BTCC 2024 News & Rumours

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

The simple point being for a series that pulls what? 30,000 fans to a track and a few hundred thousand viewers to TV? the overall social media interaction throughout all of its major players is very poor because of a historically weak and slow push digitally by the BTCC. That a championship winning team only garners a few hundred views in passing is poor.
A different example is Ingram on his own YouTube page. Two vids about his 2023 season where he talks race-by-race at 700 and 300 views each. It should be more. Much more (even if the production quality of both is utterly horrendous.
I just think the audience size to social numbers is incredibly poor, and a reflection of the brand building that's really, really needed. Just my thoughts.

The announcement today though does I think have a bit of promise. Not ground breaking, but a bit more of a push. I doubt Matt Bishop is going to be day-to-day, but for example the Aston Martin behind the scenes vids that launched in his final season there was a brilliant, engaging programme. We need a bit of that love here.

The thing is, for most of the competitors in the BTCC (teams and drivers) the fans have very little connection to whether they race or not.

In the examples you provide, 300 views or 3 million views would make little difference to funding an entry on the grid. There is little reward in putting a lot of effort into a social media presence, so we get the current output.

Fans might clamour for a better output, but what is in it for the teams and drivers?

[mphplastering]

Btcc driver news inbound tomorrow at some point ????

[SV8Predator]

Originally Posted by mphplastering

Btcc driver news inbound tomorrow at some point ????

As discussed from post #922.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

The thing is, for most of the competitors in the BTCC (teams and drivers) the fans have very little connection to whether they race or not.

In the examples you provide, 300 views or 3 million views would make little difference to funding an entry on the grid. There is little reward in putting a lot of effort into a social media presence, so we get the current output.

Fans might clamour for a better output, but what is in it for the teams and drivers?

I suspect you under estimate the power of social
Media.

[Matt K]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

The thing is, for most of the competitors in the BTCC (teams and drivers) the fans have very little connection to whether they race or not.

In the examples you provide, 300 views or 3 million views would make little difference to funding an entry on the grid. There is little reward in putting a lot of effort into a social media presence, so we get the current output.

Fans might clamour for a better output, but what is in it for the teams and drivers?

Well, okay, I partly agree but your post perhaps shows that there's something inhrently wrong with the BTCC when it comes to these things. If the fans, in a way, don't matter then who are they doing it for? What are they doing it for? Would you say BTCC may not show any races and not let any audience because there's little reward for that? Of course that's a ridiculous question but IMO this may show that BTCC would really benefit from a complete overhaul of their business, or marketing, model.
Increasing the number of fans, be that on social media, on track or before the TV would certainly not harm the championship and as BTCC is stuck somewhere around 2009 with this, it's time to wake up and do major changes... which of course won't happen but one can always dream.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

I suspect you under estimate the power of social
Media.

I'll rephrase:

How would Xcelr-8 and Hansford Sensors benefit their BTCC status with a post viewed 300k times on X?

What would it cost them in marketing to achieve that level of engagement?

[Matt K]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I'll rephrase:

How would Xcelr-8 and Hansford Sensors benefit their BTCC status with a post viewed 300k times on X?

What would it cost them in marketing to achieve that level of engagement?

Ok. So how could F1 benefit in making some Netflix series?

Obviously, BTCC is nowhere near F1 and its level of popularity, sponsorships, money, etc etc but social media and media in general can make a lot of difference for any sport. As said, perhaps BTCC's model needs rethinking. Maybe today having bigger presence in media (through increased BTCC's presence) wouldn't help Excelr8 or Hansford massively but i guess it could be a good long term strategy to get BTCC back to the map of motorsport in mid 2020s.

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I'll rephrase:

How would Xcelr-8 and Hansford Sensors benefit their BTCC status with a post viewed 300k times on X?

What would it cost them in marketing to achieve that level of engagement?

It's simply part of a building block, a shared area where all stakeholders building little by little find benefits for all. It might not be a big thing now, but a bigger presence and interest may shift a bit extra merch for a team like Excelr8, it might attract partnerships and investment. I mean, they have a few media people around the team and drivers, they've tried (at the behest of sponsors) to create content, so there's obviously a will - and importantly a budget.

To be honest, the content has been for the most part underwhelming, not even worth the effort. I'd propose to some of the teams to look for students in media/PR/marketing and social media management (yes there are degrees in that now.) Third year and masters students across the country give loads of time to non-league football clubs, professional Ice Hockey and Basketball teams, and produce content that shows up some of the 'boutique' PR companies working in racing. It benefits their final projects hugely.

It's of huge benefit to the students, and because they have access to equipment and studios that blow the doors off most pro-setups they deliver quality coverage - and they have the finger on the pulse. A non-league football club that my company sponsors had 400 subscribers on YouTube a year ago, now it's at about 2,500 - in two years NAPA Racing have grown to 461 subscribers. The football club is now bringing in double the fans through the gates, it's selling out hospitality, and for the first time in it's hundred+ year history is considering a limited run of replica kits. It has other knock on effects. The club is now introducing walking football for the over 50s in community engagement and there has been growth in the junior sides on Saturday and Sunday mornings - all down to a well executed plan from someone not yet qualified.

Teams like Excelr8 do want engagement - I mean just today they emailed the latest fanclub membership offer which includes merch. Email just isn't enough anymore. I mean I get emails all year from them (and I'm not trying to upset anyone there, we all have room for improvement) offering half-price Saturday hospitality. A tiny bit of well spent social media work (and checking their Twitter for a start they have posted some testimonials surrounding hospitality in the last few days) would turn those half-price tent filler offers into full price in demand seats that make more profit into the team for no extra work.

I'm not saying that students are the answer, but as a short case study of an amateur football team and an area of income for a pro race team I think it is important for BTCC teams/stakeholders to heavily engage now. If they don't the sport will become even more detached from the market that it's trying to engage with. And if were are being brutal, it's endemic within the championship (hence the dropping of MPA) that almost every garage has (whether in support of team/sponsor/driver) people working in the area who aren't doing what they are paid to do.

That's my rant over, but I'll say one thing honestly - I have a dislike for social media, and when I go to the football or the race track I still like it with a pie and a cup of tea rather than the hospitality thing!

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Average start for the new PR agency….

Let's not pretend that this is a new PR agency in anything but name. They have taken the existing media delegate across from MPA, so everything is going to stay largely the same.

Some would suggest that the move away from MPA was only done to avoid conflict of interests since they employed a certain Anna Gow (wife of).

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Matt K

Ok. So how could F1 benefit in making some Netflix series?

That is opening up the series to a wider audience, in a different format. Globally, most of the racing is behind a paywall. The Netflix series was a different stream, and presented in a different format.

Which - sounds very much similar to the 'On The Limit'?

Originally Posted by Matt K

Obviously, BTCC is nowhere near F1 and its level of popularity, sponsorships, money, etc etc but social media and media in general can make a lot of difference for any sport. As said, perhaps BTCC's model needs rethinking. Maybe today having bigger presence in media (through increased BTCC's presence) wouldn't help Excelr8 or Hansford massively but i guess it could be a good long term strategy to get BTCC back to the map of motorsport in mid 2020s.

As you say, BTCC is nowhere near F1. For a start, BTCC is just a national series, not a global championship.

A better comparison (IMO) would be with British GT, TCR UK etc.

Just looking back at the last five X posts from respective series:

F1 (9.9M followers) - 317K, 1.2M, 264K, 683K, 361K
WEC (405.6K followers) - 401K, 33K, 29K, 47K, 36K
WRC (441.5K followers) - 1.5K, 41K, 61K, 99K, 50K
TCR Series (10.2K followers) - 2.7K, 805, 983, 763, 4.4K
British GT (46.9K followers) - 25K, 4.6K, 6.6K, 7.6K, 7.3K
TCR UK (4,475 followers) - 2.6K, 476, 732, 625, 621

BTCC (98.6K followers) - 8.9K, 6.1K, 6.8K, 6.8K, 5.3K

I agree that there is always room for improvement, but for a national series it seems to have at least as good an engagement as any other series.

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

That is opening up the series to a wider audience, in a different format. Globally, most of the racing is behind a paywall. The Netflix series was a different stream, and presented in a different format.

Which - sounds very much similar to the 'On The Limit'?



As you say, BTCC is nowhere near F1. For a start, BTCC is just a national series, not a global championship.

A better comparison (IMO) would be with British GT, TCR UK etc.

Just looking back at the last five X posts from respective series:

F1 (9.9M followers) - 317K, 1.2M, 264K, 683K, 361K
WEC (405.6K followers) - 401K, 33K, 29K, 47K, 36K
WRC (441.5K followers) - 1.5K, 41K, 61K, 99K, 50K
TCR Series (10.2K followers) - 2.7K, 805, 983, 763, 4.4K
British GT (46.9K followers) - 25K, 4.6K, 6.6K, 7.6K, 7.3K
TCR UK (4,475 followers) - 2.6K, 476, 732, 625, 621

BTCC (98.6K followers) - 8.9K, 6.1K, 6.8K, 6.8K, 5.3K

I agree that there is always room for improvement, but for a national series it seems to have at least as good an engagement as any other series.

As ever (and this isn't directed at you at all), I think there is a tendency to look upon things more negatively than positively. As someone whose day job is in social media etc I can certainly say that the championship has areas for improvement, but there does seem to me a slight shift in tone since they adopted a new PR agency.

I agree that the current digital approach is slightly outdated, but there has been a lot of focus on the on-track product and the traditional television rights, etc to sustain the championship.

There does now seem to be signs of adopting a more digital/social friendly approach and that will only strengthen the championship.

Personally, really excited for this year on-track and off-track. Attending Oulton Park for the first time and (hopefully) managing 7/10 events. Interested to see how the grid shapes up for 2024.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by sceptic

Let's not pretend that this is a new PR agency in anything but name. They have taken the existing media delegate across from MPA, so everything is going to stay largely the same.

Some would suggest that the move away from MPA was only done to avoid conflict of interests since they employed a certain Anna Gow (wife of).

How is that a conflict of interest? If one employs a PR agency surely there task is to represent the best interest of there client.

[Mike Harte]

A question posed in a number of posts above relates to what is in it for the teams and the answer appears to be not a lot.

It must be remembered that for a very large percentage of the sponsors the reason that they sponsor teams and individuals is so that they can use it a corporate hospitality vehicle. So many sponsors have very little interest in the world of motors or motorsport, and they only put money into the BTCC for the same reasons that sponsors put money into cricket, rugby and football; that is so that they can take customers/clients and potential ones to these sporting venues to lavish hospitality on them.

I've said this before but it may merit repeating that one of my sons was charged with overseeing the sponsorship of one of the drivers in the GT series that used to be on the TOCA package some years ago. His firm is an international corporate legal entity who do not carry out any legal work for individuals, not even their own staff. The only reason that they sponsored the driver was so that they could have a large marquee in the paddocks of each meeting which was stuffed full of their clients and their families, with hot and cold food all day long plus, of course, plenty of champagne flowing.

My other son was a partner in one of the 4 major bean-counters (he has now become a partner in one of the others), and as such was expected to entertain clients at major sporting events where they had facilities. He didn't mind when it was football, rugby or horse racing, but used to get put out when it was cricket because he wanted to watch that, not baby sit clients who had no interest in what was going on.

[antnee]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

That is opening up the series to a wider audience, in a different format. Globally, most of the racing is behind a paywall. The Netflix series was a different stream, and presented in a different format.

Which - sounds very much similar to the 'On The Limit'?

Isn't the point of companies using social media is to generate more interest in the subject? Publish a Tiktok/reel, that is then viewed by way more people than those who find ITV4 on 1 of the 10 Sunday's that BTCC is on per year.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by antnee

Isn't the point of companies using social media is to generate more interest in the subject? Publish a Tiktok/reel, that is then viewed by way more people than those who find ITV4 on 1 of the 10 Sunday's that BTCC is on per year.

I think BTCC is already trying to do that - as much as they can. It's impossible to force engagement from a potential audience.

The largest social media network in the world (FB) sees regular posts from the BTCC. They have 199K followers.

On the second largest (YT) they have 39.7K subscribers and have posted over 1,000 videos to their channel. Their most recent video had 16K views.
The earlier series of On The Limit saw viewing figures in the tens to hundreds.
Season 3 full documentary has 1.2K views.
Season 4 has already had 3.7K views for episode 0 (released 4 days ago) and 1.3K views for episode 1 (released 17 hours ago).

I think BTCC is already doing a lot of what they are being accused of not doing. They are regular posting content to the two largest Social Media networks and the views/hits count is rising significantly.





has

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

.
Season 3 full documentary has 1.2K views.

That’s on the KwikFit channel - it has a more reasonable 39K views on BTCC’s channel, although even then I’m not really sure that’s all that much.

I’ll be a bit surprised if they do it again this season. I think it’s something the existing, less-casual fans like us are keen on but I don’t think it’s really interesting enough to rope in new viewers to the series if they’re hoping for a Drive to Survive effect.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Evantra

That’s on the KwikFit channel - it has a more reasonable 39K views on BTCC’s channel, although even then I’m not really sure that’s all that much.

39K views on a channel with 39.7K subscribers seems pretty good (IMO).

I think it's their most viewed video to date, which surely is a good thing?
I expect that is because it is something just a bit different, and freely available to someone outside the UK too.

When compared to other national level series - are they any out there that get more views on their YT channels? And of those, how many already have full race coverage live and FTA in the country they race?

I don't know the answer - I'm just wondering, with the level of scrutiny their social media presence has received, what examples exist of someone doing it better - and how would that benefit the entrants?

[coffinpilot]

I think we can all agree that we all want the championship to cement itself in the consciousness of racing fans more than it has in the last few years. There are pros and cons on both sides - but both sides need each other to continue. Despite being a sceptic I have to agree with some other posts that the future is looking better. The announcement yesterday that the PR squad are planning filming days in London etc is a really good, and some of us have very different views on the importance of socials, but from some of the valid points made I do have to ponder this.

Why is hospitality so important to the BTCC? It's because it's 'an event.' As mentioned above corporate hospitality via sports is huge, but only if it is an event. An event with crowds and coverage. If the BTCC was to ignore appealing to new fans then the fanbase would dwindle and hospitality might as well shift to TCR because it'll be cheaper because the tracks will end up empty and that won't (and sometimes at the moment) look good.

Connecting with online savvy new fans is the part of key. Not all fans are diehards like me going to seven rounds a year and test days. At a time when you see a lot of moaning about ticket prices (still a bargain compared to Brit GT and the like IMO) there is a need to give people a reason to come, but it's not just the new fans. I'm fairly aghast at the amount of older Facebook fans still responding to posts with 'What happened to Team Hard?' It's 2024, you can't retain your position on history alone. The BTCC is a hell of a product, but I worry that someone at ITV with its collapsing ad revenue might say 'yeah, we get the BTCC for free, but there's still costs - we'll save money if we just repeat The Sweeney and Minder on a Sunday.'

Anyway, apart from that, didn't someone say a driver announcement today?!!

And again, apart from that as well, (and getting back on the 2024 rumour topic) chatting to a mate online, it has us wondering about the costs for the back end of the grid. The lower prices offered to drivers by HARD seem to have gone, I wonder how many of their drivers from 2023 will have the means to return? Obviously Thompson and Lloyd have been mentioned a lot as both have stated thing publicly - and Hamilton isn't coming back, but what a bout Patterson, Edwards, DeLeon, Butel?

[coffinpilot]

Originally Posted by Evantra

That’s on the KwikFit channel - it has a more reasonable 39K views on BTCC’s channel, although even then I’m not really sure that’s all that much.

I’ll be a bit surprised if they do it again this season. I think it’s something the existing, less-casual fans like us are keen on but I don’t think it’s really interesting enough to rope in new viewers to the series if they’re hoping for a Drive to Survive effect.

The general rule of thumb to measure success and growth (according to the experts) is to at least match the number of views to the number of subscribers, with an x percentage of retention. If 39K have watched three minutes (which we won't know) it's a dud, if most viewers have gotten past 30% of the vid it's not good, but 50% of the video watched is considered a success. Apparently watching all the way through isn't a thing anymore.

[Evantra]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

but what a bout Patterson, Edwards, DeLeon, Butel?

I know it’s not really your point, but would any of those four (with the possible exception of Patterson) be a loss? If Thompson and Lloyd, who have a similarly low budget, can scrape a drive through their talent, it seems things would be ok. Of course, it would also be a detriment to those looking to make the step up from lower categories who may now have an even larger jump in budget to find.

[Racing Harz]

Originally Posted by coffinpilot

Anyway, apart from that, didn't someone say a driver announcement today?!!

The BTCC announced yesterday:
"The next of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship driver announcements is due in the next 48 hours"
So it could just as well be tomorrow.

[InYourMirrors45]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

https://www.btcc.net/2024/01/09/comi...n-in-the-btcc/

"The next of the 2024 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship driver announcements is due in the next 48 hours, so make sure you keep checking the official website and social media channels for the latest news. The bulk of the BTCC driver signings will be coming later this month and into February/March with some truly exciting announcements in the pipeline."

Interesting times...

Hopefully it won’t leave everyone in a huff.

[houston]

Originally Posted by InYourMirrors45

Hopefully it won’t leave everyone in a huff.

Speculation or quietly confident?

[InYourMirrors45]

Originally Posted by houston

Speculation or quietly confident?

Ask me in 48 hours?

[steve_r]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

I'll rephrase:

How would Xcelr-8 and Hansford Sensors benefit their BTCC status with a post viewed 300k times on X?

What would it cost them in marketing to achieve that level of engagement?

Sounds like something that Bernie would have said.