The Challenge

Despite a 500 million strong following, the sport was eager to attract new audiences and engage more deeply with existing ones. Edelman developed a platform of activity that maximised the opportunity to broaden Formula 1’s appeal, demonstrating value to promoters, teams, partners, shareholders and the fans themselves.

The Strategy

We wanted to move the dial on media by lifting F1 beyond the standard fare – motorsport outlets and the sports pages – by highlighting F1’s vision and evolution to business, technology and entertainment media globally. 

Our executive positioning programme showcased F1 as a business in transition - from pure motorsport to a global media and entertainment brand, with family and fans at its core. And we drove a drumbeat of activity that put fans closer to the action, by unveiling and showcasing the technologies and operations behind every Grand Prix. 

We planned and executed communications around all the key moments since acquisition, from F1’s global fan festivals in London, Shanghai, Marseille, and Milan, to the launch of a new logo, its first ever marketing campaign, and the F1 Esports Series. 

We delivered communications and stakeholder support, senior counsel, and political engagement, on reputation-critical business developments, from the introduction of new rules to the expansion of the race calendar.

The Outcome

Edelman helped put F1 on platforms it had never reached before – business profiles in the pages of British Airways ‘Business Life’, Reuters and the Times, documentaries on CNBC, CNN and on the BBC’s flagship technology programme, CLICK, as well as behind the scenes story-telling and people profiling in the likes of WIRED and the Sunday Times magazine. 

We delivered fantastic pick-up at F1’s festivals, with F1 Live London alone bringing 100,000+ fans to Trafalgar Square.

In 2018 we built on that success with 45 executive interviews and 54 proactive commercial announcements.