Bernie - F1 doesn't need young fans..

[Greem]

But there's a massive difference between "This is the sport. Take it or leave it" and "This is the sport. The sport doesn't need you".

One is actively indifferent; the other is actively exclusive. The first appears to not care but will happily accept you if you become a fan; the second doesn't care and doesn't want you to be a fan. There be dragons.

Y'know, I think our points of view may be closer than they appear, if I'm honest. I think we can both agree that F1 is disappearing up its own hooter at an alarming rate, and there's nothing we can do about it.

[Peter Mallett]

He's wrong. F1 doesn't need any fans, whatever their age. It just needs the teams to turn up. At least that's they way it presents itself.

[wolfhound]

Just read the complete article and guess what age Bernie became involved in motorsport?



16 not much different to 15.

He also does'nt spend much time having to listen to pursuasive kids either by the sounds of it.
I wonder how many of today's F1 grid started driving carts or cars prior to their 15th birthday, I suspect the whole grid.

On a final note is it a coincidence that this story appears when there is a major crisis going on in F1.

[Bandicoot17]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

I switched on the telly and saw motorsport.

How many TV channels did you have back then?? 5?? What else could you watch?

I don't even need to turn my TV on anymore. Most things I watch is are demand or downloaded etc. If I'm bored I can go on netflix and watch a film or documentary. If I want to watch something I (luckily) have sky go.

There's far more ways to watch and F1 has not caught up with that, there's no on demand access, no official streaming capability, F1 doesn't even have a proper online presence. Ridiculous.

[Tucky]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

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.

Exactly. Look at other sports like football and rugby. Huge number of younger fans and undoubtedly one of the reasons for that is because the governing body of those sports don't go around saying how inept we are at paying attention and how we're all hoodies who just go around terrorizing people. All F1 is doing is insulting us and then asking "why aren't they interested?"

Bernie says kid's have no money, and he's right to an extent, but look at how many tickets and merchandise are being bought by them for other sports. His argument falls away pretty swiftly.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Bandicoot17

How many TV channels did you have back then?? 5?? What else could you watch?

I don't even need to turn my TV on anymore. Most things I watch is are demand or downloaded etc. If I'm bored I can go on netflix and watch a film or documentary. If I want to watch something I (luckily) have sky go.

There's far more ways to watch and F1 has not caught up with that, there's no on demand access, no official streaming capability, F1 doesn't even have a proper online presence. Ridiculous.

Well, my dad had this satellite thing bolted onto the side of house. So we actually had a bunch of channels. But that's neither here nor there.

I had plenty to distract me as a child. It was more intuitive for us kids to go outside than watch TV.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

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.

And that's the best way to get young viewers in, in my opinion.

That doesn't have to translate into a fear of younger fans. The latest gimmicks such as DRS have not translated into a mass following of F1 from 12 year old boys.

Take it out on the people running the sport, but no the so-called "younger generation" - it's not their fault that various stakeholders are pretending to know what they want.

[Tucky]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Well, my dad had this satellite thing bolted onto the side of house. So we actually had a bunch of channels. But that's neither here nor there.

I had plenty to distract me as a child. It was more intuitive for us kids to go outside than watch TV.

With newspapers going on about all the paedophiles and killers out and about in your neighbourhood, it's hard to convince many parents that they should let their little darlings outside their front door by themeselves

[S griffin]

I've F1 for as long as I can remember, earliest I remember was when I was 3. I didn't let long races get in my way. I got more interested as I got older. Didn't do me no harm.

[Nikki Katz]

This is the single stupidest statement he's ever made. Well, with the possible exception of the best race is one with two cars.

You don't have to market it at 15 year olds, but in a few years time they'll be your target audience and the 70 year olds will be dead. Where's the value in the series then? Don't dumb it down for the kids, but have a competitive series instead of bribes and lawsuits.

[DS"]

I understand Bernie...after all, he needs as many old F1 fans as possible, so he doesn't have to die alone with his series.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I've read the interview and I now firmly believe he's completely out of touch and two things he commented on realy stood out. He's asked by Atifa Silk, "Do you believe there is no value in reaching this young audience?".

He replies, "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 One 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."

He doesn't understand the situation with regards to 15 year old kids. Rolex watches or UBS bank accounts aren't the things that are going to attract them to F1, it's the racing itself that has to do that. However, it would seem that most kids in their teens aren't interested in motorsport, the games consul has taken over, I tried to get my 17 year old son into rfactor but no Assasin's Creed is far more exciting and enjoyable.

Atifa Silk goes on to ask, "But can’t social media help you build or amplify fan engagement?".

I won't copy the whole prargraph but the telling part of his response is, "You’re right that we should use social media to promote Formula One. I just don’t know how."

[chillibowl]

is Rolex even a real luxury watch brand or have they just made their brand synonymous with 'luxury' by advertising it to people who cant afford them. imo its an entirely manufactured perception and thats what Rolex gets out of F1.

rather if it was about advertising to people who could afford high end watches then it would take the form of subtlety advertising their luxury watches when the drivers wear on the podium....which is what they do now.

Jenson back in the Brawn days used to wear these Jaeger-LaCoultre (sp?) watches....those were class.

anyways i look forward to seeing the mad rush of high fiber laxative drinks and adult undergarment adverts and liverys...naturally luxury versions of these products are preferable

[Greem]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

anyways i look forward to seeing the mad rush of high fiber laxative drinks and adult undergarment adverts and liverys...naturally luxury versions of these products are preferable

Damart does F1?

[TheNo1F1Fan]

In my view F1 doesn't need drivers under the age of 18...

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

He doesn't understand the situation with regards to 15 year old kids. Rolex watches or UBS bank accounts aren't the things that are going to attract them to F1, it's the racing itself that has to do that. However, it would seem that most kids in their teens aren't interested in motorsport, the games consul has taken over, I tried to get my 17 year old son into rfactor but no Assasin's Creed is far more exciting and enjoyable.

The overall thrust of the interview is why isn't he putting in an online effort to draw in youngsters. His answer to that is that the big banks and watchmakers he sees as big sponsors aren't interested in 15 year olds so there's no incentive to go after them.

I do think Eccelstone is trollin' you guys a bit. Eccelstone is in a permanent state of half sincerity-half wind-up mode and it's up to us to figure which is which and what he's saying between the lines. Bernie is not interested in refusing money - that's the one constant you can count on.

But that said, I think his remarks here are fairly healthy. No need to go into meltdown over what the younger people think, take the inevitable decline in popularity in good grace and let those youngsters who 'get the sport' drift in.

[Sodemo]

F1 needs more VIP areas, and bribes, not young fans.

[codename_47]

"Hey Daddy, the grand prix is in town, can I go on my own?"

"CERTAINLY NOT! I will get Jeeves to take you in the Rolls, I have no time for that kind of thing"

Bernie obviously operates in a world where parents let their children attend grand prixs alone, let them watch races without taking an interest in it themselves, won't buy them merchandise based on their favourite drivers, won't buy them the season review Blu Ray's for Christmas...

Bernie is an idiot, but he'll be gone soon so lets hope the next guy has a little more foresight than someone who doesn't care about the next generation because he'll be dead before they become economically viable to him.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Bandicoot17

There's far more ways to watch and F1 has not caught up with that, there's no on demand access, no official streaming capability, F1 doesn't even have a proper online presence. Ridiculous.

You can get the sport streaming on your tablet via Sky can you not?

He basically cut a deal with the broadcasters and let them work away.

I think he was stung by the Sky Digital thing a few years ago and prefers the broadcasters handle the broadcasting. Eccelstone was once very cutting edge you know.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Well the 2014 finale could just be the last race I watch. Cheers Bernie.

[old man]

Well, just read the full interview and there is a lot of stuff in there that I could comment on, I don't find myself shouting at the screen or saying what a **** he is, I just think I need to consider what he says.

The depth of the interview is interesting, when asked questions by the TV guys you never get those quite thoughtful comments. You may not agree but given his record I would never dismiss his thoughts.

Certainly the comments should not be taken out of context by any of us

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

The overall thrust of the interview is why isn't he putting in an online effort to draw in youngsters. His answer to that is that the big banks and watchmakers he sees as big sponsors aren't interested in 15 year olds so there's no incentive to go after them.

His answer is, "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.", in otherwords, kids aren't buying into Rolex watches or UBS bank accounts, as he goes on to say, "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."

Speaking for myself, I didn't get into motorsport because of the various products I could potentially buy, which were being marketed by sponsors, I got into it because it was fast, exciting and there were these amazing machines and drivers right at the heart of it. If he'd rather target the 70-year-old guy who’s got plenty of cash, no wonder his F1 model is flawed.

[codename_47]

The the that baffles me the most about his comments is that none of us suddenly decided to become a fan of the sport when we matured and had some disposable income to hand.
Almost all of us have stories about a parent or grandparent whose existing love of the sport meant it was on television when we were younger or who took us to the racetrack when they went to spectate.
Or just we saw it on TV and thought the cars were cool or the racing was exciting and became a fan that way.

So to sacrifice that generation is to ensure the sport does not have access to the rolex wearing tycoon of 30-40 years into the future.
But Bernie obviously cares not a jot what happens when he is gone, he probably is laying the groundwork now so the sport collapses the second he isn't around and the entire success of the sport is laid at his feet.

Put nothing past him

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by 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...

The article is interesting.
He sees Twitter as a fad that will pass, not that social media will pass, but Twitter will have to make real money sometime and will charge commercial entities. So is it going to help F1? Maybe not much, so he hasn't pursued it.

The sections here about young people are preceded by a question that puts the answer to the second question in a slightly different light.
In the end you have to look at it an say the answers in context aren't that bad. It is just giving you an insight into how Bernie thinks about things and the way he looks at things.

He is reactive, and doesn't try to manage every reaction. He just does what he does but in the end it is what it is and you have to pay for it....

[Knowlesy]

Good old Bernie!!!

WHAT WILL HE SAY NEXT?!?

Hitler! Putin! Reeva Steenkamp! Hahaha! HAHAHAAAA!