Motor racing sold Budweiser, Viagra, motor oil, Martini

Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, who runs British car brand and F1 team Aston Martin, made his views clear at the grand opening of the Aston Martin dealership on Park Avenue in Manhattan on June 14 latest: A Drive to Survive film crew hasn’t let it go. The series, which has followed the various F1 teams since 2017, also focuses on his son, Lance Stroll, who is driving one of the team’s cars with astonishing results this year.

The next step for his father is to ward off the marque’s notorious bad fortune and bring it out of Ferrari’s shadow to the wealthy.

Outside on Park Avenue, through one of New York’s largest bay windows, passers-by take cellphone photos of the alien-looking Valkyrie AMR Pro that dominates the luxurious showroom.

Designed by F1 legend Adrian Newey, this $4 million fantasy powered by a 1,000 horsepower engine is banned from public roads. The 40 units built can only be driven on the circuit. This beastly machine is the antithesis of the elegant cars that forged Aston Martin’s post-war image. However, it is with the Valkyrie and the F1 that Mr. Stroll wants to attract young buyers who know nothing about Aston Martin, except, perhaps, that it is British, expensive or that it is the brand of favorite of James Bond.

According to Mr. Stroll, the time is ripe. For decades, F1 in the United States was a fringe sport almost as obscure as cricket. But since the Netflix hit of the Drive to Survive series, F1’s ratings and popularity have skyrocketed.

After being home to the NASCAR circuit, the United States is hosting three Formula 1 races this year – the first in 40 years – including the next ones in Austin and Las Vegas.

“Who wins on Sunday sells on Monday.” That saying has never been truer,” added Stroll, referring to a cliché that dates back to early NASCAR racing.

The F1 effect allows Aston Martin to be optimistic about its finances and ambitious in the model launches it plans. In 2022, the company recorded an operating loss of 152 million, even though its revenue increased by 26%. But according to Mr. Stroll, Aston Martin is ahead of its goal of selling more than 9,000 cars and making $2 billion a year, largely due to the success of the DBX SUV. Half of the 6,412 vehicles sold by Aston Martin in 2022 were DBXs.

Aston Martin is 110 years old and its financial losses are as much a part of its history as its legendary Agent 007 James Bond cars, including the DB5 driven by Sean Connery in the 1964 film Goldfinger (a historic product placement, well ahead of his time).

Aston Martin management likes to quote market research from last January, which found that 96% of US customers said they were more likely to consider a purchase because of the F1 connection. This link “makes cars more exciting to drive” and “improves the brand’s technological reputation”, say 98% of those who already own an Aston Martin.

A team from Aston Martin is tasked with “taking what [the manufacturer] has learned in racing and finding a way to apply it to the open road,” says Stroll.

Aston Martin can measure the effects of F1 in real time: According to Stroll, during races around the world, traffic increases by 25% on the Aston Martin website web tool allowing consumers to configure models and to know the price.

Other measures of the F1 effect are more subjective, in particular on the improvement of the morale of the troops.

Last June, Lance Stroll drove his race car through the open areas of Aston Martin’s new headquarters, which cost $260 million to build, just opposite Silverstone Circuit, England. Stroll spread slimy tire marks all over the waxed floors, much to the delight of the employees.

Ricky Ray Butler is CEO of BENlabs, a company that uses artificial intelligence in product placement in the entertainment industry. He helped General Motors promote their electric models in the Barbie movie (Barbie’s 1956 Electrified Corvette; Ken’s Hummer EV; a 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS). According to Mr Butler, Formula 1 and Drive to Survive give Aston Martin a golden opportunity to expand its audience and take market share from the competition.

According to BENlabs research, F1 audiences are currently less interested in Aston Martin than other luxury brands, including Mercedes-Benz, which until recently had dominated the series for years.

Since 41% of viewers avoid ads, integrating a product into content in a natural, unforced way grabs more audience attention and leads to better results, says Ricky Ray Butler. Lawrence Stroll doesn’t always appreciate the contrived drama of Drive to Survive, but nothing feels more natural than Aston Martin in real life, striving to survive and win in the ruthless jungle that is Formula 1.

As for the Stroll father and son duo, their growing notoriety contributes to the power of the brand, which depends on their image and their place in popular culture. Aston Martin proves that Formula 1 can help sell cars.

“Here, we hang brake calipers on the walls rather than jackets or dresses, but the principle is the same”, explains Lawrence Stroll, revealing his professional past in fashion, notably as a shareholder of Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger .

“You show how you want to be perceived by the world. The watch on your wrist, the shoes on your feet, the car you drive. It’s all what you are. »