The new 2021 season of the MotoGP World championship has finally started. We have watched two exciting races under the light of Qatar and we are so looking forward to having the premier class of two wheels back in Europe for the first race in Portugal.
For those 45 minutes of race, were it not for the empty stands, we even managed to forget everything that happened from last year till today. The show on the track in fact put a smile back on our face, made us feel our heartbeat turn after turn, the excitement was raising, overtake after overtake. I have never seen so many riders all so close on to the other until the last lap, in a continuous succession of position changes, accelerations, aggressive touching, and the uncertainty of the winner until the last corner. A real exciting show. A completely unexpected podium, a rookie who almost risked winning his first race on a non-official bike, proves that MotoGP can offer fun and entertaining races, one different from the other, with the possibility of seeing anyone on the podium.
A sport that is incredibly fun and entertaining to watch and that offers so many positive values to associate with.
This is certainly one of the first, if not the first, reason why MotoGP is certainly a perfect sport platform to invest in. The values that MotoGP represent can be associated with many corporate realities and brands. Let us give you just some examples: entertainment, passion, speed, action, technology, innovation, research, team spirit, attention to detail, energy, strength, determination, tenacity, courage, fun, adrenaline … and many more.
MotoGP embodies most of the values of a team sport but also those of an individual one; the teams consist of two bikes but with two riders and two different work teams. There are no team orders, the riders race and fight for themselves but the team works and develops for both.
The sponsors approaching MotoGP can therefore benefit from the visibility of two motorcycles and at the same time can also adjust their communication contents based on the characteristics of the individual rider. In this sense, the opportunities are enormous, you just need to have the creativity to take advantage of everything the platform offers and build contents in line with your brand or company.
There are then all the content based on what happens on the track; the team can win or not, fight for the podium or maybe have a bad race. You can therefore celebrate the victory as well as appreciate the effort, the tenacity, the determination to never give up, the desire to try again, to get up after a defeat. It is not necessary to tie your brand to a winning team to be able to take advantage of the sponsorship, the result on the track must be seen as almost an “accessory” because in fact there are many contents and values to exploit regardless of the podium.
Global visibility and a loyal audience that follows every race and a digital and social media platform that are constantly growing.
Another reason why a brand should invest in MotoGP is the visibility that this discipline of motorsport has globally and the audience that follows it. Over 200 countries receive live TV signal, over 432 million homes reached during the season, over 22,000 hours of broadcasting. MotoGP is also a “young” platform and digital data confirms it even more so. The global digital profile is 62% between 18-34 years and 28% between 34-54 years. The MotoGP website is available in 6 languages and together with the app provides the user with a series of unique and exclusive contents; you can have access to highlights, press conferences, documentaries, and unpublished content. Here some interesting facts:
– 97 million sessions
– 26 million users
– 298 million page views
– 37 million videos viewed
– 546 million minutes viewed
What about social media?
Social media are constantly growing and put MotoGP in the first places in terms of digital presence in the world of sport:
– 12.2 billion impressions
– 3 billion videos viewed
– 400 million engagements
– 2.5 billion minutes viewed
– 30 million global fans on social media platforms
Facebook is king with almost 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.
Corporate and behind-the-scenes contents are also shared by business partners through LinkedIn
A loyal audience who cannot wait to return to the circuits and with a particular propensity of purchasing.
The 2020 season was, as we all know, influenced by the global pandemic and therefore for the first time ever we did not see the public in the stands cheering for their champions. But if we look at the data from previous years, we can only think that the public on the track is also a fundamental element when brands invest in MotoGP.
In 2019, over 2,860,000 spectators followed the races on the circuits, a number that has grown steadily over the years. Over 70% of the spectators on track are under the age of 35, 80% say they will return the following year and 65% have bought a product linked to MotoGP and 78% would tend to buy a product associated with MotoGP.
In each race, the public has access to the commercial area where they find the stands of the MotoGP partners and many other companies that sell or promote their products. This is a great tool for any brand to approach and engage its target in a context of leisure and entertainment and in a moment of strong propensity to buy.
These are numbers and information to be taken into consideration and carefully evaluated when a marketing plan is being defined which also includes sports sponsorship. The possibility of having a young and passionate audience that has such a particular propensity to buy is certainly a great plus of MotoGP.
The MotoGP Vip Village as hospitality activity: a unique opportunity to treat your guests and make them experience a weekend to remember
In the past years, before closed-door events and social distancing, hospitality has always been a tool that we offered to all customers or prospects who wanted to treat their guests with a unique experience. Being able to attend the practices and races from the MotoGP VIP Village, a terrace overlooking the starting grid that offers you a series of exclusive services, can be an effective way of doing business, strengthened relationships with your customers, or simply making them enjoy a day of leisure and fun they will always remember.
It is therefore not hard to understand why MotoGP is a sport that involves some of the most important companies in the world in various product sectors: from telephone companies, to technology, to television networks, to energy drinks, many companies have seen and see the countless opportunities that this sport allows to build.
When companies contact us because they want to invest in sport, and specifically in motorsports, this is what RTR, as a motorsport marketing agency, can guarantee: an assessment of the market based on the numbers, values and opportunities that each individual discipline or championship offers. Not a gut choice, influenced by the fan hidden inside us, but a strategic approach aimed at achieving the goals that each brand wants to achieve.
Author Bio – Riccardo Tafà was born in Gulianova, graduated in Law at the University of Bologna and then decided to follow his deep passion for sport. After attending the ISFORP (public relations training institute) in Milan he moved to England, where he began his career in PR, first at MSP Communication and then at Counsel Limited in London. Soon after that, he moved to SDC, a Belgian outfit headed by Jean Paul Libert and started working with motorsport: the year is 1991. Following a brief transition to Monaco, where he flanked the owner of Pro COM, a sports marketing agency founded by Nelson Piquet, he returned to Italy and began working in first person as RTR, first consulting firm and then sports marketing company.
In 2001 RTR wins the ESCA award for the implementation of the best MKTG sports project in Italy in the year 2000. RTR also obtains the highest score among all the categories and represents Italy in the European Esca Contest. Over the years he gets some satisfactions and swallows some bitter pills. But he is still here, he writes in a disillusioned and simple way, with the goal of providing practical advice and food for thought
