Data-driven supershow — This is how Hamilton's dog got into Formula 1

The employees of our company, United Consult, are not only passionate fans of IT innovations, but also enthusiastic followers of competitions in a wide variety of sports. This is no different with Formula 1, and in the fast-paced circus and the worldwide marketing wonder that surrounds it, our profession and our hobby are mixed. As a guest of the column entitled Data Magnet of the Millásreggeli radio program, about our insights in this regard, About F1's data-driven marketing solutionswe talked.

A Formula-1In not only have race cars and pilots evolved spectacularly in recent years, but the data-driven approach has taken the show and business to a new level. With the entry of Liberty Media in 2016, F1's economic and marketing strategy was radically transformed. The Drive to Survive series produced for Netflix, the everyday application of artificial intelligence and SalesforceThe hyperpersonalization provided by them has all contributed to an astonishing increase in global viewership. There is no question that, as in many areas of business, in Formula 1, “data is the new oil”.

100 million turns in Formula 1

When Liberty Media bought Formula 1 for $8.4 billion, it still had “only” 400 million viewers. and their customer database for marketing purposes could fit in an Excel spreadsheet with a million rows. By 2024, that number had grown to 750 million, and the marketing machine behind F1 has undergone an amazing evolution in just a few years: they now manage 20 to 30 million serial databases with lots of connected applications. This leap is not only the result of natural growth, but the result of a conscious, data-driven marketing strategy.

The artificial intelligence of Salesforce, Agentforceplays a central role in the development, maintenance and continuous development of Formula 1's new customer-focused image. The F1 responds 80% fasterto questions from fans with Agentforce and Service Cloud. For example, if someone is having trouble logging in, Agentforce will guide you through the steps in real time and help them sort things out quickly. A Millásmorgeli on a radio showWe also talked about how all this is essential when trying to communicate with hundreds of millions of fans with personalized messages.

Predictive AI enables behavioral predictions, personalized offers, enhancing F1 experiences. As an example, we mentioned if it is expected to rain, then two days before the race the system sends an email to the fans offering them a McLaren or Ferrari umbrella, depending on which team they are enthusiastic followers.

New fan bases in marketing focus

Hyperpersonalization and capturing the attention of new target groups have apparently become the cornerstones of Liberty Media's marketing strategy. The sport, once considered masculine, is now gaining popularity among women and young people as well. Women now account for 41% of viewers, and this was largely supported by the targeted use of social media — for example Hamilton's dog on Instagram— and unique content such as the aforementioned Drive to Survive series. After 2016, F1 noticeably began to open up, communicate with women, young people and countries whose citizens were not previously part of the fan base of the racing series.

Formula 1 in partnership with Salesforce created interactive fan experiences on social media and race streamingboth, where fans could vote for the”For the pilot of the dayafter every Grand Prix. Voting gives fans a chance to be part of the race and F1 gets the chance to learn more about its fans.

Source: salesforce.com

Looking at the conscious work of the rightful giant, the planned construction of experience-based fan relationships, it is clear that it is no coincidence that Formula 1 is also gaining spectacular strength in markets that it was previously unable to conquer for many decades. F1 not only made participants out of spectators. Thanks to the new kind of fan experiences, we no longer only watch the races on TV, but also follow the events on the track through real-time, exclusive data through the app installed on our own devices, we switch between different camera images, we decide on the best driver of the day or we are just taking advantage of the commercial offers that Formula 1 offers. While in the past we could essentially talk about “just a TV show”, now a real-life experience platform has been built around the events, offering fans a number of new products and services.

Source: salesforce.com

What do we need the data for in this process?

In order for the system to work as it is today, in addition to a change in attitude, of course, a good data strategy was needed. Unification of data from different sources has been key in recent years.In Formula 1, information is displayed with interactive data visualization tools and campaigns are constantly refined. It is no coincidence that in TV broadcasts, even against the background of the most spectacular competitive situations, the inscription “Salesforce” appears regularly. The American IT giant — from which, by the way, United Consult recently acquired the Implementation Partner of the Yearaward — priority IT partner of Formula 1. The company is Cloud de datosIt allows you to channel data into one place and optimize your marketing communication tasks with amazing efficiency.

As is often the case, not everyone is happy with the changes. A radio programcommenters according to some students”it's very cool that they push Formula 1 through all channels, only in the meantime the car itself is a little lost in it”. At the same time, statistics show that the renewal is reaching a larger audience, newer and newer target groups. And the further goal is extremely ambitious: another doubling is expected by 2030, now with 1.5 billion potential fans. The Brad Pitt film is likely to contribute a few percent to this, but the real growth will undoubtedly come from data-driven marketing.

What do we need the data for in this process?

All in all, we can say: the example of Formula 1 clearly shows what the future of marketing is and what a well-employed person is capable ofdata-driven strategya Salesforce with its strength. Formula 1 now takes place not only on the track and in the paddocks, but also in the digital space. Connecting directly with fans and creating 21st century fan experiences is perhaps as important as the competition itself.

Success today depends not only on sound engines, but also on how well we know our audience. Data is no longer just a number, but a relationship. If we use it well, we can win not only more customers, but also loyal fans.Formula 1 has shown: whether you are building a sports team or a business, you need to know your people, pay attention to them, and then they will also pay attention to you.

If you would like to learn more about Formula 1's data-driven solutions, register for our webinar on May 22. International success stories during the webinar — a F1, FedEx, Heathrow and Casey's— show you how Salesforce can be used to activate data and how it can establish a foundation for the use of reliable AI through a single platform — even managing tens of thousands or millions of B2B and B2C customer relationships.

Be that as it may, after Asia and the Middle East, the racing series will resume in Miami in early May, and then the racing circus will begin its 2025 European tour in Italy. Hungarian fans, including the employees of our company, the United Consult group of companies, are already looking forward to August 1, when the cars will be on the starting grid in the Hungaroring, which is undergoing a large-scale transformation. Whether we will see Hamilton's dog in Budapest or Mogyorod on this occasion, of course, is not yet known, but we are quite sure that in the remaining hundred days until then, data-driven marketing solutions will be of great interest to us in relation to Formula 1.

Balázs Lakatos,
UC marketing automation team leader

Sources:

https://www.salesforce.com/campaign/formula1

https://www.salesforce.com/customer-stories/formula-one

https://www.salesforce.com/blog/customer-loyalty-data-privacy-trust/

https://successplatform.hu/agentforce-amire-a-mesterseges-intelligencia-hivatott

Cover image: https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners/salesforce/