Are you willing to sponsor?
Are you ready to explore the transformative power of athlete sponsorship for your brand? Click here to learn more about how sponsorship can help brands grow and thrive in the exciting world of motorsports.
By Silvia Schweiger| Posted January 9, 2024 | In Marketing Sportivo, MotoGP, MotoGP, Sponsorizzazioni Sportive
The 2021 MotoGP championship season is finally underway. We have witnessed two exciting races held between the shiny curves of the Qatar circuit, and we are looking forward to the two-wheel queen class landing in Europe for the first race in Portugal.
For those 45 minutes of competition, if it were not for the empty stands, we even managed to put behind us everything that has happened from last year to the present. The spectacle on the track, in fact, put a smile back on our faces, made us resent the throbbing curve after curve, the anxiety rising, overtake after overtake. Never have I seen so many drivers all so close until the last lap, in a continuous succession of position changes, accelerations, more or less aggressive hand-to-hand combat and the uncertainty of the winner until the last corner. A real spectacle. A completely unexpected podium finish, a rookie who almost took a chance on winning his first race on an unofficial bike proving that MotoGP offers fun races, not obvious, different from each other, with the possibility of seeing anyone on the podium.
And this is certainly one of the first, if not the first, reason why MotoGP is certainly a perfect sports platform to invest in. The values that MotoGP represents can be married with many business realities: spectacle, passion, speed, action, technology, innovation, research, team spirit, attention to detail, energy, strength, determination, tenacity, courage, fun, adrenaline…and many more.
MotoGP reincarnates most of the values of team sports but also of individual sports; teams have two bikes for each rider but with two different work teams, there are no team orders, riders race for themselves but the team works and develops for both sides of the pit. Sponsors approaching MotoGP can thus benefit from the visibility of two motorcycles and at the same time also adapt communication content according to the characteristics of individual riders. In that sense the opportunities are enormous, one just has to have the creativity to take advantage of all that the platform offers and build content in line with one’s brand or company. There are really a lot of cues also depending on what happens on the track; the team you sponsor may or may not win, may fight for the podium or maybe have a bad race. So one can celebrate the victory as well as appreciate the effort, the tenacity, the determination to never give up, the will to try again, to get back up after a defeat. One does not have to tie oneself to a winning team in order to take advantage of sponsorship, the result on the track should be seen as almost “ancillary” because in fact there is plenty of content and value to be exploited regardless of the podium.
Another reason why a brand should invest in MotoGP is the visibility that this discipline offers globally and the audience for it. Over 200 countries receive live signals, over 432 homes are reached during the season, over 22,000 hours of broadcasting. MotoGP, moreover, is a “young” platform, and digital data increasingly confirm this. The overall digital profile is 62% aged 18-34 and 28% aged 34-54. The MotoGP website is available in 6 languages and together with the app provides the user with a range of unique and exclusive content; one can have access to highlights, press conferences, documentaries and unreleased content. Here is some really interesting data on this:
They are steadily growing and placing MotoGP in the top ranks in terms of feedback in the sports world:
Facebook also leads the way in MotoGP, with nearly 14 million likes, followed by Instagram with 10.6 million followers, YouTube with 4.05 million subscribers, 2.7 million followers on Twitter and 465K on TikTok.
Through LinkedIn, corporate and behind-the-scenes content that can be used by partners is also shared.
The 2020 season was, as we all know, affected by the global pandemic, and so for the first time we did not see the public in the stands and on the lawns cheering on their champions. But if we look at the data from previous years, we cannot but think that the audience present at the track is also a key piece when a brand invests in MotoGP.
In 2019, more than 2,860,000 spectators watched races at the circuits, a number that has been steadily growing over the years. More than 70 percent of track viewers are under 35 years old, 80 percent say they will return the following year, 65 percent have purchased a MotoGP-related product, and 78 percent would tend to purchase a product associated with MotoGP. At each race, the public can access the commercial area where they will find booths of MotoGP partners and many other companies selling or promoting their products. This, too, is a useful tool for any brand to approach its target audience in a context of fun and entertainment and at a time of strong propensity to buy.
These are numbers and information that need to be taken into account and carefully evaluated when you are setting up a marketing plan that includes sports sponsorship. The possibility of having a young, passionate audience that has such a particular propensity to buy is certainly a great plus for MotoGP.
In years past, before closed-door events and social distancing, hospitality was always an extraordinary tool used by clients and partners who wanted to give their guests and employees aunique experience. Being able to watch practices and races from a terrace overlooking the start and then having a range of exclusive services available can be a effective way of doing business, fortify relationships with their clients, or simply let them experience a day of leisure and fun that they will remember forever.
So it is not hard to see why MotoGP is a sport involving some of the world’s most important companies in various commodity sectors-from telephone companies, to technology companies, to television networks, to energy drinks. Many companies have seen and increasingly glimpse the countless opportunities that the sport offers.
When companies contact us asking what motorcycle to invest in, or more generally what sport to do it in, this is what RTR SPORTS MRKETING LTD, as sports marketing agency, can offer: an assessment of the market based on the numbers, values and opportunities that each individual discipline or league offers. Not a gut choice, influenced by the fan in us, but a strategic approach aimed at achieving the goals each brand sets for itself.
Are you ready to explore the transformative power of athlete sponsorship for your brand? Click here to learn more about how sponsorship can help brands grow and thrive in the exciting world of motorsports.
Associate Director, Executive Marketing and Commercial at RTR Sports Marketing, a London-based sports marketing company specializing in motorsport for over 25 years. Without sports, life is boring
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Read MoreIn an era where it is possible to get anywhere with a click, there is a strong temptation to approach teams and properties directly for sponsorship projects.
By doing so, we are convinced that we are shortening the value chain, saving time and money. However, these DYI methods are anything but risk-free and what initially appears to be a competitive advantage soon turns into a problem that is difficult to resolve. That’s why there are agencies. And this is why you should rely on us for your sponsorships.
When first approaching a sponsorship or sports marketing project, it is difficult to know immediately which stakeholders are correct, what the decision flow is, and what the right timelines are for each process. Sports is a very specialized field of action, and fitting effectively into its paths can take a lot of time and therefore money. We, on the other hand, know referents and spheres of action and know who to talk to, when and how. So you are also more effective.
Sports is an immense passion, and for our heart colors we would be willing to do anything. But business is a different business, and it is important to make the best possible strategic decisions based on independent research, statistics and reliable data. A sports marketing and sports sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which sport, which athlete, which team. This is because we possess a great deal of data and information on ratings, segmentation and attitudes. Because the numbers don’t lie. Never.
Activations are the real heart of sports sponsorship. Without them, there remains only a blank sticker on a motorcycle, car or uniform and no contact with the public, no emotional connection, no impact on the bottom line. Then how do you do it? It certainly won’t be the teams or the athletes who will help you leverage sponsorship and enjoy the many marketing rights you have paid for. To bring out the best in a sports marketing project you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase on the Web, to reach out to Shopping Centers, to organize hospitality, to develop B2B and B2C opportunities, and to get “your” athletes in front of millions of potential consumers.
Would you ever go to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if the competitor’s car is better? No, of course. So, how do you expect to get firm measurements of the effectiveness of your sponsorship if you do not rely on someone super partes? At RTR, we have always worked with independent third-party agencies that allow us to know the return on any exposure of your brand on TV and in the media. In addition, we believe in calculating ROI as the ultimate measure of your success-so we can tell you for every penny you spend how much you are making.
We have been involved in sports sponsorship and sports marketing for more than 15 years. We are consultants in the sense that our goal is to maximize your investment, but we are also an agency that manages the project from start to finish. We have been doing this since 1995 with passion and professionalism, following three principles that have become cornerstones of our business: independence, verticality and transparency.
I would like to highlight the fact that one of the qualities of RTR is its great ability to approach the sponsorship scenario strategically, together with its passionate attitude, its amazing enthusiasm for solving problems, and its high level of professionalism.
Gianluca Degliesposti
Executive Director Server&Storage EMEA
Eurosport is truly delighted with its business relationship with Riccardo Tafà, who has become extremely popular, thanks to his detailed knowledge of the sports marketing sector and his highly diligent attitude to work.
Francois Ribeiro
Commercial Director
Passion and Expertise are the features that I have found in RTR since the very beginning. Serious and reliable professionals but also very helpful, nice and open-mind people, willing to listen and compare different ideas. All the values in which RTR believes make this agency a partner, not just a supplier, a partner with whom we have had the opportunity to achieve significant commercial results in term of success and image.
Luca Pacitto
Head of Communication
We have been working with RTR Sports Marketing for over 10 years. The objectives and the programmes of collaboration continue to be renewed and to grow with mutual satisfaction. I believe RTR is a team of great professionals led by Riccardo Tafà, who I consider a manager of exceptional skills and with a great passion for his work.
Lucio Cecchinello
Team Principal
I have known and worked with Riccardo Tafà since 1995 when we collaborated for the first time on a project for the Williams Formula 1 team. Several clients followed. After leaving Williams to work for Gerhard Berger then owner of the Toro Rosso F1 Team, I turned again to Riccardo to seek his help in finding a tool supplier for the team and Riccardo duly obliged with an introduction to USAG, a partnership with Toro Rosso which endured for five years. I recently started a new role as Group Commercial Director for the renowned Andretti Autosport organisation and I find myself working with Riccardo once again on a number of interesting projects. Why has this relationship with Riccardo endured ? He’s smart, knows the commercial side of sport inside out and back to front and he’s honest and trustworthy. Riccardo Tafà is a “doer” not a “talker”: in over 20 years I have never had a dispute either with him or with a company that he has introduced and each partnership introduced by Riccardo has delivered quantifiable ROI to rights holder and sponsor alike. I can think of no better testimonial of Riccardo’s diligence, knowledge, contact base and hard work than that.
Jim Wright
Group Commercial Director
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