Formula behind the success of formula1 on social media

BY IMPACT Staff

Dipali Banka finds out how brands associated with F1 fared on social media, and the conversations around them

The 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Indian Grand Prix created a good buzz on and off the field. Social media contributed to this in a big way, thanks to the initiatives of brands associated with the event and other news events surrounding it. MindShift Interactive, a digital marketing agency, has put together a social media study on the insights on consumer sentiments and brands associated with Formula 1. The study tries to assess brand associations on the social media platform and its impact on the Formula 1 event. It attempts to find whether the campaigns lead to engagement for the event, which platforms were effective and eventually what was the consumer perception towards Formula 1 along with target audience profiling. However, it fails to answer the impact of social media interactions for the brands involved, their ROIs and the sentiments of conversation for those brands. “The  research report was compiled to give an understanding of how a consumer perception, tonality or sentiment can be tracked for an event, giving an insight that the same thing could have been integrated into a brand-wise implication,” says Zafar Rais, Founder and CEO, MindShift Interactive.

Key findings:

• Brand associations have the power to influence events positively

• One size does not fit all –customization for each platform necessary

• Timing is the key to capitalise on social media

• Sentiment analysis-76 per cent positive conversations about F1 • Five per cent enthusiasts influenced to attend F1 event

• Higher female converts from online to offline attendance

• What gets consumers ticking- Twitter for conversations and current happenings;

Facebook for incentives and value-add The study analysed five brands selected on the basis of high mentions on the top five social media platforms of high engagement. Brands included in the study were Airtel, Kingfisher, Red Bull, Renault and Vodafone. It observed that Airtel was the most spoken about brand (270 conversations out of 2,000 that were tracked) on the social media platform due to the number of campaigns and their brand integration with F1. “An onlineoffline connect along with a heavy and sustained engagement were key to their success,” said Zafar.

Airtel, with three Formula 1 campaigns, dominated the social media space with brand conversations around the Airtel Simulator Challenge generating 86 per cent conversations around it, followed by 64 per cent through Sahara Stake Buyout and 61 per cent of the Red Bull Racing Event, Delhi. Popular topics of conversation that also created significant buzz on Social Media were F1 Rocks, F1 Circuit, Vodafone, Reebok, Puma and Mahindra. “Out of the five trending brand campaigns, four of them were associated with Formula 1 and were a reason for increased engagement. Incentives such as winning Formula 1 tickets, attending the race or spending time with teams were added motivation to keep conversations going,” says the report.

It was interesting to note that although investments in terms of creation of applications or offering incentives were highest on Facebook, Twitter reigned as the winning platform across social media for Formula 1 in terms of active engagement, gaining 700 conversations. On tracking the duration of the conversations that took place during Formula 1, the study shows that the event picked up at various touchpoints like the Sahara-Kingfisher association around Force India and closer to the event but fell drastically at times. “There was a flux between the updates that were put out by brands. Consistency was missing, especially before the end or after the event. With a sustained social media outreach, consumer interaction would have been much higher,” said Zafar.

According to the study, consumer tonality towards Formula 1 was positive, peaking at 137 conversations due to a sharp spike as the event neared in. A balance was seen as a significant increase in negative comments also rose as the event took place. “The unfortunate turn of events at F1 Rocks with the Metallica music show being cancelled added up for a large number of negative emotions being displayed across social media,” noted the report.

As expected, Formula 1 discussions were dominated by male audiences with 84 per cent conversations  initiated and responded by them; however, an interesting insight was that out of the 16 per cent women, a significant number of them showed a desire to attend the event and also acted upon it by purchasing tickets. “If you take the AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) chart, out of the 100 per cent awareness, people who desired to attend and actually attended the event were five per cent. Out of this five per cent, three per cent were women. So, if we take this back to the 16 per cent pie, it comes to a significant number. The learning here is that women are interested in the sport and could turn into potentially larger enthusiasts, provided their interests are customized to suit their requirements versus delivering a similar strategy as would have appealed largely to the male audiences,” explained Zafar. Overall, the sentiment analysis showcased that 76 per cent of all conversations about Formula 1 were positive.

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