver Cards

To help manage fan desire for autographs (which, as my research also explores, are one of the most sought-after forms of celebrity fan engagement), most teams on the grid offer "driver cards”. These are cards with pictures and biographical info that can be signed in advance by drivers and shared with fans. Except some teams manage this way more equitably than others.

The Physical-Only

Of the teams offering driver cards, McLaren are the most restrictive. They don’t send signed cards, and if you just want the card itself, you have to send a pre-paid envelope to their HQ. Which is fine if you live in England, but that’s a huge expense for fans in other countries, especially when you’re not actually getting something signed in return. It’s just a printed card!

The Mix

Williams have a good middle ground, where fans can download a driver card from their website while also being entered into a draw to win a physical, signed version. This is the most equitable way to run the program, as fans can easily access the cards while giving everyone an equal (free!) shot at an autograph.

The Lucky-Draw

Like Williams, Mercedes and Aston Martin both go the route of the lucky draw for their driver cards. Fans can register their interest, and some will be randomly selected to be sent a signed card throughout the season.

The only question I have is why, like Williams, they don’t also offer a digital version for fans who want a collectible.

The Digital-Only

And then we have Red Bull, who seemingly only offer a digital version of their cards. Perhaps they offer physical cards through their rewards portal, but I’m yet to see definitive proof of this when I’ve logged on.

Digital downloads are an easy way to engage fans, but I have the opposite question I had for Mercedes and Aston Martin: why aren’t they also offering wider access to a physical card? A real autograph is always going to hold significantly more value for a fan than a digital one.

As an Aussie fan, I’m used to waking up in the middle of the night to watch races. I’m also used to a majority of social media posts being shared when I’m asleep and waking up to breaking news. It’s just a fact of life in this time zone. But as Williams show, time zones and physical HQs aren’t actually constraints to fan engagement.

Fans thrive on connection, and connection involves interaction and experience. There are ways to do this virtually, randomly, and equitably, and I really hope more teams get with the picture.

I wrote my PhD on fan-celebrity interaction, so if you’re reading this from the marketing department of an F1 team that needs evidence to get buy-in from higher-ups, hit me up for an evidence-based presentation to help your global fan strategy shoot into P1.