ANALYSIS OF ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP OFFORMULA ONE TEAMS

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The European Alcohol Policy Alliance (EUROCARE) is an alliance of

non-governemental and public health organisations with 57 member organisations across 25

European countries advocating prevention and reduction of alcohol related harm in Europe. Member

organisations are involved in advocacy and research, as well as in the provision of information and

training on alcohol issues and the service for people whose lives are affected by alcohol problems.

The mission of Eurocare is to promote policies to prevent and reduce alcohol related harm, through

advocacy in Europe. The message, in regard to alcohol consumption is “less is better”.

About the report: This report is part of a pilot project addressing sport sponsorship and alcohol

marketing, spring 2015.

Publication name: Analysis of alcohol sponsorship of Formula One teams

Publication year: 2015

Authors: Nils Garnes

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 4

WHICH F1 TEAMS HAVE ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP? ....................................................................... 4

ANALYSIS OF THE THREE TEAM’S WEBPAGES................................................................................ 4

How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands?......................................................................... 5

Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed? .................................................................. 5

Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage?............................................................................ 5

Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcohol brands?......................................................... 6

How many clicks to find "drink responsible message"?....................................................................... 6

Is there an annual report with sponsorship information available?...................................................... 6

ANALYSIS OF THE THREE TEAM'S FACEBOOK PAGE ..................................................................... 7

Total number of likes............................................................................................................................ 7

Are alcohol brands exposed as part of the opening page of the Facebook Page?............................. 7

Number of alcohol brand exposed in photos 22-25 May 2014, if any ................................................. 7

Number of alcohol brand exposed in written text 22-25 May 2014, if any........................................... 7

CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................... 8

ANNEX 1 - ANALYSIS OF FORMULA ONE TEAMS' OFFICIAL WEBPAGE AND FACEBOOK PAGE

REGARDING ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP AND BRAND VISIBILITY.................................................... 9

ANNEX 2 – PICTURES FROM F1 TEAMS HOMEPAGE AND FACEBOOK ....................................... 12

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INTRODUCTION

During the spring 2015, Eurocare developed a pilot project addressing sport sponsorship of alcohol

brands, using Formula One (F1) as an illustration on this. F1 is an interesting case since it potentially

can combine sponsorship of a sport with marketing of alcoholic beverages. In addition, F1 and alcohol

sponsorship brings the dimension of road safety concerns.

This report addresses to what extent the direct sponsorship of F1 teams involves marketing practices

of alcoholic beverages. The report presents an analysis of the exposure of alcohol brands as part of

alcohol companies’ sponsorship of F1 teams. Furthermore, the report will also assess the visibility of

awareness of drink-driving. First, the relevant F1 teams are identified, and then an analysis of alcohol

brand exposure from each of the teams’ webpage and Facebook page will be presented.

All the pictures and other information in this report were gathered May 2015.

WHICH F1 TEAMS HAVE ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP?

From a google search for “formula one teams”, the webpage www.formula1.com appeared with an

overview of the teams, team names and photo of cars and drivers1. From this webpage, it was

identified that three out of the ten teams had sponsorship from alcohol producers. These teams were

(i) Williams Martini Racing sponsored by Martini, (ii) Force India sponsored by Smirnoff and Kingfisher,

and (iii) McLaren Honda sponsored by Johnnie Walker. On the basis of these findings, these three

teams’ webpages and Facebook account were analysed further.

ANALYSIS OF THE THREE TEAM’S WEBPAGES

Each of the teams’ official webpage were analysed and the exposure of alcohol brands, both images

and text, identified. The following questions were used in the analysis:

1) How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands?

2) Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed?

3) Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage?

4) Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcohol brands?

5) How many clicks to find "drink responsible message"?

6) Is there an annual report with sponsorship information available?

1 https://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/championship/teams.html

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How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands?

All of the three teams’ webpage shows the logo and name of the sponsors of each team, and among

them alcohol producers, on their home pages without any clicks. For Williams Martini Race, the Martini

logo is exposed on the opening page by being on the car (picture #5). However, the page is only

labelled "Williams" without a reference to Martini on this page. At the home page of Force India,

Smirnoff logo is exposed on the opening page by being on the car in the picture (picture #10). At the

home page of McLaren Honda, Johnnie Walker can be found at the bottom of the page (picture #14).

Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed?

When going to the section "racing" of the Williams Martini Racing page, the name "Williams Martini

Racing" appears with a line of the theme colours of Martini crossing the full page. There are rotating

picture and the Martini brand is exposed on helmet, car and driver, and also for the other members of

the team working (pictures #6 and #7). There are several pictures like this on the page. The sponsors

of the team are listed when scrolling down, and Martini is the first to be mentioned. When clicking on

the Martini logo, it takes you to another page presenting Martini further (picture #8). There is no

mentioning of road safety or drink driving.

When looking at the Force India team’s home page, the Smirnoff logo is visible by being written on the

car and visible in several photos of the team (picture #11). When scrolling down on the home page,

the sponsors of the team appears and Smirnoff and Kingfisher are listed.

For the McLaren Honda team’s home page, the logo of Johnnie Walker is exposed in the bottom of the

home page and also under the section "partners" in the top menu (picture #14).

Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage?

When clicking on the Martini section of the Williams Martini Racing page, there are two options to go

further. One takes you to the Martini webpage and another to their Facebook page (picture #9). There

is no link to a page on road safety or drink driving. On the Martini page they ask for age verification

and it is written "enjoy martini responsibly" under the age verification area.

Force India has two alcohol producers as sponsors. By clicking on each of the sponsors' logos you are

taken to a new page of each sponsor. The Kingfisher page (picture #12) gives you the option of going

either to their webpage (age verification), Facebook page, Twitter account or YouTube account. None

of the pages gives any "drink responsible" message and there are no other option where this can be

found from the Kingfisher page in Force India webpage. This is also the case for the Smirnoff section

of the page (picture #13), where the options further are their homepage (age verification), Facebook

page or Twitter account. Similar to Kingfisher, none of the pages refers to "drink responsibly"

messages.

McLaren Honda is the team with the most sophisticated branded page when clicking on the sponsors.

When clicking on Johnnie Walker, a new page appears which are branded (picture #15). The text on

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this page (picture #16) gives information about the partnership: "McLaren-Honda epitomise the

characteristics of Johnnie Walker: pioneering, progressive and the essence of quality, style and

sophistication. The last seven years have shown the partnership to be the perfect blend". The text

further present two initiatives: one is called "Step Inside" which presents more about the F1 world, and

the second is called "Join the Pact" which promote responsible drinking and awareness on drink

driving.

Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcohol brands?

For the Williams Martini Racing team, the word "Martini" is part of the team name and the Martini logo

and theme colours are dominating the webpage, car, driver and helmet (picture #6). For Force India,

the team's name or logo is not mentioning the sponsors Smirnoff or Kingfisher. However, Smirnoff is

visible on top of the home page by being exposed on the car (picture #10). For McLaren Honda, there

is no mentioning of Johnnie Walker in the team’s name, logo or front page.

How many clicks to find "drink responsible message"?

The webpage of Williams Martini Racing presents road safety as one of three corporate social

responsibility focuses (three clicks away from the opening page). However, drink driving is not

mentioned and the focus is on "dangerous driving" and their commitment to this by making road safety

simulators. They also present their commitment to the UN Global Ministerial Conference on Road

Safety, being a promoter of this.

For the Force India team, no message or link to another page with that information is found.

McLaren Honda is the team with the most visible messaging, four clicks away from the opening page.

When going to the Johnnie Walker presentation at the team’s page, you will be taken to

http://www.jointhepact.com/ - which is one section of the Johnnie Walker's Facebook page (picture

#17).

Is there an annual report with sponsorship information available?

The annual report for Williams Martini Racing is available and can be downloaded. However, it is not

easy to trace specific Martini sponsorship contribution. The annual report for Force India is not found

on their webpage and no link to further company webpages is found either. For McLaren Honda, there

are links to further pages like "McLaren Automotive" etc, but it is hard to understand which of these

would be the company behind the team and therefore hard to navigate to find the annual report.

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ANALYSIS OF THE THREE TEAM'S FACEBOOK PAGE

In addition to the teams’ official webpages, the teams’ official Facebook page were analysed, focusing

on 22nd-25th of May 2014, which were the date for the Grand Prix de Monaco 2014. The following

questions were used in the analysis of their Facebook page.

1) Total number of likes

2) Are alcohol brands exposed as part of the opening page of the Facebook Page?

3) Number of alcohol brand exposed in photos 22-25 May 2014, if any

4) Number of alcohol brand exposed in written text 22-25 May 2014, if any

Total number of likes

Williams Martini Racing has 655 000 likes, Force India 871 000 likes and McLaren Honda 2 900 000.

These numbers are high and the outreach of these teams’ activities is therefore very wide.

Are alcohol brands exposed as part of the opening page of the Facebook Page?

Given the name of the Williams Martini Racing team, the name includes the alcohol brand Martini. The

name of the team is the profile picture which also includes Martini’s theme colours in a line.

Furthermore, the cover photo for the Facebook page is a F1 car with the logo of Martini Vodka and the

martini lines (picture #1). On the Facebook page of Force India, the alcohol sponsor of the team is less

visible. Half of the Smirnoff letters are visible on the drivers’ suits (picture #3). Team McLaren Honda

has no exposure of alcohol sponsors in their profile photo, background photo or in the name.

Number of alcohol brand exposed in photos 22-25 May 2014, if any

On the Williams Martini Racing Facebook page, the theme colours of Martini and the name in profile

picture reflects the name and colours of the alcohol sponsor. In addition to this, there was a banner for

the team made for Monaco 2014, which reflects the Martini colours and repeats the name Martini

(picture #2). On the Facebook page of Force India, the sponsor Smirnoff is visible on the F1 car in one

photo. In addition, for those who knows and recognises the orange colour of Kingfisher, the brand and

colours would be recognised from the suit of the driver (picture #4). However, the name of the brand is

not visible. There was no photo of the logo or name of alcohol sponsors at the Facebook page of

McLaren Honda during the indicated period.

Number of alcohol brand exposed in written text 22-25 May 2014, if any

None of the team exposed any written text including the name of their alcohol sponsors during the

indicated time period.

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CONCLUSION

This report has been made in an effort to document exposure of alcohol brands from the sponsorship

by alcohol brands of several F1 teams. The reason why this is interesting is to address the issue of

sponsorship as a marketing exercise, and analyse to what extent the direct sponsorship of F1 teams

involves marketing practices.

One of the three teams analysed, Williams Martini Racing, has incorporated the alcohol sponsor in the

F1 team to a high degree. The name of the team, the colours and element used in the logo, the car,

helmet and suit of the driver are all reflecting the alcohol sponsor. This will naturally lead to a high

degree of exposure of the alcohol sponsor, not only during the race but also in all communication on

e.g. Facebook. Furthermore, the team seems to have a high level of awareness in having a corporate

social responsibility (CSR) strategy. It is therefore interesting to see that there is no focus on drink

driving as part of their efforts to aim for better road safety through their CSR.

The second team analysed, Force India, has a clear visibility of their alcohol sponsor by including the

logo of the sponsors on the car and the driver’s suit. However, the sponsor is not reflected in the name

of the team and neither in the profile picture.

The third team, McLaren Honda, is in one way the most discrete when it comes to expose their alcohol

sponsor, thinking of the name of the team and visibility in the team presentation. However, when

taking one more step this is the team to seem to have developed a long relationship with their sponsor

and can present highly branded material and campaigns where F1 and the alcohol sponsor are both

featured. One finding is that their apparently good effort in addressing road safety and drink driving,

the “Join the Pact” campaign, leads the viewer directly to their Facebook page, where the campaign is

only one section of the Johnnie Walker Facebook page, and would therefore be better defined as a

marketing exercise than awareness campaign.

The conclusions presented in the report will be used further in Eurocare’s work on alcohol sponsorship

of sport.

ANNEX 1 - ANALYSIS OF FORMULA ONE TEAMS' OFFICIAL WEBPAGE AND FACEBOOK PAGE REGARDING ALCOHOL

SPONSORSHIP AND BRAND VISIBILITY

Question Findings Photo

Analysis of Formula One Teams' webpage

Williams Martini Racing

How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands No click - Martini logo is exposed on the opening page by being on the car. However, thepage is only labelled "Williams"

#5

Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed

When going to the section "racing" - the name "Williams Martini Racing" appears with aline of the theme colours of Martini crossing the full page. There are rotating picture andthe Martini brand is exposed on helmet, car and driver, and also for the other membersof the team working. There are several pictures like this on the page. The sponsors of theteam is listed when scrolling down, and Martini is the first to be mentioned. Whenclicking on the Martini logo, it takes you to antoher page presenting Martini further (#8).There are no mentioning of road safety or drink driving.

#6, #7,#8

Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpageThere are two options to go further, one which takes you to the Martini webpage andanother to their Facebook page (#9). There is no link to a page on road safety or drinkdriving. On the Martini page they ask for age verification and it is mentioned "enjoymartini responsibly".

#9

Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcoholbrands

Yes, "Martini" is part of the team name and Martini logo and theme colours aredominant on the webpage, car, driver and helmet

How many clicks to find "drink resp message"

The webpage presents road safety as one of three corporate social responsibility focus (3clicks) - however, drink driving is not mentioned and the focus is on "dangerous driving"and their commitment to this by making road safety simulators. They also present theircomitment to the UN Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, being a promoter ofthis.

Annual report with sponsorship information available Annual report available, not easy to trace specific Martini sponsorship contributionForce India

How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands No click - Smirnoff logo is exposed on the opening page by being on the car. #10

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Where on the page are brand names and logo exposedSmirnoff logo is on the car and visible in several photos of the team. When scrollingdown on the home page, the sponsors of the team appears and Smirnoff and Kingfisherare listed.

#11

Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage

By clicking on the sponsors' logos you are taken to a new page of each sponsor. TheKingfisher page (#12) gives you the option of going either to their webpage (ageverification), facebook page, twitter account or youtube account. None of the pagesgives any "drink responsible" message and there are no other option where this can befound from the Kingfisher page in Force India webpage. For Smirnoff, you are taken to asimilar page for Smirnoff (#13), where the options further are either their homepage(age verification), facebook page or twitter account. Similar to Kingfisher, none of thepages refers to "drink responsibly" messages.

#12,#13

Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcoholbrands

The team's name or logo is not mentioning Smirnoff or Kingfisher. However, Smirnoff isvisible on the front page by being exposed on the car

How many clicks to find "drink resp message" Not foundAnnual report with sponsorship information available Not found

McLaren Honda

How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands No click - all the sponsors' logo are listed and also Johnnie Walker at the bottom of thehomepage

#14

Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed Johnnie Walker is exposed in the bottom of the home page and also under the section"partners" in the top menu

#14

Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage

When clicking on Johnnie Walker, a new page appears which are branded (#15). The texton this page (#16) tells about the partnership: "McLaren-Honda epitomise thecharacteristics of Johnnie Walker: pioneering, progressive and the essence of quality,style and sophistication. The last seven years have shown the partnership to be theperfect blend". The text further presents two initiatives: one calles "Step Inside" whichpresents more about F1 world, and the second is called "Join the Pact" which promoteresponsible drinking and awareness on drink driving.

#15,#16

Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcoholbrands No

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How many clicks to find "drink resp message"4 clicks -from the Johnnie Walker presentation you will be taken tohttp://www.jointhepact.com/ - which is one section of the Johnnie Walker's Facebookpage.

#17

Annual report with sponsorship information available There are links to further pages like "mclaren automotive" etc - but hard to navigate tofind the annual report

Analysis of Formula One team's facebook activitity 19-22 May 2014

Williams Martini RacingAlcohol brand exposed in photos during this period, if any Martini theme colours and name in profile picture and banner for Monaco 2014 #2Alcohol brand exposed in written text during this period, ifany No - only in photoNumber of likes 655 000

Alcohol brands exposed as part of the formal presentationThe name of the team ("Williams Martini Racing"), the profile picture with team nameand martini coloured line, the cover photo with a F1 car with the logo of Martini Vodkaand the martini lines

#1

Force India

Alcohol brand exposed in photos during this period, if any Smirnoff is visible on the car in one photo and for those who knows the orange colour ofKingfisher, that would be recognised from the suit of the driver

#4

Alcohol brand exposed in written text during this period, ifany No - only in photoNumber of likes 871 000Alcohol brands exposed as part of the formal presentation Not really, half of the "Smirnoff" letters are visible on the drivers' suits #3

McLaren HondaAlcohol brand exposed in photos during this period, if any NoAlcohol brand exposed in written text during this period, ifany NoNumber of likes 2 900 000Alcohol brands exposed as part of the formal presentation No - not in profile photo, background photo nor in team name

ANNEX 2 – PICTURES FROM F1 TEAMS HOMEPAGE AND FACEBOOK

Picture #1

Picture #2

13

Picture #3

Picture #4

14

Picture #5

Picture #6

15

Picture #7

Picture #8

16

Picture #9

Picture #10

17

Picture #11

Picture #12

18

Picture #13

Picture #14

19

Picture #15

Picture #16

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Picture #17