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 February 17, 2023 | In Formula 1, Formula1, MotoGP
And after the presentations of the McLaren Racing teams with the new MCL60, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant with the AMR23 and Scuderia AlphaTauri with the AT04, come Ferrari, Mercedes and Alpine.
On Valentine’s Day, the Maranello team with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz has presented the new Ferrari SF-23 to their sweethearts, the famous “tifosi” who have had Ferrari in their hearts and souls for as long as they can remember. Live from Fiorano, the drivers also give the grandstand of Ferraristi five laps on the track of the new, roaring single-seater.
Gorgeous as ever, with slightly darker red, the Ferrari SF-23 looks its best. We in this article look at it and comment on it from the point of view of the sponsors and partners, and we can say that the situation is quite similar to last season.
High visibility for Shell, Santander, aws, Ray-Ban, Richard Mille, Ceva Logistics, Genesys, Bitdefender, Estrella Galicia, HCLSoftware, Palantir.
The first change we notice is the presence of Bang & Olufsen as a new official partner, with their logo on the inside of the SF-23’s wing. The Danish brand, a symbol of excellence in audio technology is teaming up with the Formula 1 team to offer next-generation experiences to fans of the top automotive category through activations both on and off the track.
Another new partner is Ecopol, an innovative company that has introduced water-soluble and biodegradable films to the market, which are used more in the household cleaning products industry, offering the consumer a safe and environmentally friendly product.
Ecopol’s logo is also on the car, on the front suspension triangle.
Gone are some of last year’s sponsors such as the blockchain Velas, which had a great display on the car’s nose and wing last season, and Snapdragon a suite of system-on-a-chip manufactured by Qualcomm that we find on the Mercedes instead.
Great pressure for new Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur who says ” Our goal is to win the championship, but it will not be an easy task because our competitors will have exactly the same goal. We have to bring the right mindset with us and always work to be better tomorrow than we are today.”
So here are two of the contestants…
From Silverstone in the early morning, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team presents the W14 with the 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who will run his 11th season with the team, the young George Russel who just turns 25 today, and Mick Schumacher who will be the third driver for the season. The trio clearly accompanied by Team Principal Toto Wolf.
Back in black for the Mercedes W14: the black livery is back, but in a matte carbon version, definitely replacing the aluminum, giving the car more lightness as well as a sleek but aggressive look. The black version emerged 2 years ago from a request by Lewis Hamilton as a message against racism; in fact, the “Black Arrow” debuted in Austria in 2020, at the height of the racial controversy caused by the killing of George Floyd in America.
Mercedes decided this year to permanently abandon the “silver Arrow” and run in the new black livery.
Great visibility for sponsors whose logos on the black background gain even more strength. No big news there; great brand awareness for Title Sponsor Petronas, as well as for TeamViewer on the front wing but also on both sides of the engine cover, Ineos, IWC, AMD, Crowdstrike, Solera, and Snapdragon switching from Ferrari to Mercedes and placed on the sides of the rear wing; Mercedes confirms that the technologies Qualcomm Snapdragon will be invaluable in creating unique experiences for fans, both in person and digitally, further evidence that Formula 1 partners are increasingly trying to leverage sponsorship to engage and engage fans.
Also visible on George Russell’s helmet and on the car is a new partner is G42, a leading artificial intelligence and cloud computing company based in the United Arab Emirates. G42, says Toto Wolf, will join forces with the Mercedes team to explore ways to implement cutting-edge artificial intelligence software and solutions into team operations to provide insights and improvements.
Presented in London by Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group together with Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine the new Alpine A523.
Also coming to Alpine is a new driver, Pierre Gasly, who takes Fernando Alonso’s place alongside Frenchman Esteban Ocon, with whom, moreover, they are close friends. Third driver was Australian Jack Dooan, son of Mick Dooan.
Otmar Szafnauer presents two liveries, a black and blue one, which will be the one he will run in most of the races, and a pink one, “La Vie En rose” customized for sponsor BWT.
And speaking of sponsors, there is no big news; confirmed BWT as Title Sponsor, Castrol, Bp Ultimate, Mobilize and Mapfre as Premium Partners, Microsoft, Binance, Kappa, Dupont, Bell&Ross, plug, Mandiant and many others.
The team’s goal is to consolidate last year’s results and close the gap with the top 3 teams RedBull, Ferrari and Mercedes.
The launches of the 10 Formula 1 2023 teams are completed, now all we have to do is wait for the debut on the track, and there are only 3 weeks left.
A brief reminder of the 2023 Formula 1 calendar: it starts on March 3 from Bahrain, the first European race will be Imola on May 21, the last race before the summer break will be Spa in Belgium on July 30 and then resume on August 27 in Holland. Last race of the season on November 26 in Abu Dhabi.
In the meantime, if you want to knowhow to invest in Formula 1, please feel free to contact us.
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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