Marketing News: Formula One launches OTT platform

Écrit par Gary Engelbrecht

Paru le 7 mars 2018

Formula One (F1), looking to change perceptions of the brand and better serve its fans, is making its biggest investment in digital ever with the launch of an Over-The-Top (OTT) live subscription service. “Live streaming video is an exciting space changing almost daily,” said F1’s head of Digital Frank Arthofer.

F1 TV will be launched across 40 markets – including Germany, France, USA, Mexico, Belgium, Austria, Hungary and much of Latin America. The service will be available in English, French, German and Spanish before the start of the Formula One season on 13 May.

The upcoming race in Barcelona will coincide with the influential Mobile World Congress event . F1 TV will allow fans to watch ad-free live streams of each race, while on-board cameras will show live content from the driver’s point of view.

Formula One’s marketing director, Ellie Norman, said that 2018 is about “launching the brand” – and F1 TV will play a major role in opening up the business to new digital opportunities. Norman, said her main focus this year is giving Formula One an identity “with fans at the heart…every decision we are making is about how it serves the fan, so if it doesn’t serve the fan, it doesn’t serve Formula One.”

Alongside F1 TV, Norman said 'fan festivals' will also be key to bringing people closer to the sport. Following a successful launch in London last summer, another four events will take place this year in Shanghai, Marseilles, Berlin and Miami.

“It’s an opportunity for us to take some of those core elements of Formula One but to take them into city centres; to an audience that has never engaged with, or been to a Formula One race before,” Norman explained. “The ambition is to increase that number to 15 in 2019.”

Source: JamesAllenOnF1.com

Photo: Pixabay