F1 agrees to tweak car bodywork for more sponsorship opportunities

Formula One teams have agreed to modify the bodywork of sports cars to allow for more space for sponsorship logos.This comes as sponsorship considerations have become a growing factor in discussions about bodywork recently, according to Motorsport. As such, sponsorship proposals submitted by two Formula One teams out of five were agreed upon and will be adopted for 2019.Meanwhile, Formula One has appointed Wavemaker and Brainlabs to manage its global media duties for the first time. Wavemaker will offer lead support on Formula One's global brand campaign, working to further reengage its current customer base, as well as connect the brand to a new, younger target audience across 90 markets worldwide.Brainlabs will work alongside Wavemaker on Formula One's performance marketing, helping to grow the momentum behind its paid strategy across digital channels worldwide. In a statement to Marketing, a spokesperson for Brainlabs said that the appointment is for a period of 12 months and a pitch was held during the last few months of 2017.These appointments are the latest step in Formula One's expansion plan, with Wavemaker and Brainlabs collaborating with Edelman and Wieden+Kennedy to support Formula One. The pitch was handled by UK agency Oystercatchers.According to director of marketing Ellie Norman, both agencies were selected for their flexibility and versatility, passion for the Formula One brand and bespoke approaches.“Both Wavemaker and Brainlabs are standout agencies in their respective fields as curators of engaging content that resonates with its target audiences. These agencies will be valuable strategic partners as we look towards the 2018 season and our continued ambition to be more mobile and digital led," Norman added.Recently, Formula One also revealed a new logo as the first step in its rebranding. According to Reuters, the new design reportedly symbolises the look of a Formula One car with a “modern-retro feel”, replacing the previous logo introduced 30 years ago by former Formula One commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.  But the logo ran into trademark issues, as its latest logo is said to contain striking similarities to one used by 3M for its Futuro product line of compression tights.Norman reportedly said that the new logo originated from fan feedback and would be “easier to work with” on mobile and digital platforms. While the management at Formula One was positive about the new logo, fans however, commented that there was no need to change a perfectly fine logo and that the new design seemed simple and rushed. Fully acquired by Liberty Media for US$4.4 billion in 2016, the completion of the acquisition saw Formula One renamed to the Formula One Group. Chase Carey was appointed as the new chairman of Formula One and took over from Bernie Ecclestone in 2017.Last year, Singapore GP and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will continue to host the FIA Formula 1 World Championship for four more years from 2018 to 2021. According to an SGP press statement, the announcement comes against the background of a year-to-date 19% increase in ticket sales, with the weekend sales still to be included. In its first decade, the race has yielded significant economic benefits, attracting over 450,000 international visitors to Singapore and about SG$1.4 billion in tourism receipts.Read also:Singapore F1 Grand Prix not just a vanity project, attest marketersMarketers, think beyond the Grand Prix race weekend