Bernie has a Silver Moment...

  • Thread starter Thread starter WheelmanSteve
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F1 doesn't need an 84 year old corrupt man to give directions for the sport. But he is right about this topic, because it is too hard to generalize for all "young fans" what they want... As a kid all I cared about was seeing the driver I chose win. Nothing about branding, or engaging in the race socially.
 
just proves that all he cares about it the money in his wallet and not the fans! that's why I moved to sports cars, its all about the fans.
example: you have a pit walk about before the race to meat the drives and see the cars. ! don't think you get that in F1!
 
I guess I have to admit that Bernie is right that the 15 year olds aren't going to be buying much from those sponsoring drivers and teams (sans Red Bull, which probably makes most of their profits from the 15-25 age group), but that's not really why you go for that demographic anyways. You do go after that demographic however because eventually those 15 year olds will have some disposable income and you want them to be sucked into the sport at that point, which will also mean they are already familiar with the sponsors in the sport.
 
not to motion that people my age (16) will grow up a seeing these brands and reminding them of the brands associated with F1 and feeling that they trust of are already familiar with it so they trust it and maby buy it!

and the new F1 diriver will still be a kid! lol
 
Peasantslayer
Cheese tyres, double points, ideas for artificial floor sparks and artificial weather, massive run off areas and they are just the gimmicky problems but I don't mind DRS.
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Oh, understand it now... Original was a bit off for me.

imo, I don't see it being wrong to have double points, but maybe at a track that's somewhat mid-season like Monaco, as WEC has Le Mans for their dp race.

It is ridiculous some of the things we have seen this season. The trumpet exhaust Bernie wanted to work so well for Mercedes but never did, the limitation of pit to driver communication, and a few others I could mention have all gone wrong for this season. I wish desperately they would go back to V8's but I don't think the FIA wants that to happen.

But yes, it is a bit of a gimmick and is turning into a bit NASCAR-ish like they have with the chase this year.
 
Swagger897
F1 doesn't need an 84 year old corrupt man to give directions for the sport.
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Haha, prove it :) Or the same about any other massively rich businessman/woman, nice guys don't "make it" :)


@WheelmanSteve, the article you linked was the wrong one - as it says at the top it's a re-write of this one... as you'll see Bernie doesn't say "F1 doesn't need younger fans"... and you missed his much better comment about women. If you read the totality of what he's saying in an article about branding and the direction of the business his thinking (as you'd expect from someone with his business 'gift') seems absolutely correct in terms of the sponsorship placement.

You linked an article that took a small part and re-wrote it with a wildly misleading header... read your own links more carefully perhaps? :D
 
TenEightyOne
Haha, prove it :) Or the same about any other massively rich businessman/woman, nice guys don't "make it" :)


@WheelmanSteve, the article you linked was the wrong one - as it says at the top it's a re-write of this one... as you'll see Bernie doesn't say "F1 doesn't need younger fans"... and you missed his much better comment about women. If you read the totality of what he's saying in an article about branding and the direction of the business his thinking (as you'd expect from someone with his business 'gift') seems absolutely correct in terms of the sponsorship placement.

You linked an article that took a small part and re-wrote it with a wildly misleading header... read your own links more carefully perhaps? :D
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/w...ief-settles-bribery-case-for-100-million.html

I'm pretty sure that you have read that already, but I don't understand how bribery beats bribery.
 
Swagger897
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/w...ief-settles-bribery-case-for-100-million.html

I'm pretty sure that you have read that already, but I don't understand how bribery beats bribery.
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Bribery is a criminal act; surely you're aware of that? That means that, simply, you're wrong.

It's not uncommon for courts to have settlement systems; this case was settled normally and legally. The sum was large because it was a large case, you didn't hear about the 1000s of others settled for comparably tiny amounts. You can't call it "bribery" unless you misunderstand the definition of that word.
 
TenEightyOne
Bribery is a criminal act; surely you're aware of that? That means that, simply, you're wrong.

It's not uncommon for courts to have settlement systems; this case was settled normally and legally. The sum was large because it was a large case, you didn't hear about the 1000s of others settled for comparably tiny amounts. You can't call it "bribery" unless you misunderstand the definition of that word.
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It was the fact that the case was dismissed before a ruling of guilt was ever determined is why I think it is bribery. I have not looked into similar cases where the settlement was reached before a guilt ruling was asked, but I don't think they are that common.

In my eyes I see Mr. Eccelstone did something unlawful, went to court to hush the judge, and left that day without a drop of sweat.
 
Swagger897
It was the fact that the case was dismissed before a ruling of guilt was ever determined is why I think it is bribery. I have not looked into similar cases where the settlement was reached before a guilt ruling was asked, but I don't think they are that common.
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Then you should, it's normal practice in Germany where this case was heard.

Swagger897
In my eyes I see Mr. Eccelstone did something unlawful, went to court to hush the judge
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You're entitled to that opinion but the facts are utterly wrong, I'm afraid. It was lawful... talk of "hushing the judge" in a such a massively publicised case seems silly.
 
Bernie doesn't care about kids from this era because by the time kids get old enough to buy Rolex watches he'll be gone already.

He did care about kids from the 1970's, 80's, 90's though. They're the ones paying now, in the time frame that matters to him.
 
Bernie has a point. Young people are not as interested in F1 racing as they used to be.

The same thing is true in North America. NASCAR attendance is way down, and circuit owners are reducing seating capacity all across the country to make their venues look less empty on TV.

The problem is deep-seated. Firstly, not only are the youth less interested in racing cars and cars in general, but so is most everybody else. The costs of attending a front-line race - and buying a performance street car - has surpassed the ability of many working people to afford. The youth are far more interested in social media and its technology than they are in cars of any kind. Frankly, cars, and racing cars, are old-fashioned, really nearly passe.

The original purpose of Grand Prix racing when it was instituted over 100 years ago was for manufacturers to introduce cars to people who, in many cases, had never even seen one before. That purpose is now completely obsolete, and the F1 industry is now groping for a purpose.

NASCAR has found a great hype machine in their new Chase format. The non-winner Newman now stands to be Champion, while the biggest winner, Keselowski, is sucking his thumb, and fistfights generate much positive press.

Next year, I expect they will find a way for the cars to shoot flames for enhanced spectator appeal. I say bring on the artificial fire-spitting trumpet exhaust
 
Okay. we dont need young fans.

But can you at least sastify us motorsport fans by, uh, NOT downgrading the engine to V6 and make another generic "so you called" Tilke's Disneyland-safe level of tracks.

You know, the more I see Bernie's news, the more I hate him. He cares about money and ONLY money, symptom of almost all company/work decay ever. Ive lost interest in F1 and only watch whenever they on a new track or laugh at their V6 sound.
 
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Maybe he is confused by YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, iPhones, and basically all the other stuff that young people are interested now.

Seriously though there's bigger meaning in all this. I'm quite certain that Ecclestone hasn't understood this, but young people just aren't interested in cars or driving anymore, ability to drive isn't something you must learn when you turn old enough to drive for young people. Every year percentage of people getting drivers license out of people turning old enough decreases, because they can use social media while using public transport and don't see driving as useful skill. Then there's growing idea of motorsport being useless and wasting nature resources. Having less and less young fans isn't just problem of F1, but the problem of motorsport in general.
 
FrzGT
Okay. we dont need young fans.

But can you at least sastify us motorsport fans by, uh, NOT downgrading the engine to V6 and make another generic "so you called" Tilke's Disneyland-safe level of tracks.

You know, the more I see Bernie's news, the more I hate him. He cares about money and ONLY money, symptom of almost all company/work decay ever. Ive lost interest in F1 and only watch whenever they on a new track or laugh at their V6 sound.
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It was the FIA's decision to go to V6's... FOM had nothing to do but listen or loose its business. (Renault would leave)
 
Dotini
Bernie has a point. Young people are not as interested in F1 racing as they used to be.
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The point though is that the article is about how he sells F1's sponsors to fans. F1's sponsors themselves ARE Rolex and whoever the bank is. How teams sell sponsorship and engage in social media is a completely different issue; it's not Bernie's concern and there's no reason for it to be. He deals with the sponsors of the F1 roadshow itself. And, as he says, young people aren't his market.

The article doesn't deal with how young people might/might not (or should/should not) be engaged by the 90%* of the F1 media machine that has nothing to do with him.

The OP's linked article also failed to completely miss that yet make a surprisingly click-baitable headline out of it. Quelle surprise.


*Made up, like 82% of all good statistics. But maybe about right.
 
Targeting seniors may be a working short/middle term strategy based on 20th century demographic studies indeed.

Having just bought Sauber, Sonova Holding AG threatens to quit F1 in case of engine unfreeze.

Pfizer still in talks with Manor’s administrators, but slowly getting there...
 
Soundtrack
Targeting seniors may be a working short/middle term strategy based on 20th century demographic studies indeed.
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Very very few youngsters buy Rolex watches or black-card bank accounts. That's his point, those are the sponsors he deals with. Young people aren't important to that market. That has nothing to do with team sponsorship, that isn't his problem and, given that it inevitably carries many more "youth" brands, it's a section that takes care of itself.

Fortunately most other news channels are picking up on the comments about women - the real shocker in the story rather than a narrow misreading of a sensible comment.
 

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