ANALYSIS OF ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP OF
FORMULA ONE TEAMS
The European Alcohol Policy Alliance (EUROCARE) is an alliance of
non-governemental and public health organisations with 57 member organisations across 25
European countries advocating prevention and reduction of alcohol related harm in Europe. Member
organisations are involved in advocacy and research, as well as in the provision of information and
training on alcohol issues and the service for people whose lives are affected by alcohol problems.
The mission of Eurocare is to promote policies to prevent and reduce alcohol related harm, through
advocacy in Europe. The message, in regard to alcohol consumption is “less is better”.
About the report: This report is part of a pilot project addressing sport sponsorship and alcohol
marketing, spring 2015.
Publication name: Analysis of alcohol sponsorship of Formula One teams
Publication year: 2015
Authors: Nils Garnes
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 4
WHICH F1 TEAMS HAVE ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP? ....................................................................... 4
ANALYSIS OF THE THREE TEAM’S WEBPAGES................................................................................ 4
How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands? ......................................................................... 5
Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed? .................................................................. 5
Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage?............................................................................ 5
Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcohol brands? ......................................................... 6
How many clicks to find "drink responsible message"?....................................................................... 6
Is there an annual report with sponsorship information available?...................................................... 6
ANALYSIS OF THE THREE TEAM'S FACEBOOK PAGE ..................................................................... 7
Total number of likes............................................................................................................................ 7
Are alcohol brands exposed as part of the opening page of the Facebook Page?............................. 7
Number of alcohol brand exposed in photos 22-25 May 2014, if any ................................................. 7
Number of alcohol brand exposed in written text 22-25 May 2014, if any........................................... 7
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................... 8
ANNEX 1 - ANALYSIS OF FORMULA ONE TEAMS' OFFICIAL WEBPAGE AND FACEBOOK PAGE
REGARDING ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP AND BRAND VISIBILITY.................................................... 9
ANNEX 2 – PICTURES FROM F1 TEAMS HOMEPAGE AND FACEBOOK ....................................... 12
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INTRODUCTION
During the spring 2015, Eurocare developed a pilot project addressing sport sponsorship of alcohol
brands, using Formula One (F1) as an illustration on this. F1 is an interesting case since it potentially
can combine sponsorship of a sport with marketing of alcoholic beverages. In addition, F1 and alcohol
sponsorship brings the dimension of road safety concerns.
This report addresses to what extent the direct sponsorship of F1 teams involves marketing practices
of alcoholic beverages. The report presents an analysis of the exposure of alcohol brands as part of
alcohol companies’ sponsorship of F1 teams. Furthermore, the report will also assess the visibility of
awareness of drink-driving. First, the relevant F1 teams are identified, and then an analysis of alcohol
brand exposure from each of the teams’ webpage and Facebook page will be presented.
All the pictures and other information in this report were gathered May 2015.
WHICH F1 TEAMS HAVE ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP?
From a google search for “formula one teams”, the webpage www.formula1.com appeared with an
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overview of the teams, team names and photo of cars and drivers . From this webpage, it was
identified that three out of the ten teams had sponsorship from alcohol producers. These teams were
(i) Williams Martini Racing sponsored by Martini, (ii) Force India sponsored by Smirnoff and Kingfisher,
and (iii) McLaren Honda sponsored by Johnnie Walker. On the basis of these findings, these three
teams’ webpages and Facebook account were analysed further.
ANALYSIS OF THE THREE TEAM’S WEBPAGES
Each of the teams’ official webpage were analysed and the exposure of alcohol brands, both images
and text, identified. The following questions were used in the analysis:
1) How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands?
2) Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed?
3) Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage?
4) Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcohol brands?
5) How many clicks to find "drink responsible message"?
6) Is there an annual report with sponsorship information available?
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https://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/championship/teams.html
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How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands?
All of the three teams’ webpage shows the logo and name of the sponsors of each team, and among
them alcohol producers, on their home pages without any clicks. For Williams Martini Race, the Martini
logo is exposed on the opening page by being on the car (picture #5). However, the page is only
labelled "Williams" without a reference to Martini on this page. At the home page of Force India,
Smirnoff logo is exposed on the opening page by being on the car in the picture (picture #10). At the
home page of McLaren Honda, Johnnie Walker can be found at the bottom of the page (picture #14).
Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed?
When going to the section "racing" of the Williams Martini Racing page, the name "Williams Martini
Racing" appears with a line of the theme colours of Martini crossing the full page. There are rotating
picture and the Martini brand is exposed on helmet, car and driver, and also for the other members of
the team working (pictures #6 and #7). There are several pictures like this on the page. The sponsors
of the team are listed when scrolling down, and Martini is the first to be mentioned. When clicking on
the Martini logo, it takes you to another page presenting Martini further (picture #8). There is no
mentioning of road safety or drink driving.
When looking at the Force India team’s home page, the Smirnoff logo is visible by being written on the
car and visible in several photos of the team (picture #11). When scrolling down on the home page,
the sponsors of the team appears and Smirnoff and Kingfisher are listed.
For the McLaren Honda team’s home page, the logo of Johnnie Walker is exposed in the bottom of the
home page and also under the section "partners" in the top menu (picture #14).
Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage?
When clicking on the Martini section of the Williams Martini Racing page, there are two options to go
further. One takes you to the Martini webpage and another to their Facebook page (picture #9). There
is no link to a page on road safety or drink driving. On the Martini page they ask for age verification
and it is written "enjoy martini responsibly" under the age verification area.
Force India has two alcohol producers as sponsors. By clicking on each of the sponsors' logos you are
taken to a new page of each sponsor. The Kingfisher page (picture #12) gives you the option of going
either to their webpage (age verification), Facebook page, Twitter account or YouTube account. None
of the pages gives any "drink responsible" message and there are no other option where this can be
found from the Kingfisher page in Force India webpage. This is also the case for the Smirnoff section
of the page (picture #13), where the options further are their homepage (age verification), Facebook
page or Twitter account. Similar to Kingfisher, none of the pages refers to "drink responsibly"
messages.
McLaren Honda is the team with the most sophisticated branded page when clicking on the sponsors.
When clicking on Johnnie Walker, a new page appears which are branded (picture #15). The text on
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this page (picture #16) gives information about the partnership: "McLaren-Honda epitomise the
characteristics of Johnnie Walker: pioneering, progressive and the essence of quality, style and
sophistication. The last seven years have shown the partnership to be the perfect blend". The text
further present two initiatives: one is called "Step Inside" which presents more about the F1 world, and
the second is called "Join the Pact" which promote responsible drinking and awareness on drink
driving.
Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcohol brands?
For the Williams Martini Racing team, the word "Martini" is part of the team name and the Martini logo
and theme colours are dominating the webpage, car, driver and helmet (picture #6). For Force India,
the team's name or logo is not mentioning the sponsors Smirnoff or Kingfisher. However, Smirnoff is
visible on top of the home page by being exposed on the car (picture #10). For McLaren Honda, there
is no mentioning of Johnnie Walker in the team’s name, logo or front page.
How many clicks to find "drink responsible message"?
The webpage of Williams Martini Racing presents road safety as one of three corporate social
responsibility focuses (three clicks away from the opening page). However, drink driving is not
mentioned and the focus is on "dangerous driving" and their commitment to this by making road safety
simulators. They also present their commitment to the UN Global Ministerial Conference on Road
Safety, being a promoter of this.
For the Force India team, no message or link to another page with that information is found.
McLaren Honda is the team with the most visible messaging, four clicks away from the opening page.
When going to the Johnnie Walker presentation at the team’s page, you will be taken to
http://www.jointhepact.com/ - which is one section of the Johnnie Walker's Facebook page (picture
#17).
Is there an annual report with sponsorship information available?
The annual report for Williams Martini Racing is available and can be downloaded. However, it is not
easy to trace specific Martini sponsorship contribution. The annual report for Force India is not found
on their webpage and no link to further company webpages is found either. For McLaren Honda, there
are links to further pages like "McLaren Automotive" etc, but it is hard to understand which of these
would be the company behind the team and therefore hard to navigate to find the annual report.
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ANALYSIS OF THE THREE TEAM'S FACEBOOK PAGE
In addition to the teams’ official webpages, the teams’ official Facebook page were analysed, focusing
nd
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on 22 -25 of May 2014, which were the date for the Grand Prix de Monaco 2014. The following
questions were used in the analysis of their Facebook page.
1) Total number of likes
2) Are alcohol brands exposed as part of the opening page of the Facebook Page?
3) Number of alcohol brand exposed in photos 22-25 May 2014, if any
4) Number of alcohol brand exposed in written text 22-25 May 2014, if any
Total number of likes
Williams Martini Racing has 655 000 likes, Force India 871 000 likes and McLaren Honda 2 900 000.
These numbers are high and the outreach of these teams’ activities is therefore very wide.
Are alcohol brands exposed as part of the opening page of the Facebook Page?
Given the name of the Williams Martini Racing team, the name includes the alcohol brand Martini. The
name of the team is the profile picture which also includes Martini’s theme colours in a line.
Furthermore, the cover photo for the Facebook page is a F1 car with the logo of Martini Vodka and the
martini lines (picture #1). On the Facebook page of Force India, the alcohol sponsor of the team is less
visible. Half of the Smirnoff letters are visible on the drivers’ suits (picture #3). Team McLaren Honda
has no exposure of alcohol sponsors in their profile photo, background photo or in the name.
Number of alcohol brand exposed in photos 22-25 May 2014, if any
On the Williams Martini Racing Facebook page, the theme colours of Martini and the name in profile
picture reflects the name and colours of the alcohol sponsor. In addition to this, there was a banner for
the team made for Monaco 2014, which reflects the Martini colours and repeats the name Martini
(picture #2). On the Facebook page of Force India, the sponsor Smirnoff is visible on the F1 car in one
photo. In addition, for those who knows and recognises the orange colour of Kingfisher, the brand and
colours would be recognised from the suit of the driver (picture #4). However, the name of the brand is
not visible. There was no photo of the logo or name of alcohol sponsors at the Facebook page of
McLaren Honda during the indicated period.
Number of alcohol brand exposed in written text 22-25 May 2014, if any
None of the team exposed any written text including the name of their alcohol sponsors during the
indicated time period.
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CONCLUSION
This report has been made in an effort to document exposure of alcohol brands from the sponsorship
by alcohol brands of several F1 teams. The reason why this is interesting is to address the issue of
sponsorship as a marketing exercise, and analyse to what extent the direct sponsorship of F1 teams
involves marketing practices.
One of the three teams analysed, Williams Martini Racing, has incorporated the alcohol sponsor in the
F1 team to a high degree. The name of the team, the colours and element used in the logo, the car,
helmet and suit of the driver are all reflecting the alcohol sponsor. This will naturally lead to a high
degree of exposure of the alcohol sponsor, not only during the race but also in all communication on
e.g. Facebook. Furthermore, the team seems to have a high level of awareness in having a corporate
social responsibility (CSR) strategy. It is therefore interesting to see that there is no focus on drink
driving as part of their efforts to aim for better road safety through their CSR.
The second team analysed, Force India, has a clear visibility of their alcohol sponsor by including the
logo of the sponsors on the car and the driver’s suit. However, the sponsor is not reflected in the name
of the team and neither in the profile picture.
The third team, McLaren Honda, is in one way the most discrete when it comes to expose their alcohol
sponsor, thinking of the name of the team and visibility in the team presentation. However, when
taking one more step this is the team to seem to have developed a long relationship with their sponsor
and can present highly branded material and campaigns where F1 and the alcohol sponsor are both
featured. One finding is that their apparently good effort in addressing road safety and drink driving,
the “Join the Pact” campaign, leads the viewer directly to their Facebook page, where the campaign is
only one section of the Johnnie Walker Facebook page, and would therefore be better defined as a
marketing exercise than awareness campaign.
The conclusions presented in the report will be used further in Eurocare’s work on alcohol sponsorship
of sport.
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ANNEX 1 - ANALYSIS OF FORMULA ONE TEAMS' OFFICIAL WEBPAGE AND FACEBOOK PAGE REGARDING ALCOHOL
SPONSORSHIP AND BRAND VISIBILITY
Question
Findings
Photo
Analysis of Formula One Teams' webpage
Williams Martini Racing
How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands
Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed
No click - Martini logo is exposed on the opening page by being on the car. However, the
page is only labelled "Williams"
When going to the section "racing" - the name "Williams Martini Racing" appears with a
line of the theme colours of Martini crossing the full page. There are rotating picture and
the Martini brand is exposed on helmet, car and driver, and also for the other members
of the team working. There are several pictures like this on the page. The sponsors of the
team is listed when scrolling down, and Martini is the first to be mentioned. When
clicking on the Martini logo, it takes you to antoher page presenting Martini further (#8).
There are no mentioning of road safety or drink driving.
Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage
There are two options to go further, one which takes you to the Martini webpage and
another to their Facebook page (#9). There is no link to a page on road safety or drink
driving. On the Martini page they ask for age verification and it is mentioned "enjoy
martini responsibly".
Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcohol
brands
Yes, "Martini" is part of the team name and Martini logo and theme colours are
dominant on the webpage, car, driver and helmet
How many clicks to find "drink resp message"
Annual report with sponsorship information available
How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands
The webpage presents road safety as one of three corporate social responsibility focus (3
clicks) - however, drink driving is not mentioned and the focus is on "dangerous driving"
and their commitment to this by making road safety simulators. They also present their
comitment to the UN Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, being a promoter of
this.
Annual report available, not easy to trace specific Martini sponsorship contribution
Force India
No click - Smirnoff logo is exposed on the opening page by being on the car.
#5
#6, #7,
#8
#9
#10
Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed
Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage
Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcohol
brands
How many clicks to find "drink resp message"
Annual report with sponsorship information available
Smirnoff logo is on the car and visible in several photos of the team. When scrolling
down on the home page, the sponsors of the team appears and Smirnoff and Kingfisher
are listed.
By clicking on the sponsors' logos you are taken to a new page of each sponsor. The
Kingfisher page (#12) gives you the option of going either to their webpage (age
verification), facebook page, twitter account or youtube account. None of the pages
gives any "drink responsible" message and there are no other option where this can be
found from the Kingfisher page in Force India webpage. For Smirnoff, you are taken to a
similar page for Smirnoff (#13), where the options further are either their homepage
(age verification), facebook page or twitter account. Similar to Kingfisher, none of the
pages refers to "drink responsibly" messages.
No click - all the sponsors' logo are listed and also Johnnie Walker at the bottom of the
homepage
Where on the page are brand names and logo exposed
Johnnie Walker is exposed in the bottom of the home page and also under the section
"partners" in the top menu
Are the team's name/logo/front page including alcohol
brands
#12,
#13
The team's name or logo is not mentioning Smirnoff or Kingfisher. However, Smirnoff is
visible on the front page by being exposed on the car
Not found
Not found
McLaren Honda
How many clicks to find exposure of alcohol brands
Are there further links to alcohol brand's webpage
#11
When clicking on Johnnie Walker, a new page appears which are branded (#15). The text
on this page (#16) tells about the partnership: "McLaren-Honda epitomise the
characteristics of Johnnie Walker: pioneering, progressive and the essence of quality,
style and sophistication. The last seven years have shown the partnership to be the
perfect blend". The text further presents two initiatives: one calles "Step Inside" which
presents more about F1 world, and the second is called "Join the Pact" which promote
responsible drinking and awareness on drink driving.
No
10
#14
#14
#15,
#16
How many clicks to find "drink resp message"
4 clicks -from the Johnnie Walker presentation you will be taken to
http://www.jointhepact.com/ - which is one section of the Johnnie Walker's Facebook
page.
Annual report with sponsorship information available
There are links to further pages like "mclaren automotive" etc - but hard to navigate to
find the annual report
#17
Analysis of Formula One team's facebook activitity 19-22 May 2014
Alcohol brand exposed in photos during this period, if any
Alcohol brand exposed in written text during this period, if
any
Number of likes
Alcohol brands exposed as part of the formal presentation
Alcohol brand exposed in photos during this period, if any
Alcohol brand exposed in written text during this period, if
any
Number of likes
Alcohol brands exposed as part of the formal presentation
Alcohol brand exposed in photos during this period, if any
Alcohol brand exposed in written text during this period, if
any
Number of likes
Alcohol brands exposed as part of the formal presentation
Williams Martini Racing
Martini theme colours and name in profile picture and banner for Monaco 2014
No - only in photo
655 000
The name of the team ("Williams Martini Racing"), the profile picture with team name
and martini coloured line, the cover photo with a F1 car with the logo of Martini Vodka
and the martini lines
Force India
Smirnoff is visible on the car in one photo and for those who knows the orange colour of
Kingfisher, that would be recognised from the suit of the driver
No - only in photo
871 000
Not really, half of the "Smirnoff" letters are visible on the drivers' suits
McLaren Honda
No
No
2 900 000
No - not in profile photo, background photo nor in team name
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#2
#1
#4
#3
ANNEX 2 – PICTURES FROM F1 TEAMS HOMEPAGE AND FACEBOOK
Picture #1
Picture #2
Picture #3
Picture #4
13
Picture #5
Picture #6
14
Picture #7
Picture #8
15
Picture #9
Picture #10
16
Picture #11
Picture #12
17
Picture #13
Picture #14
18
Picture #15
Picture #16
19
Picture #17
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