Coca-Cola and F1

[ascarmarshal]

Originally Posted by Andydickens

Actually, its kind of odd how Coke hasn't been involved earlier, instead of tooling around in these little local sub categories like NASCAR.

NASCAR a sub category? I doubt it. NASCAR averages 160,000 fans on race day, is broadcast in 180+ countries and the tv figures worldwide are greater than F1 ( sources NASCAR and FIA). NASCAR has the biggest weekly live TV broadcast in the world.

[raul_iulian]

Can't wait to see a CocaCola Squad!!!
And if Sato will be racing for them that would be sweet !
And ofcourse that means Honda engines!

[SpawnyWhippet]

Originally Posted by ascarmarshal

NASCAR a sub category? I doubt it. NASCAR averages 160,000 fans on race day, is broadcast in 180+ countries and the tv figures worldwide are greater than F1 ( sources NASCAR and FIA). NASCAR has the biggest weekly live TV broadcast in the world.

Ummm, it was a joke... never mind

[foreversideways]

Originally Posted by grandprixdiary

I had lunch in a superb restaurant called 'Le Roannay' at Spa on the Saturday of the GP and there were about 30 Coca cola guests being wined and dined in there (this was a £100 plus lunch) and I got the impression that a certain Japanese manufacturer was picking up the tab, and it wasn't Honda !

Rob.

it is a very nice place to stay as well. I was there a couple of years ago for the F3000 race. The food and the wine are a little pricey though.

[Dan Fielden]

Originally Posted by ascarmarshal

Actually 7 Up comes from the Pepsi stable

Ohh see i said i wasn't sure its because alot of the other drinks are such as Fanta and that. Anyway sorry about that *fielden regrets the time wasting*

[grandprixdiary]

Originally Posted by foreversideways

it is a very nice place to stay as well. I was there a couple of years ago for the F3000 race. The food and the wine are a little pricey though.

It was indeed 'pricey' - but a haven of peace on a wet race day. I wrote an article on it for those nice folks at Grand Prix.com if you are interested..

http://www.grandprix.com/ft/ft15687.html

Rob

[EHS]

Originally Posted by grandprixdiary

I have photos too ! Anyway, there is one reason and one reason only why Coke have not been so keen on F1 and that is down to the association with the cancer sticks....

Just because you speak authoritatively, doesn't mean you're right. You're wrong.

Coca Cola is side by side with "cancer sticks," and sponsor the longest "cancer stick" race of the year:





Get over it -- they don't need Formula 1 fans as a market, you're not that important to them. Otherwise they would be there. As simple as that.

[grandprixdiary]

Don't be so touchy, I'm only reporting what I have heard. Just because they (Coca Cola) don't mind the association with fags in NASCAR does not mean it applies to the global sport of F1. Who knows what their logic is ? There have been rumours in the past of Coca Cola getting involved in F1 and the same old chestnut comes out - I'm just saying it again..

Rob

[ascarmarshal]

Originally Posted by EHS

Just because you speak authoritatively, doesn't mean you're right. You're wrong.

Coca Cola is side by side with "cancer sticks," and sponsor the longest "cancer stick" race of the year:

EDIT picture dumplicate removed

Get over it -- they don't need Formula 1 fans as a market, you're not that important to them. Otherwise they would be there. As simple as that.

As far as I aware there is no tobacco sponsorship in the top levels of NASCAR.

[EHS]

Originally Posted by ascarmarshal

As far as I aware there is no tobacco sponsorship in the top levels of NASCAR.

As you know, not any more, because of U.S. governmental regulations, not because of Coca Cola's objections. And Coke was sponsoring merrily away right next to tobacco -- that was the point.

R.J.Reynolds Tobacco Company has sponsored NASCAR since the 1960's, and did so until I believe two years ago. That's when the laws changed.

BTW -- you do know that the "Winston" shown in the photos above and on the "Winston Cup" poster below is a cigarette brand, yes? All of Nascar was named for a cigarette for about fifeteen years.

As are Marlboro, Kool, Camel, Skoal (tobacco), etc., etc.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

http://hometown.aol.com/touchdownjets/images/car3.jpg

http://hometown.aol.com/touchdownjets/images/car9.jpg

http://hometown.aol.com/touchdownjets/images/bandit.jpg

http://www.erc.msstate.edu/~roger/na...es/camel23.jpg

[ascarmarshal]

I am aware of what Winston is and RJ Reynolds came into NASCAR in 1970/71 with help from Junior Johnson. The last Winston Cup Series was in 2003 and won by Matt Kenseth

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by EHS

Get over it -- they don't need Formula 1 fans as a market, you're not that important to them. Otherwise they would be there. As simple as that.

clearly the point of this whole thread, started by numerous articles and stories from many sources, is that coca cola does see the importance of advertising in F1 and are disscussing that possibility of doing just that. personally i dont think anyone working for the marketing team at Coke considers one one the worlds largest bi-weekly viewing audiences not relevant.
and the logic is there, one of there largets competitors in the global refresment market(red bull) now has unparralled access to over 100 milllion viewers every race and if Coke wants people to continue to ask for coke over pepsi rather than red bull over coke they will get into the game. thats how branding works!

[EHS]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

clearly the point of this whole thread, started by numerous articles and stories from many sources, is that coca cola does see the importance of advertising in F1 and are disscussing that possibility of doing just that. personally i dont think anyone working for the marketing team at Coke considers one one the worlds largest bi-weekly viewing audiences not relevant.
and the logic is there, one of there largets competitors in the global refresment market(red bull) now has unparralled access to over 100 milllion viewers every race and if Coke wants people to continue to ask for coke over pepsi rather than red bull over coke they will get into the game. thats how branding works!

Well, my understanding was that other points of view are allowed, particularly if they are more valid. Coca Cola has had the opportunity to sponsor F1 for over 35 years now, and they have not. It's not their aversion to motorsports, or even tobacco, as we've seen.

It's simply their aversion to F1.

The international branding is already there -- Pepsi has had fifty years to try an unseat Coca Cola in Europe/Asia, and couldn't do it even with the help of Krushchev. In the US it's a different story.

People can discuss and report anything; the bottom line, Coke doesn't need F1, if anything, F1 needs Coke.

The Red Bull example is specious. Red Bull is a sponsor of F1 because they need to be -- no one knew who Red Bull was ten years ago.

Sixty-five years ago, even Chinese on the slopes of Burma were already drinking Coke. They didn't drink Red Bull, that's for sure.

http://www.colawp.com/seasonal/20010...ry/coke1-1.jpg

[chillibowl]

absolutly other points of view are allowed, but photo evidence aside i still dont understand your point of why coke doesn't need F1. for me, saying they dont and will not advertise in f1 simply because they haven't done so before is not valid. its like saying F1 will only ever have advertisers/sponsors who have only been advertisers/sponsors in the past. to me that makes very little sense (and is also a little bit of a conundrum).

for one reason or another coke, according to many articles ive read recently, seem to be reconsidering that philosophy. whether coke does so or not will not in any way have any bearing on the survival of F1. on the contrary, coke will only advertise in F1 if they feel it is a benefit to their company (in terms of reenforcing brand identity and increasing market share) which is what the numerous articles on the subjet are saying. which IMO i believe it would be benificial for them (for reason already mentioned).

F1 is a global sport that many large multinational corporation find as a usefull tool in promoting and pushing their products. but hey maybe im wrong and the execs down in atlanta feel that its enough if people in burma were drinking it 65 years ago.

man i wish i owned stock in coke right now!

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by EHS

The Red Bull example is specious. Red Bull is a sponsor of F1 because they need to be -- no one knew who Red Bull was ten years ago.

Red Bull isn't in F1 because it need's to be, it's in F1 because F1 fit's it's image, the same way all the other "extreme" sports it's sponsers does.

As for no-one knowing who Red Bull were 10 years ago, what does that matter? The whole world knows who it is now.

I'd like to point out that 10 years ago, not many people had heard of Fernando Alonso, now he's F1 WDC.

[ascarmarshal]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Red Bull isn't in F1 because it need's to be, it's in F1 because F1 fit's it's image, the same way all the other "extreme" sports it's sponsers does.

As for no-one knowing who Red Bull were 10 years ago, what does that matter? The whole world knows who it is now.

I'd like to point out that 10 years ago, not many people had heard of Fernando Alonso, now he's F1 WDC.

If I remember correct Red Bull is banned from advertising in France due to some sort of health risk. I might be wrong

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by ascarmarshal

If I remember correct Red Bull is banned from advertising in France due to some sort of health risk. I might be wrong

That rings a bell - something about Red Bull being banned, although I'm sure I've seen Red Bull sponsored Extreme events from France on the TV. Perhaps it's direct TV or Billboard advertising?

[Kicking-back]

They can advertise Red Bull in France, they just can't sell it!

[EHS]

Originally Posted by Mr V

Red Bull isn't in F1 because it need's to be, it's in F1 because F1 fit's it's image, the same way all the other "extreme" sports it's sponsers does.

As for no-one knowing who Red Bull were 10 years ago, what does that matter? The whole world knows who it is now.

I'd like to point out that 10 years ago, not many people had heard of Fernando Alonso, now he's F1 WDC.

You're correct. Red Bull depends on a certain hip image, so it needs to find "extreme" sports to fit their image. It needs to place it's marketing dollars in those sports where it will gain market share.

You may note that RB is precisely not going head to head with Coca Cola, because RB is smart enough to realize they can't compete with Coke.

And that is the same reason that Coke won't be in F1 -- they're smart enough to realize they don't need it.

Regarding Fernando Alonso, you're right, ten years ago no one heard of him. And, believe it or not, at least 240,000 million here still haven't, WDC or not, and probably won't in the forseeable future. The point being, there is a whole market out there that doesn't care about, or revolve around, Formula 1. And that is the market that is critical to Coke, and where they spend their advertising dollars.

BTW -- what did you think of Sturtze and Leiter last night? Something else, wasn't it? I would have just gone to Gordon right away.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by EHS

BTW -- what did you think of Sturtze and Leiter last night? Something else, wasn't it? I would have just gone to Gordon right away.

Of course this is a motorsport forum, it is about a different kind of balls.

In addition there are many people in the country that I am in now who don't know of (for example) Alonso, but as we are discussing these things in a motorsport forum we should not be suprised that people hold these things high in their priorities. In joining this forum that is what we are trying to do - discuss aspects relating to motorsport.

Let us not get bored by the equivelent of asking Danica whether she relates to Fred Flintoff.

Anyway motorsport:

I think this thread's topic was how Coke have been linked F1 and how the general normal perception is that Coke have avoided F1 because of other team's sponsorship.

[EHS]

Originally Posted by AdamAshmore

...I think this thread's topic was how Coke have been linked F1 and how the general normal perception is that Coke have avoided F1 because of other team's sponsorship.

That's correct, and my point is that they have not "avoided F1 because of other team's sponsorship", which seems to be the "general perception," but simply that they choose to spend their available marketing dollars more wisely elsewhere, in sports more relevant to their demographic choices (which includes many forms of auto racing, just not F1, as noted above).

Bigger "bang for the buck," as one says.

Unfortunately, the typical F1 fan doesn't fit their demographic profile, unlike he does for Red Bull, which is why you won't see Coca Cola in F1 any time soon.

Cheers!

[Adam43]

Thanks and I don't disagree. If they really thought it was good they'd be there. However it is a general understanding that the tobacco side puts them off too. How true it is I don't know. It might be a minor point, but it might be the minor point that makes the difference between doing it and not doing it.

I do find your choice of the word "Unfortunately," interesting. Unfortunate? There is nothing unfortunate about it as it hardly matters to F1 or Coke. More just one of those things

I'm an F1 fan (amongst other motorsports) and can't stand Coke or Red Bull. Although that is irrelevant.

If tobacco did leave completely then it would, for many reasons, open the way for new companies to get involved in F1. For many it isn't just the association with tobacco that is the turn off, but also the competition with tobacco advertising budgets.

[EHS]

Adam, I agree, and my choice of unfortunate was "unfortunate." But you see, Englisch is not my first language, so with fifty-one years I am still learning.

I guess I meant that, if it wasn't for Coca Cola's target motorsport audience (more of the "hey, Bubba Joe, drink it from the two litre bottle" Nascar folks), Coke might today be in F1 -- and tobacco wouldn't now be replaced with alcohol (I noted the Johnny Walker signs in place of Marlboro around the track at the last GP or two ago).

All my point ever was, was that, it's not the existing sponsorship so much that's keeping them away, as the existing fans and demographics. And that's not at all derogatory, trust me from what I've personally seen, F1 fans are clearly better educated, with more disposable income, than those of other forms of motor racing over here.

Just ask the inn keepers on Georgetown Road in Indianapolis about the difference between the F1/Champ Car/Nascar customers. One of the reasons (I believe) that USGP tickets are still so cheap is that the Indy folks haven't caught on yet that the F1 folks will, and are able to spend more. That'll change.

So, ultimately, advertising dollars get spent in those markets that the spender wants to attract for business. Unfortunately (there's that word again), the likes of CocaCola, McDonald's, and Omo see F1, and its fans, as having a certain image of vice that keeps them away. I guess.

[Raglanparade]

Does Coke want to be associated with Alcohol though ?

I work in a bottle shop in Australia and the coca-cola rep for the supermarket next door suggested that we could no longer stock bottles of coke in the bottle shop as Coke did not want to be associated with Alcohol.

If Johnnie Walker, Fosters, Bud, and others remain sponsors, this might muck things up.

Im pretty sure Kimi would be more interested in racing if there was a Johnny and Coke on the side of his car though ?

[Dixie Flatline]

Originally Posted by jasonhill9884

Does Coke want to be associated with Alcohol though ?

I work in a bottle shop in Australia and the coca-cola rep for the supermarket next door suggested that we could no longer stock bottles of coke in the bottle shop as Coke did not want to be associated with Alcohol.

If Johnnie Walker, Fosters, Bud, and others remain sponsors, this might muck things up.

Im pretty sure Kimi would be more interested in racing if there was a Johnny and Coke on the side of his car though ?

Alcohol = the new cigarettes, potentially?