Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll says his team has a “serious ambition” to open itself up to fans in new ways following its rebranding.
Stroll’s team, formerly known as Racing Point, has taken on the identity of the luxury car manufacturer he purchased last year. He said the team’s presence in Formula 1 is central to its marketing strategy.“[The] team will bring a new attitude and energy with it, expanding our appeal beyond the existing core and casual Formula 1 fans,” said Stroll. “Whether it’s results on the racetrack, expanding our presence in emerging platforms like Esports, or delivering exciting new activations, we want to make people sit up and take notice.”
Aston Martin’s presence in F1 is key to broadening its appeal, Stroll explained. “Everyone knows what Aston Martin stands for but the Formula 1 team will allow us to take the essence of the brand to new places, building on the strong foundations laid by the previous iterations of the team.
“We want to talk to new and wider audiences, engaging them not just with the team but with Formula 1 itself. We’re taking an organisation filled with experienced, passionate racers and combining that with an aspirational lifestyle brand. The aim is to appeal to the next generation of fans as well as the hardcore followers, bringing new ideas, energy and attitudes in the process.”
Social media will form a key part of their efforts to engage with fans, said Stroll. “I want them to know that we want to bring them right into the heart of this team and our journey. That might sound like a platitude, but I can assure you it’s a serious ambition that has been the focal point of a huge amount of work over the past 12 months.
“We are investing in everything we do – especially in areas such as social media to tell this wonderful story. We want this to be a team for everyone – reaching out beyond the sport but remembering the dedicated fans that have brought us to where we are today.
“To achieve that we’ll need to think outside of the box – and I’m hoping everybody will see us doing just that with a fresh and modern identity for the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula 1 Team.”
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falken (@falken)
19th January 2021, 11:14
” delivering exciting new activations ”
Nope, stopped reading when it turned into drivel.
Mayrton
19th January 2021, 11:59
Yeah, he so far looks like a 13 in a dozen old economy CEO with lots of blabla but besides cash hardly any substance. Lets see…
G (@unklegsif)
19th January 2021, 11:18
Having followed Matt Bishop on Twitter for many years, now that he is in his new role as Comms Cheif at Aston F1, I can well imagine everything that Stroll has set out as an ambition above will happen
Good luck to all
G
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
19th January 2021, 12:30
It all does sound like marketing gobbledygook that will make hardened F1 fans vomit and run a mile.
However they (probably) have a much smaller hardened fan base compared to others they do need to do something different to make things a success and convert fans. I wish them all the best if they are willing to push the boundaries, provide greater insight and do things differently.
One caveat to that is that if social media is a key facet of your operation, choosing a more extrovert star driver may have helped. I don’t see Vettel as a natural fit to do a lot of this stuff.
Balue (@balue)
19th January 2021, 16:34
@chimaera2003 Vettel is quite extrovert. Anyone who’s seen an interview with him knows that. He just doesn’t see the need for social media or thinks it’s narcissistic or childish. That doesn’t make him an introvert.
He will surely join whatever ‘fun’ they have planned for social media in good spirits. Remember he’s quite the ‘anglofile’ and will surely be motivated to do his bit as an Aston Martin driver. Likely Stroll will be much more aloof.
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
19th January 2021, 18:44
@balue I guess it kind of depends on the scope. If it is about the technical side then I’m sure that Vettel would be more comfortable with that but if this starts to drift into segments about getting to know the person behind the driver then he may not be as keen.
If their target audience is the casual fan which would have the biggest growth potential (anyone hardcore is probably too tribal to change their support to them) then the approach may be the latter as easier to create digestible content.
I take your point about Vettel since when he does interviews they are better than your standard corporate responses and goes into more depth. However I always got the impression that he does the fewest he can get away with, albeit doing each individual one better than most.
Bippy
19th January 2021, 13:06
It will be interesting to see how Sebastian ‘no social media presence’ Vettel fits into this vision.
Aiii (@)
19th January 2021, 13:25
He doesn’t need a personal account to be present on AM social media, does he?
Besides, he’s sorely needed as the most likeable and sociable prominent team member, I assume he’ll be put front and center in most campaigns.
Bippy
19th January 2021, 15:48
@Aiii: Ha ha…not sure how tongue in cheek your comment was as Vettel does come across as very likeable guy off track….but also ferociously protective of his privacy. As someone who also has no social media presence (I simply have no interest), I think being pushed into it would be slightly uncomfortable. I’m sure he’ll cope.
petebaldwin (@)
19th January 2021, 16:18
Featuring on a corporate social media account won’t infringe on his privacy. It’s totally different doing interviews on there to posting pictures of yourself on holiday. He can still protect his privacy whilstl feature heavily in any campaigns the team want to run.
pastaman (@)
19th January 2021, 13:32
At least he didn’t say they were a works team again
John Platô (@johnplato)
19th January 2021, 13:59
You know what, I just bought an Aston because of the F1 team.
It’s working for sure
Balue (@balue)
19th January 2021, 16:39
@johnplato cool if true
John Platô (@johnplato)
19th January 2021, 22:30
It’s an old piece of crap. Lol
Jon
19th January 2021, 14:26
Watching on free to air would be much better. Social media only works if people care and watch sport pay per view stops that
Leroy (@g-funk)
19th January 2021, 15:04
If this is a preview of their attempt to bring new ideas and think outside of the box, they are failing miserably. This statement was full of tired clichés, meaningless marketing phrases, and boilerplate remarks from the 90s and early aughts that it makes me cringe just reading it and wonder do they really know what they are doing.
Balue (@balue)
19th January 2021, 16:39
indeed @g-funk
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
19th January 2021, 15:32
“We are going to utilized paid IG influencer.”
stevenholmes
19th January 2021, 16:57
Look I already ripped his head off because of how I detest the family takes care of the family first BS. I was open in my heart about my feelings. Many feel as I do.
So with his announcement I’m going to take a step back and bare witness to this promise of Strolls, better Formula One. I’m giving him a chance to make the kind of difference he forecasts he can make.
Why not ?
How about some positive support? After all it’s about us and how we feel right?
Let’s give him the time needed to set his ship sailing. Pretty dumb way to describe.
The Beatles once sang about giving peace a chance. Today I’m humming about giving Stroll a chance. I hope he can promote a better future for all race fans.
Let the battle begin
HK (@me4me)
19th January 2021, 17:31
Well I can only talk for myself but having a driver line-up of Stroll Jnr and Vettel is quite the turn-off. I rate them pretty much as the Racefans 2020-ratings: both in the lower quarter of the field. Lance isn’t very inspiring and Vettel is past his prime and arguably should have retired at the end of last season.
If they’d gone for a Perez-Russel line-up, that would make more sense and would be more inspiring. But nope.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
20th January 2021, 8:25
Their social media game is already top-notch, I don’t see anything strange in wanting to push it more. They’ve started investing in it since a couple years ago and have a great presence on Twitter for instance. For those who “but Vettel”, I assure you that all the Racing Point banter has always been with a marginal involvement of the drivers. They’ll probably need to step up a little on YouTube, maybe following the lead of Red Bull in terms of entertainment and Mercedes in terms of insight. Both these teams have a great presence and while Red Bull relies a lot on their drivers, Mercedes uses their technicians much more while Lewis and Valtteri are only marginally involved.
I’m sorry for those of you who don’t feel involved: I think social media presence is giving a lot more of depth to the sport and I invite you to try. Of course there is much noise but once you pick up your sources I’m pretty sure everyone can have a good time.