Mini Case Study #2: Pierre Gasly's Fan Club

Hey friends!

Earlier this year, I gave an overview of the current state of driver fan clubs on the grid. In that post, I mentioned that uniquely among the grid, Pierre Gasly has a paid membership program.

But what does that actually involve?

For the second edition of my mini-case study series, it’s time to have a look at what it means to be a member of the GAS Team.

In the name of research, I signed up for the GAS Team and happily paid my membership fee. The screenshot above shows that you get a free t-shirt as part of your membership, however, back in May when I joined, the freebie on offer was a cap (I’m assuming the offering has a lot to do with what particular stock they’re looking to clear out of their warehouse…).

A couple of weeks after signing up, a parcel arrived on my doorstep from France, including my signed cap, a signed driver card, and a physical version of the membership card shown in the screenshot.

We were off to a good start!

But then…nothing.

I’ve honestly spent months being baffled by the complete lack of engagement from the program.

Anyone who has worked in any kind of membership or loyalty program knows there are degrees to which your audience is actually committed to you. As shown in my excellent chart below, a social media follow is pretty low stakes and ultimately conveys little meaning. If they sign up to your email list, they’re interested enough to share their data (or are just after a discount code for your store) and are moving their way down your funnel. And then you get to a paid membership, which signifies a depth of interest and a quantifiable willingness to act.

When someone pays to join your program, they have demonstrated that they are willing to commit financially to you. They are very clearly interested in you and what you have to say. It’s the perfect time to go full steam ahead with your engagement to ensure that interest and attention is maintained.

Pierre’s team seem to have missed that lesson.

I signed up to the GAS Team on May 13. In the five and a half months since then, I have received four sales emails, the last of which was in August.

That’s it.

It’s not that I think the 50 Euro (approx. $85AUD) was bad value. The cost of the membership was more than covered by the free gifts (for reference, the McLaren cap I bought at this year’s Melbourne Grand Prix was $90AUD). It’s just…why go to all of the effort of creating a whole branded program just to let it sit there?

Look, there is every chance I am the only person who has actually paid to be a member. The only way I discovered it even existed was when I was browsing his website as part of this research project. I’ve never seen it discussed by him or his team, and it’s not something I’ve ever seen another fan mention.

I did some brief googling and you can find mentions of the program going back at least a couple of years…but it’s like Pierre’s team has gone right up to the edge of creating something really unique in the F1 fan engagement space and then just…stopped. Or to use a more fitting metaphor: they’ve set themselves up with an excellent quali, only to choose to retire on the formation lap of the actual race.

My biggest questions:

1. Why are there no regular member communications? People have paid to be your members! You don’t have to worry about newsletters being considered spam!

2. Why didn’t they send a personalised email to members when Pierre re-signed with Alpine? This was huge news that his fans would obviously care about! Let them hear it from him!

3. Similarly, why was there no special email when Pierre got 3rd place at the Brazilian Grand Prix? Fans want to celebrate with you!

4. Ultimately, what is the point of this program?!

I have so many ideas as to how this program could be grown into something truly great. Pierre’s team: let me help you transform what it means to belong to the GAS Team. I even speak French! …ish. But I lived there for six months so that should give me some kind of cred in your eyes!

Or, if you’re content with letting it sit there as a way to clear out some merchandise, let me turn to the other drivers on the grid: there is power in having a fully-fledged fan club*! There’s more to life than just a social media feed, and there are so many benefits to owning your own membership data. Let me help you elevate your engagement.

‘til next time!

*Stay tuned for the upcoming mini-case study into how Alex Albon and the team at Fan Capital are demonstrating this!