Adam Parr for increased F1 presence on social media

In his interview for Autosport, he begins by congratulating Bernie Ecclestone for what he has achieved with F1: «What I feel strongly is that as a sport, what Bernie has created as an event, in terms of the quality of the events, the places we go, the standards by which we operate, impresses everyone. If they come to F1 and have seen tennis, squash, golf, or anything else, there is a world of difference, and the logistics of what we do are phenomenal.»

Nevertheless, the Williams leader believes there are still avenues for improvement to enhance the sport’s aura worldwide. At the forefront, he sees enormous prospects thanks to the Internet in general and social media in particular. The second aspect is the media aspect. The story we have to create a global audience, the quality of television images, race direction, which is a very difficult task, is incredible. It’s world-class. What I believe is that social media, the Internet, and even pay television have developed so much over the last decade that we need to change perspective. Not only in the way we communicate with people and distribute our content but also economically if possible.

It is interesting that this remark comes from the director of one of the last teams to launch its own Facebook page. As for its official Twitter profile, although it is managed by the two official communication managers of the team, it hardly disseminates any official information but provides a better insight into the life of the team, far from the glitz and glamour of the paddocks.

For him, one of the best examples is related to the latest major announcement made by his team, namely the engine supply contract with Renault, and the impact Rubens Barrichello’s tweets may have had. Rubens has more than a million fans on Twitter, a significant portion of whom are Brazilian. For Renault, Brazil is a key market and when Rubens is sitting in Grove for the launch of our new partnership and tweets that we are back with Renault and that it is fantastic news, a million people who have chosen to follow him receive support for Renault that is unpaid. This is what he personally feels about the company and the brand. How do you quantify what that is worth? How many Clio TV commercials is that worth? Someone they admire, someone they have personally chosen to follow, says we are so happy to be back with Renault, a world-class engine supplier. He didn’t charge anything for it, there’s no tie to it, but it gives you insight into the possibilities. And it has nothing to do with what you broadcast on television.

Bernie Ecclestone does not close the door but believes that the ball is more in the broadcasters’ court than his own, as he recently stated to Channel 10: «You hear a lot of things about this. When we negotiate a deal with a broadcaster, we give them the right to broadcast by any method they want in their country. So if they want to broadcast on a mobile phone, which is, in fact, a small television, especially with tablets and that kind of thing, they can, but it seems they do not want to. People still want to turn on their television. Everything we can do, we do. We have considered all the different broadcasting methods. The moment you allow other people to broadcast by other means, you’re going to upset those who have TV contracts.»

Here is news that will surely delight F1 fans in France: While France Télévisions doesn’t hesitate to broadcast its biggest events (Tour de France, Roland Garros, Olympic Games…) on its website, TF1 prefers to air the qualifications on its pay channel Eurosport. As for the race, if it unfortunately coincides with the sacrosanct 8 PM newscast, it will be, at best, broadcast on the same pay channel or, at worst, not at all. The recent Canadian Grand Prix is a perfect example of this.

Adam Parr is ready to hear these arguments but believes that optimization of broadcasting can still be achieved. « It’s very good, and it has created this rarity which adds value to our images, but it might be a strategy, and there might be other options. Maybe relying on a major broadcaster like the BBC… For me, the BBC’s website is very good, iPlayer is a fantastic product, and the current quality of broadcasting is astounding. But does that mean they are optimizing it for the iPhone and iPad? I don’t think so. »

However, the British leader does not want to appear as questioning Bernie Ecclestone’s legitimacy and the work he has accomplished over the past decades. You can’t just look back and say we’ve done a fantastic, brilliant job. We need to think about the future and challenge ourselves and challenge Bernie, because he controls the commercial rights, to see what is possible. I don’t see this as a war of words, I don’t see it as an insult. He is an incredible guy and I have enormous respect for him. But we can’t just sit back and be content with our performances. Every time we discuss, it goes very well and he kindly puts me back in my place and reminds me that I understand so little and I accept it. But that doesn’t stop me from asking the question…

With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr