Bernie - F1 doesn't need young fans..

[Moneyseeker]

In more words of wisdom from BE apparently he doesn't think F1 needs to do anything to attract young fans as they are no value to F1 sponsors...

'Asked if he believed there was no value in attracting a young audience, Ecclestone said: "If you have a brand that you want to put in front of a few hundred million people, I can do that easily for you on television.
"Now, you're telling me I need to find a channel to get this 15-year-old to watch Formula 1 because somebody wants to put out a new brand in front of them? They are not going to be interested in the slightest bit.
"Young kids will see the Rolex brand, but are they going to go and buy one? They can't afford it. Or our other sponsor, UBS — these kids don't care about banking. They haven't got enough money to put in the bloody banks anyway.
"That's what I think. I don't know why people want to get to the so-called 'young generation'. Why do they want to do that? Is it to sell them something? Most of these kids haven't got any money.
"I'd rather get to the 70-year-old guy who's got plenty of cash. So, there's no point trying to reach these kids because they won't buy any of the products here and if marketers are aiming at this audience, then maybe they should advertise with Disney."'


I wonder how many of the TV viewers that watch F1 overall are in a position to buy a Rolex watch....anyway.


CVC must be thrilled with their CEO and his vision for their business, which as I recall has veered from 3 cars teams, to extra cash for struggling teams, to now extra cash for sturggling teams, or perhaps fettling up GP2 cars to make up the numbers, or maybe going back to V8's....



http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116761

[spider]

No point in getting mad. He's not going anywhere, for whatever reason - so just got to hope the next guy / girl who picks up the baton will be more visionary.

[GT6]

Bernie is without doubt a brilliant business brain but he is always think about the now rather than the future but then at his age perhaps it is understandable

[Greem]

Those are the young people with no money who will grow up into 45 year olds running their own successful businesses, who have a long memory of the time the guy in charge of F1 said they weren't relevant to him.

Following F1 right now is like reading a decent novel: we're in the final third of the story right now, where the threads all start to come together and the pace picks up before the final couple of chapters. The question is, will there be a sequel?

[Aysedasi]

For Bernie, it's just about money. There clearly is no thought at all about anything else. It's a business intended to make a small number of individuals rich(er) - the ordinary fan(and his kids) who stump up an arm and a leg to watch Bernie's 'show' once a year are completely surplus to his thinking. I suppose we can commend his honesty but it all seems rather sad.....

[Paradise City]

I don't really care about "younger fans". "Younger fans" are mostly idiots anyway.

The one thing about this tiresome debacle - is it does drives away that element.

So every cloud...

[bauble]

First thing Bernie has said in a long time that makes sense.

Bauble (77 years)

[littleman]

Oh dear...this isn't good.

Time for CVC to place him in a Home.....he's starting to drift off.

Next idea will be a return to front engined cars, drivers to wear cloth caps & goggles, return the British Grand Prix to Brooklands...........

Have I had my dinner yet Christian?

[Graz]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I don't really care about "younger fans". "Younger fans" are mostly idiots anyway.

The one thing about this tiresome debacle - is it does drives away that element.

So every cloud...

I can't tell if you're serious or joking? My 12 yo already has a serious knowledge and sometimes keeps me informed. We were all young fans once, for me starting as a very young child attending the Phoenix Park races and even then 'getting it' to a certain degree.

Young fans become the old knowledgeable ones. We shouldn't be selective.

[steve nielsen]

so what when al the "old" fans have died of old age?

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I don't really care about "younger fans". "Younger fans" are mostly idiots anyway.

The one thing about this tiresome debacle - is it does drives away that element.

So every cloud...

I'm 20. Have I stopped being an idiot yet, or am I still too young?

Attracting younger fans is not the same thing as dumbing down.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

so what when al the "old" fans have died of old age?

Or the *old* prat who's currently in charge.
It won't affect him as he won't be around anymore when these *young fans* are now the *only fans* that F! can have.
Time to get Bernie safely ensconced in a home I think...

[steve nielsen]

Young people won't buy a Rolex but they will buy Red Bull or buy fuel at Shell, Total or Petronas.

And there are a lot of companies who sell products to young people who could sponsor teams and get F1 out of the crisis.

[steve_r]

Far be it for me to stick up for BE, but I would like to see the context of the whole thing. Sounds very much like he is being asked about it from a cold and hard financial / marketing / sponsorship perspective. In which case, his answer is totally correct - the major sponsors in F1 are looking for people who have money to spend, not kids who do not.

In amongst the journalistic spin of the poorly written original article, there is no way of knowing the true context, who was asking the questions, what other questions were being asked, what the agenda was, and how BE was led into saying this stuff.

[Greem]

The context is actually linked to from the Autosport piece, but in case you missed the full interview it's here:

http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/...lar-brand.aspx

There's a lot of interesting stuff in there, not least around his lack of interest in social media.

(edit) Apparently the original article will only be available until Nov 17th, and then it goes behind a subscriber wall...

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

I'm 20. Have I stopped being an idiot yet, or am I still too young?

Attracting younger fans is not the same thing as dumbing down.

I don't really know enough about you to make that determination.

But, yes, I think the idiot masses destroyed this sport and would sooner see this sport decline in popularity. Do I see the emerging youth generation as being more sensible? No.

They are hooked to their ipads and have a low attention span. Pandering to that mob means reverse grids, a couple of 20 minute races, success ballast (ggrrrrr!) are on the way at some point in the future.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

But, yes, I think the idiot masses destroyed this sport and would sooner see this sport decline in popularity. Do I see the emerging youth generation as being more sensible? No.

They are hooked to their ipads and have a low attention span. Pandering to that mob means reverse grids, a couple of 20 minute races, success ballast (ggrrrrr!) are on the way at some point in the future.

And why do you think there's little or no interest from the people you denigrate?

Ah, that might be why. Horses for courses, you reap what you sow etc etc.

The established fanbase of any sport can't afford to alienate the entirety of a younger generation, because they'll all just go away and do something else. Then in a few years time the older generation (like us) will be sitting here wondering how to make our sport more popular.

Be careful what you wish for.

[cmk]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

Young people won't buy a Rolex but they will buy Red Bull or buy fuel at Shell, Total or Petronas.

And there are a lot of companies who sell products to young people who could sponsor teams and get F1 out of the crisis.

Exactly. Bernie seems to have missed the fact that an energy drink company owns two teams in F1 (including the one that won 4 straight championships) and that energy drinks are largely marketed to the young. Alcohol companies are also sponsors, and I don't think they're avoiding the late teens/twenties demographic.

He also seems to think the only sponsors who matter are the ones already in the sport. Gee, I wonder why several teams seem to struggle to attract new sponsorship income to stay solvent...

Bloody idiocy.

[Richard C]

In Bernie's world the puppies and kittens remain young forever and the adults are immortal. Sounds interesting. What rabbit hole do I have to pass through to reach this place?

Richard

[Yannick]

Originally Posted by littleman

Oh dear...this isn't good.

Time for CVC to place him in a Home.....he's starting to drift off.

Next idea will be a return to front engined cars, drivers to wear cloth caps & goggles, return the British Grand Prix to Brooklands...........

Have I had my dinner yet Christian?

CVC won't do anything like this because they know well that any publicity is good publicity. Also, Bernie may well be their only real asset. Bernie's vision for F1 is obviously a VIP sport and for the races to be a place which people visit not to see the on-track action but rather to see each other and do other business, with the on-track action merely providing the backdrop and some stuff to help get a conversation going: F1 as an opportunity for networking. He probably could not care less if people watch it on TV as long as the TV stations still sell the commercial slots to the companies who are networking trackside.

And who knows who CVC is now anyway. They might have different shareholders now than back when they bought FOM. Mr E. himself might have increased his share in the company or he might not. And people will not find out because it's a business secret.

Of course, taken with a grain of salt, his statement sounds like he's lost it. But when you think about it, the seemingly outrageous statement makes perfect business sense, so it may well be the world who has "lost it" because this statement sounds so unreasonable.

It's just not nearly as unreasonable as Bernie's statement on dictators from a few years back.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Greem

And why do you think there's little or no interest from the people you denigrate?

Ah, that might be why. Horses for courses, you reap what you sow etc etc.

The established fanbase of any sport can't afford to alienate the entirety of a younger generation, because they'll all just go away and do something else. Then in a few years time the older generation (like us) will be sitting here wondering how to make our sport more popular.

Be careful what you wish for.

There's little or no interest because this generation has fallen out of love with the car and there is a proliferation of other more convenient pursuits to draw people away. There's nothing to be done to arrest that.

The sport should be conscious of that, adjust to the new reality of decreased popularity with confidence and not be overly concerned with any demographic, certainly not concerned to the degree that the essence of the sport itself is destroyed - which is what is happening.

They won't listen to my plea of course but at least I've recorded it on here for posterity.

[wdave0]

Bernie USED YO BE very sharp.

[steve_r]

Originally Posted by cmk

Exactly. Bernie seems to have missed the fact that an energy drink company owns two teams in F1 (including the one that won 4 straight championships) and that energy drinks are largely marketed to the young.

Read the proper interview, instead of the out-of-context quote designed to get people all teasy, and you will notice that he has not missed this point. The exact opposite in fact.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I don't really know enough about you to make that determination.

But, yes, I think the idiot masses destroyed this sport and would sooner see this sport decline in popularity. Do I see the emerging youth generation as being more sensible? No.

They are hooked to their ipads and have a low attention span. Pandering to that mob means reverse grids, a couple of 20 minute races, success ballast (ggrrrrr!) are on the way at some point in the future.

That's an incredibly cynical way of viewing things.

As far back as I can remember, I've been addicted to pure motorsport. I'd watch whatever I could for as long as I could. And my experience is that if you introduce motorsport to young fans for what it is, you don't need to change a thing.

Take my younger sister as an example - your typical instagram-loving, iphone-addicted teenage girl. Took her to the WEC at Silverstone in 2013 and she was hooked - and I mean absolutely hooked. She's glued to the TV for every Grand Prix and will get up at whatever time to watch any WEC round.

Motorsport is not to everyone's tastes but you have to remember why it ever had any appeal in the first place. It's the drama, the speed, the excitement, the noise...young people today haven't been genetically modified, and that sort of stuff still appeals to them. They only start acting like idiots when you start treating them as such.

When did your passion for motorsport start? Were you not a younger fan once?

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

That's an incredibly cynical way of viewing things.

As far back as I can remember, I've been addicted to pure motorsport. I'd watch whatever I could for as long as I could. And my experience is that if you introduce motorsport to young fans for what it is, you don't need to change a thing.

Take my younger sister as an example - your typical instagram-loving, iphone-addicted teenage girl. Took her to the WEC at Silverstone in 2013 and she was hooked - and I mean absolutely hooked. She's glued to the TV for every Grand Prix and will get up at whatever time to watch any WEC round.

Motorsport is not to everyone's tastes but you have to remember why it ever had any appeal in the first place. It's the drama, the speed, the excitement, the noise...young people today haven't been genetically modified, and that sort of stuff still appeals to them. They only start acting like idiots when you start treating them as such.

When did your passion for motorsport start? Were you not a younger fan once?

I switched on the telly and saw motorsport. There was no condescending marketing arm-waving telling me it was the 'in-thing' for the kids - the action spoke for itself. You either got it or you didn't.

The people running the sport back then weren't pandering to my demographic nor making simpering remarks about the "younger generation". It was just the vintage Murray Walker or the mature Paul Page talking over a crackling commentary feed. That's what got me in.

Young, old or indifferent - their attitude was: 'This is the sport. Take it or leave it'. I like that.