Nirupam Singh on LinkedIn: Alex Albon quietly goes against the norm in motorsport. This helps him… (2024)

A driver I spoke to had all the boxes ticked. But still couldn’t get sponsors.The answer to their problem was in 1 of the 3 root causes.For context, here are the 3 root causes I see:1. They have no identity beyond racing2. A lack of marketing fundamentals3. Their activations lack depth and valueThe driver had activations that:→ Lacked depth→ Lacked tangible valueThat looked like:- Media exposure- Social media posts- No understanding of their core audienceThe solution required a mindset shift.With a simple question.What are core topics that connect the sponsor & your fan base?The solutions we looked at:→ Build education of sponsors services & drivers audience through social→ Use email activation to drive people to solution aware. → Use IRL activation as content for social→ Constantly speak to core audienceMy biggest takeaway with speaking to them:Look outside of your racing bubble and see what creators are doing.Selling sponsors requires a top-down approach.Think like a Creator.Operate Like Traditional Media.

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The biggest mistake I see with sponsor activations:Failing to align the activation strategy. With the sponsor's brand and the right-holders target audience.Many sponsor activations focus solely on visibility.But they don’t consider if the activation resonates with the audienceOr reflects the sponsor's brand values.I also notice the activations are committee run & broadThis results in:- Bland- Boring- Too safe- Blends in with the noiseAnd you end up with a lose - lose with all the parties involved.Leading to disengagement & missed opportunties.Surface level engagement at best with no deep brand connection.What I would do:- Understand audience sentiment- Use fan tools for deeper social listening- Build an email activation to have tangible benefits- Use that to have continuous engagement with customers- Sell to them through constant value showing upThis approach leads to:1. Less time spent worrying what to deliver to the sponsor2. Less time spent chasing new sponsors3. Stronger brand loyalty for sponsors4. Meaningful return on investment for sponsors

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Last year, I went to my first Indy 500 race because of LinkedIn.In a weird twist of events, writing connected me with the right people.However, my first 3 months of posting went like this:→ “This is weird”→ “What are people saying?”→ “This is taking so long to write.”→ “Why am I spending time on here”→ “Hey, I connected with Daniel Riccardo at least” (Everyone did)What happened after 6 months of posting:→ “People are asking for my advice”→ I tell people, “I write on Linkedin.”→ “I got asked to be on a podcast”→ “Hey, my following has grown”→ “I can scale my business like this”→ “Damn, I got access to the Indy 500!”What happened after 18 months of posting:→ Started a newsletter→ Launched 2 free courses→ Important conversations with leaders in the space→ Working with clients on their messaging & email marketingTop Voice was cool, but the people I can speak to is more important.My inner voice would have stopped me after 3 months.The reality is:It took the:→ 3-month list to get to the 6-month list→ 6 months to get to the 18 monthsSome get there faster, but most will give up.I would accelerate my growth if I:- Understood writing frameworks and who I speak to- Focused only on task at a time- Built my rule of oneListen, if I can do it, you can as well.I used to struggle with writing assignments in high school.Now, I have written about 200+ posts.Start writing on LinkedIn and see how things change.P.S. These photos were from last year. Enjoy Carb Day!

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The Indy 500 will be streamed on Sky Sports F1 Youtube Channel.For the 1st time ever. (Only in the UK)Why is this important?First, some context.Sky Sports F1 has 758K subscribers on Youtube, and as F1’s fan base has grown since DTS and content creators.Those numbers have slowly trickled to INDYCAR as well.2 reasons why I think this is important:→ Lowers the barrier to watch→ Signifies mindset shift in motorsportLet’s dig into both.First on lowering the barrier. Pretty self-explanatory.Everytime I told friends to start watching, their first questions was, where?The evidence suggest that will be successful in the UK.The Sidemen Charity match broke their own record in 2023 with 2.7 million concurrent viewers.A couple ways this will be different to The Sidemen Charity Match: → Different sport→ Different audience→ Only available to the UK audienceAlthough I am sure those VPNs will be heavily used.Secondly, I still feel digital platforms and Youtube is seen as secondary in motorsport.Sky Sports F1 choosing to stream this on Youtube tells me that people within their teams understand that it’s a long term play. They can obviously take these risks.This also feels like a test to see if they want to continue using Youtube as an option to stream future races.Anytime, I see legacy players in the sport doing things differently or for the first time, it informs me that the world of digital, creators & the old guard of motorsport are merging.Tell me what you think of this approach and if you’re going to be watching from the UK.

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Lack of speed ruins sponsor activations.The teams/drivers that are fast reap the rewards.Remember the Bottas & Uber partnership?From idea to execution it took 2 months.Why?Uber’s & their agencies understanding of the new product.But not every partner is Uber & not every driver is Bottas.So how can you be faster to execution, you need:→ A 360 view of the product/service→ The pain points the sponsor solves for people→ The key decision makers at both partnership teamsThis means the ideas need to be:→ Simple→ Human→ Culturally relevantBut I sympathise, because motorsport teams are:→ Busy→ Hoping time zones→ Doing multiple projects at onceBut speed is the name of the game.We move fast on track.It’s time we move fast off-track.

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In my last motorsport role, I was tasked with writing for the founder.We were using a tactic called founder-led marketing.They were ahead of the game, but it never came to fruition.Here’s what I would have done differently.Before, I created posts only on the work we did at races.Wrong approach.Instead I would have:→ Set up a 30 min - 1 hour chat with the founder→ Profil Audit→ Built positioning→ Created content buckets→ Written 15+ posts/month→ Built content hooks→ Sat in on live meetings→ Analytics review per week→ Growth hacking tacticsI wish I had started this on the first day.Because, across 6 months we would have had 90 pieces of content.This would have:→ Positioned him as a thought leader in the industry→ Helped him connect with other leaders→ Scaled their digital network→ Captured higher-quality warm leads→ Built them an organic email list→ Built long-term trust with customersLuckily, you learn from your mistakes and now I do this for clients.And founder-led marketing is STILL a new concept in motorsport.You still have time to capitalize on it.

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Speaking to an F1 team last week about what their sponsorship goals.They knew fan data is king when it comes to acquiring sponsors.But as suspected, they find it hard to support it.Let’s break down what that means.Motorsport is a travelling circus for a reason.It hops different time zones every week.So a solution is definitely needed.But they are:- Too busy- Solutions are too complex- It’s hard to force feed a solution- Solutions require too much implementationSo operationally, they are:- Running on a hamster wheel on multiple projects- Usually 1 person doing multiple jobs- More work on a weekly basis- 24 races is a tough schedule- No time to implementIf it dosen’t translate directly to on-track performance.It gets pushed down the to-do list.My takeaway on 4 ways to fix this:→ Fan platforms need to simplify their messaging→ Solutions require an easy buy in with the teams→ Teams need an easy way to implement & track→ There needs to be an automated processSimplify, Simplify, Simplify.The best teams have large staff to make it happen.In tomorrow’s newsletter. I break down how you can implement the four solutions. How to do more with less. Link in the comments. P.S. Need to find out who the photographer is for this image.

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If you are building a motorsport agency, stop neglecting your internal marketing.You do fantastic work, but struggle to highlight the daily work.Here are 10 unique ways to turn internal marketing into a high-value asset:1. Share behind-the-scenes content2. Highlight team achievements3. Publish detailed case studies4. Use founder-led marketing5. Use storytelling in your posts6. Create educational content7. Share client testimonials8. Stay consistent with your branding9. Monitor and adapt based on feedback10. Offer valuable resources such as eBooks or EEC’.

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I spoke to a motorsport brand that lost their Instagram account. So they had to rely on word-of-mouth. Before their big launch.To prevent it from happening again.Here is what I suggested: Start taking your audience from, Rented Land → Owned Land.The easiest way to do that is to build an email list.Their current method was asking people to “Join the Community”But that’s not enough incentive to submit.They have 3 strengths as a brand: → Expertise→ Knowledge→ Innovative ideasSo we are focusing on building an automated email campaign.8 emails across 8 days that runs 24/7 - 365 days.That naturally feeds into a weekly newsletter.Voila.Listen we are all puppets to the social media algorithm.It sometimes acts like an unpredictable ex, right? (this analogy is going to stop)The best way to combat that is to,Give them a 1-1 connection to talk to their customers.P.S. Pierre Gasly is telling you to sign up to my weekly newsletter. The Motorsport A&R. The link is in the comments. #sportsbiz #linkedinsports #motorsports

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