The sponsors are satisfied with the discretion of the Sauber Club One

If the Telmex group made a massive appearance on the Sauber C30 cars of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, other team sponsors prefer to stay in the shadows and not display themselves so ostentatiously. That’s why the Sauber Club One retains a significant place.

This commercial offer launched last June by the Swiss team aims to provide interested sponsors with all the benefits that come with supporting a Formula 1 team while avoiding public exposure. The offer is thus summarized by the team’s founder: “Since not all companies are looking for or want exposure and access to a Formula 1 team, I thought it was time to separate them.”

This may seem somewhat strange, but this discretion can easily be explained. For instance, a bank like Credit Suisse was a long-time loyal supporter of the Hinwill team before the financial crisis forced it to adopt a low profile. Thus, for these companies, Formula 1 is now more of a magnificent platform to create business relationships without the general public being made aware of it.

Thus, Monisha Kaltenborn, the CEO of the team, tells Reuters: “We felt during many discussions that the problem these days is that few well-known companies want to be so openly associated with Formula 1. They don’t want to see their brand displayed everywhere. Some may have internal issues and others feel it’s not environmentally friendly enough or things like that. Two years ago, we had many scandals and some don’t want to be associated with this sport. There was a lot of uncertainty.”

The solution was therefore to offer a way for these companies to be present in Formula 1 but only behind the closed doors of the paddocks and motorhomes. In this way, business relationships could be established without other stakeholders in the company being made aware: «This offers you the benefits that everyone would have, because everyone thinks this platform is one of the best in the world for gaining visibility, without increasing the exposure of your brand. For me, it’s something quite sustainable. There may be companies that can use it initially to see how it goes and then decide to expose themselves later. »

This is exactly the approach implemented by Genii since its entry into the capital of the Renault F1 Team. In 2010, its presence on the cars was limited to the suspension arms, parts that are not very visible on the cars, but it used this for its other business relations since its core business is being an investment fund. By becoming 100% owner of the team this year, which is now called Lotus Renault GP, the Luxembourg fund decided to display itself much more by placing its logo on the radiators of the R31. It also hired Jackie Stewart, who has a very extensive network of contacts, capable of creating business opportunities, especially in emerging markets.

With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr