Heineken becomes a major F1 sponsor

Leaks had occurred over the past few weeks, it’s now official: Heineken has decided to become an official partner of F1, through a partnership with the FOM.

This partnership will allow it not only to gain exposure on the trackside but also to become the official distributor at all circuits where local regulations allow. It is also planned for it to be the title sponsor of three Grand Prix starting in 2017 and will enjoy this privilege starting with the Monza Grand Prix in early September.

The Dutch brand, which had begun its negotiations well before Max Verstappen’s victory, thus intends to make F1 its fourth major communication axis, after the UEFA Champions League, the Rugby World Cup, and the James Bond films. That is why a representative of these first three associations was present at the official announcement at the opening of the Canadian Grand Prix.

By highlighting its own slogan, Heineken intends to throw open the doors of F1, which is closed according to Gianluca di Tondo, the brand director, as reported by Motorsport: « Most people don’t know what it is because it’s a somewhat closed world: there are restrictions on accessing people, places, and news. I think our role is to open this world as much as we can. It will be a process: giving access to people. For example, being able to meet and greet Jackie Stewart, for an F1 fan, is great. This is what we do every day. »

The triple world champion is obviously not mentioned by chance as he has become a brand ambassador, just like David Coulthard, who is also accustomed to such representative roles.

The objective of the beer brand is not to rely on the hundreds of millions of viewers that F1 enjoys. For them, this only represents a portion of the audience they want to capture, especially since F1 has moved to more and more pay channels. Indeed, they want to promote F1 through social networks to reach a whole new level. Obviously, they bet on the fact that if F1 is known by billions of people, it can only have an impact on their own brand: « For us, the goal is to go beyond television. We must first and foremost leverage the power of digital and social media. You will see an activation for Heineken and F1. We will have a special edition bottle in F1 colors, for example. When we do this for UEFA, for Bond, for rugby, you reach billions of people. We will therefore clearly highlight F1 on our social media and digital programs. That’s how you go from millions to billions. »

Thus the brand has distributed more than 500 million bottles in the colors of the latest James Bond, Spectre. This is the type of exposure that F1 has never benefited from before and could therefore radically change the image and scope of the sport.

On the other hand, the teams will only benefit indirectly from this massive arrival. Indeed, the brand has decided not to associate with any team and will therefore not be present on any car, contrary to what some sources had suggested. However, if the contract is estimated between 200 and 250 million dollars, the teams will still benefit to a lesser extent since the payments from the FOM are based on the profits it makes. The more significant they are, the more money the teams receive. But it’s obviously the shareholders who will reap the greatest benefit.

After a partnership with Johnnie Walker announced in 2014, FOM shows in any case that it is not at all afraid of potential legal actions from the European Commission over alcohol advertising. But in order to ensure the Corporate Social Responsibility card, the two new partners make sure to highlight that they will also take advantage of their new association to promote the campaign “If you drive, never drink”…

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr