F1 Fanatic

“F1 advertising – What does it really mean to you?”

Absolutely nothing personally. But in the grand scheme of things, making a company name bigger increases the chances that people will invest in it. So the majority of business will probably be made through increased investment rather than increased sales.

I don’t think any F1 sponsors have affected me at all. I’ve drunk a few cans of Red Bull late at night while doing essays, but I was aware of Red Bull from outside F1 as they used to show adverts for the drink all the time on Dutch TV when I lived there. Apart from that? I think I probably own something Puma but thats about it. Oh, and I do occasionally watch CNN!

I chose a Dell laptop over an Acer one last year at PC World, even though I knew Acer was a Ferrari sponsor. Which is just as well, because my friend later told me that her Acer is crap, and PC World only push them because they have a deal with them!

The company my Dad works for used to have a teeny tiny sponsor logo on the bottom rim of the 2008 and 2009 Renaults. I always used to ask him what was the point, as no one could see it! I guess they eventually agreed as they discontinued for this year.

So that confirms my suspicions…none of us are actually inticed to buy products made by F1 sponsors solely because the manufacturers name appears on the airbox of an f1 car.

My initial suspicions that F1 advertising is solely a brand recognition exercise have been proved correct, which then leads me to this question: Why do they bother?!? With the amount of money companies spend sponsoring an F1 team they could embark on the mother of all advertising campaigns.

By the way, my Acer laptop is not the mank Ferrari branded one, it’s actually blue! ;)

I got a tag heuer watch for my 18th – Had I not seen F1 then I would never have heard of the brand. Furthermore, I got that years F1 edition, so I have been swayed by f1 advertising. To my knowledge i’ve never owned anything else from F1 advertisements! I suppose my one purchase is enough though!

And to respond to Geemac who asked earlier ‘why do they bother?’ They bother because it is better to spend lots of money on sponsorship, which is tax free as opposed to retaining it and paying tax on it. It comes down to one huge tax avoidance scam with the benefit of brand awareness.

I never bought something because it was sponsored, but when I bought something that was sponsored I later said: oh look! It’s a sponsor of F1!

I have an acer laptop with intel, but at the time I didn’t even realise they were sponsors. I don’t think I own anything else. The only effest I can think of is that if I randomly decided to smoke (not that I ever would) and I was buying a pack I’d probably go for something like JPS, Mild Seven, Rothmans etc. and not Marlboro.

I bought a Philips electric razor, as it was F1 branded. Mind you it was heavily discounted as it had last years drivers on the box who both left the team.
My other razor choice was another Philips (same price) or another brand that I didn’t want to risk trying as I’ve had a Philips before.

Did the F1 influence me? Well I picked the branded one over the non-branded because of it, but then I would have chosen Philips anyway but not because it’s on the Williams.

Just because an item is F1 branded, doesn’t mean I’ll buy it over a non-branded item. I’ve seen F1 branded watches, but that puts me off. If the product is really expensive I do not want the F1 logo on it. If I’m spending £1000 on a watch why have a F1 logo planted on it?