Marketing strategies for a new racing team
Starting a new racing team in a prestigious series like MotoGP, WorldSBK or MXGP presents an exciting opportunity to capture the attention of sponsors, media and potentially millions of motorcycle riders worldwide. In this guide we will explore how to successfully market a new team, with a multifaceted approach that leverages various marketing channels, engages with fans, and creates a strong brand identity.
Several new teams have been launched to participate in the championships mentioned above in recent seasons, whilst the arrival of new series such as the WorldWCR (FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship) and the FIM E-Xplorer World Cup have led to the creation of many new racing teams.
Mission and brand
Before even beginning to create the digital assets and wider marketing material to promote your team it’s important to define the team’s identity and mission statement.
Perhaps the new team is an independent unit which is being established to promote young talent from a specific country/region such as MLav Racing, which is now in its third season giving opportunities to British riders at World Championship level. Or maybe it’s a new full factory effort from a manufacturer aiming to win at the highest level, with elite riders onboard from the word go, such as Monster Energy Triumph Racing in the 2024 MX2 World Championship, or Ducati MXGP with Tony Cairoli.
Or it might be a spin-off from an existing racing structure, venturing into a new electric championship and aiming to advocate for the promotion of EV technology.
The clear definition of what the team stands for, what its aim is and how it must present itself, will affect all the steps that follow from a marketing perspective. That will include establishing the brand of the team itself and the associated aesthetics such as logo, bike livery, rider and team uniforms, the design of the website and many other visual elements.
Taking an example from the new WorldWCR championship, the Sekhmet Racing Team are very clear about their values on their website, with founder Maddi Patterson stating, “Once the visor is down, nothing else should matter. Enter Sekhmet International Motorcycle Racing Team. We do things differently, because we can. The team epitomises drive, determination, bravery and single-minded resilience.”
With a clear mission and clear goals defined, it is then easier to set out on the journey of recruiting riders, attracting partners and making the assets you will need to market your team successfully.
Rider recruitment and securing sponsorships
There will be a number of factors that impact your ability to attract riders to the project, including budget, your existing network of contacts in the sport, the guarantees you can give around the competitiveness of your racing package and the stability of your commercial structure. In addition, riders will be assessing who you have working for the team on the sporting and technical side, as compared with your competitors.
The choice of riders to represent your team will be fundamental to the on-track performance, but also to the commercial success of your structure, based on their marketability and capacity to generate media exposure and sponsorship interest. Rider recruitment should take into account all those considerations, including sporting ability, professionalism, potential upside in terms of talent development, ability to communicate well with media and partners, existing digital/social media reach and your gut feeling on whether they will be a solid, helpful person for you and your staff to work with.
An important question to answer is, ‘Can you collaborate with riders to collectively bring sponsors to the team?’ Securing sponsorships and strategic partnerships is vital. Successful new teams are able to combine the power of underlining their overall appeal to sponsors (and the target audiences of their sponsors), along with strategic recruitment to attract the right type of riders to subsequently attract the desired level of commercial partners.
This may not be an easy balance to strike from day one, but the learnings you take from your first season of competition will be invaluable as you approach your second and third seasons, in terms of defining realistic budgets, working with riders who deliver both sporting performance and commercial value and over-performing on driving ROI to your sponsors and suppliers.
You should specifically identify brands that align with your team's ethos and create compelling sponsorship proposals that emphasise the mutual benefits of collaboration. Put yourself in the shoes of the decision makers on the sponsor side and consider how to provide them with what they are looking for by backing your project. Check out this article which guides potential sponsors on what they should look to achieve from committing to back a team or rider.
You can deliver value for your sponsors by ensuring they are featured prominently across your marketing channels, uniforms, bike livery, pit box and hospitality truck. Your team can create co-branded content with sponsors and you can ensure that they are well looked after when it comes to rider access and hosting them at team events and races.
Most championships already have strong teams in place when it comes to attracting sponsors and giving them the requisite VIP experience at races. In many cases championship organisers can advise new teams how to get up to speed with sponsorship liaison and managing corporate hospitality, so seek to make strong connections with your colleagues at championship level.
Taking care of your sponsors long term will pay dividends and is vital to marketing any racing team successfully. Your sponsors will help you grow from day one and if you have the right partners they can be powerful allies in growing your structure, reaching bigger audiences and increasing fan engagement.
Creating relevant content
In order to promote the team professionally you will need a basic archive of initial photos and videos to use on the team’s website, social media channels, to share with sponsors and to distribute to partners and media.
Photos should include studio shots of your riders and team staff in uniform, with sponsor and partner logos clearly visible. Likewise, professionally shot ‘reportage’ style shots from training sessions, team events, track events and races of your riders and staff at work are highly useful assets.
You should also make a plan for which video content you’ll produce before you launch, before your first race and what you’ll shoot (or get access to) at races. You may choose to create a mix of interviews, teasers, race highlights, sponsor focused videos and behind-the-scenes or documentary style content, mixing things up with a combination of 9x16 portrait format for reels or stories and 16x9 landscape shot longer social media videos.
Here on the Motorcycle Marketing blog we’ve previously covered the topics of How to make the most of video & photo shoots and How to create a content calendar which provide highly relevant tips here.
Whether you’re producing photos or videos at the racetrack or at other events, it’s vital to have strong pre-production, production and post-production plans to ensure you get the most from your riders and staff. Meanwhile, many championships have specific rules over the use of race footage and it’s important to understand those regulations and abide by them, making the most of whatever you are allowed to use.
If you need help with planning, producing and publishing photo and video content, feel free to contact Motorcycle Marketing for a no obligations consultancy session. Our team have produced and published content for the likes of MotoGP, WorldSBK and the Dakar Rally and we also have plenty of experience working with new teams and start-ups.
A strong digital presence
At the core of your digital marketing plan there should be a well-produced website which serves several functions. You will not need a complicated, expensive or elaborately programmed site, so beware of website development companies trying to sell you something you don’t need.
Incorporating the branding, logo, mission statement and visual content mentioned above your site should have some specific sections and content. The site should include a well-presented homepage, a news/updates section, a team page (with rider and staff profiles), a newsletter sign-up function and an About Us page which communicates the background and mission statement of the team.
It should also have a sponsors/suppliers page, a contact page and links to your social media channels. If you are planning to sell merchandise a solid Shopify store can easily be plugged into the site. Create a photo or video archive on the site, only accessible to fans and media who register with you to gain access to the contents. The website should be quick to load, mobile friendly and SEO optimised.
Winning on social
Creating a social media strategy from zero does not need to be complicated, but there will be some ground rules to follow as this article on just that subject sets out. The MotoGP World Championship publishes social media content on Facebook, Instagram, X.com (formerly Twitter), TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitch, WhatsApp and Telegram, but for a team, especially a new team, it is wiser to focus on three or four channels to start with.
Instagram, Facebook and possibly LinkedIn, YouTube and/or TikTok (depending on your objectives and target audience) may be just what you need to get started. Work out which social platforms are most important for your team and from there you can build a content calendar and recruit the right internal resources, or external agency to produce and publish the relevant content per platform.
The basic key metrics to work towards on social will be audience growth, reach and engagement and those will be important to analyse and optimise for as you look to enhance the brand power of your team and its ability to deliver value for your stakeholders and commercial partners.
Press and communications
For managing press and communications efficiently – which is essential for any professional racing outfit - many teams rely on a combination of a full-time press manager (or indeed department depending on scale), plus assistance from a specialist agency, such as Motorcycle Marketing.
Effective media relations are vital when it comes to building your team’s profile and communicating positively with journalists and content creators. The goal should be to develop a comprehensive media kit, be on the radar of all relevant media contacts nationally and globally and maintain regular communication with media to secure consistent coverage.
Your press team should be adept at creating and distributing press releases and newsletters, organising launch and sponsor events, handling media at races, providing media with all relevant assets they request and handling requests/opportunities for interviews with your riders and team staff.
Before Trackhouse Racing joined the MotoGP grid full-time for 2024, they pulled off a notable coup by signing Davide Brivio as Team Principal. Not only is Brivio one of the most experienced and respected figures in the paddock, in addition to his management and technical sporting knowledge, he is a master when it comes to media relations, easing the work of the Trackhouse press team behind-the-scenes.
Bringing it all together
In summary, marketing a new racing team in any national, regional or World Championship requires a strong brand, intelligent recruitment, strategic partnerships, robust content production, active fan engagement and effective media relations. The teams we have mentioned in this article have effectively used various marketing strategies to establish and promote their presence in a highly competitive racing scene, by using the tactics as set out above.
For further related reading check out our guide on What to consider when starting a new brand from scratch or contact us today for a free introductory session on how we can help your brand or team hit your marketing goals.
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