Spyker to buy Midland F1

[termietermite]

It makes sense to so. The F1 project won't be financed from current Spyker funds, I presume. But both road and track cars will benefit from F1 expertise and wind tunnel. Marketingwise it'll provide them a bigger audience worldwide and more credibility among prospects who value F1. Beside that, costs are decreasing and income is increasing for the teams in F1.

Spyker would do well to read the Nielsen report on the audience for ALMS (see the ALMS website) which suggests that the audience for endurance racing is one of the richest in all sports - I doubt wheter F1 can say the same.  If racing's about marketing their road-going cars then they should stick where they are.  The audience may be bigger but is it the right audience?  I guess they've done their homework but I suspect it's just another case of giant egos at the top of the company wanting to be involved in the "glamour" of F1.  Puke.

[Pieter]

Well, Spyker is all about glamour isn't it? And brand awareness is very important to sell more cars. Also, being in F1 doesn't mean backing out of endurance racing.

[termietermite]

Also, being in F1 doesn't mean backing out of endurance racing.

Let's hope not but tell that to BMW.

[Andy Zarse]

Also, being in F1 doesn't mean backing out of endurance racing.

Let's hope not but tell that to BMW.

And Mercedes, Ferrari, Toyota, Renault, McLaren, Sauber, Jaguar, TWR/Arrows etc etc

[Lorry]

Not so sure about McLaren, difficult one that, but you forgot Lotus and Aston Martin, and probably Penske.

What a waste

[termietermite]

Ta, guys.  As a marketing professional in the days when I "worked" for a living, I was constantly frustrated by the inablility of senior members of the companies I worked for being unable to distinguish the true quality of the audience as opposed to their own perception.  Take a look at the car park at Le Mans and do the same at a Grand Prix and you'll see who the sports car buyers are and who has all the money (the factual Nielsen report notwithstanding.)  F1 is dumbed-down motor racing these days and true sports car enthusiasts know it (see this site for loads of evidence, should anybody on here need it).  Let's hope those at Spyker see the light before it's too late.  Zarse, I agree the 4x4 is an aboration but I'd still be sorry to see this galant team leave endurance racing as they undoubtedly will have to if they persist in this purchase.  Running at the back of an F1 grid is a great way to drain a company's finances.  Who really looks at an unsuccessful F1 team and thinks "I really must go out and buy one of their road-going cars"?

[Lorry]

Point well made.  This is all confusing, as everytime a Ferrari wins, I don't think that I must go out and buy one of those.  An Alfa perhaps  hmmm.  And nothing would make me drink Red Bull.

I just can't see what Spyker have to gain, other than a trip to the Official Receiver.  Mind you, the Dutch do deserve their own F1 team

[Pieter]

The reach of F1 has little to do with people who attend the races, that's only a small part. F1 has the advantage of being televised worldwide on an open net and is being watched by people from all walks of life and therefore also by those who can afford a Spyker.

And although the percentage may be lower than at endurance racing, cumulative figures will probably exceed them by far. Endurance racing just doesn't offer enough reach to build brand awareness.

[termietermite]

The reach of F1 has little to do with people who attend the races, that's only a small part. F1 has the advantage of being televised worldwide on an open net and is being watched by people from all walks of life and therefore also by those who can afford a Spyker.

And although the percentage may be lower than at endurance racing, cumulative figures will probably exceed them by far. Endurance racing just doesn't offer enough reach to build brand awareness.

Sorry Pieter but niche brands need niche audiences.  Blanket coverage is fine for fmcgs (fast-moving consumer goods) and large-scale-production companies but it's just overkill for a company in Spyker's section of the market and a huge waste of money.  The audience may be huge but that's the point, it's just big and comes with an astronomical price-tag which BMW and Toyota et al may be able to sustain but I would doubt if Spyker will be able to. It is not properly targeted.  Corvette sales in Europe have rocketed since their LM successes and Aston are undoubtedly beginning to find the same.  These companies are not dumb!  In Corvettes case the roadgoing version of their car is not great but their targetting of their audience has been absolutely spot-on.  Sorry to go on about this but I really hate the idea of them disappearing down the F1 drain.  It didn't take Midland long (but it undoubtedly took quite a few quids) to see the light, did it?
Meanwhile, you really should take a look at this.http://www.americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=2455

[Pieter]

Ferrari is also a niche brand who uses F1 for both marketing and technical development purposes. They do ok, don't they?

[termietermite]

Yeah, but they have put years into building up their brand as an F1 force and this is why they can persuade companies like Marlborough to provide the kind of finance needed to employ the best in the business to run the F1 team for them.  They are the Man U of cars in that everybody has heard of them even if they will never buy a car.  But they will buy a packet of fags.
Spyker cannot hope to have this sort of effect on the market.  Their name may get better known but it won't translate into sales for years, if ever, and certainly not at the rate they can expect from judicious niche marketing.  F1 is littered with the bodies of companies/individuals who have tried this route simply because they are brainwashed by the idea of the numbers of people who watch F1 worldwide and (I suspect) the dream of rubbing shoulders with the "glamourous" types who inhabit the pit lane.
But only time will tell should Spyker continue down this road.  I hope I'm wrong but my experience, both professionally, and in watching the history of minor F1 teams in recent times, tells me otherwise.

[Pieter]

So what's your opinion on doing both endurance and F1 (which I suspect they will do)? Marketingwise I'd invest in ALMS and Le Mans, rather than LMS. F1 depends on what their objectives are and how they will finance the project.

[Fax]

Termie, I think you really hit it on the screws when you said F1 has become dumbed down motor racing. From my experience being at GP's today vs twenty five years ago the F1 fan now could largely care less about the cars and technology of the sport (which is also being dumbed down) its all about cheering for your boy Schumacher, or Alonso or Massa, or Button, etc.  In many ways it has become very similar to NASCAR.  Its marketed to a crowd which for the most part has little interest in the technical qualities of the sport but love the my favorite driver vs yours appeal.  Twenty years ago F1 and sportscar racing fans were one & the same.  Not now, most of the sporstcar racing fans I know find F1 a joke, while the F1 fans I'm familiar mostly just want to wave the flag for their boy (again, very NASCAR-ish), and couldn't care less about sportscar racing.
Great, if Spyker wants to go the F1 route more power to them.  But I think in the eyes of many it will actually lessen the appeal the brand.
Fax

[Matt Harper]

In Corvettes case the roadgoing version of their car is not great but their targetting of their audience has been absolutely spot-on. 

Erm, I'd beg to differ on this point. What's not great about it then?
Do bear in mind that the standard cooking C6 ZO6 has a LOT of cross-over technology (including the LS7 engine) from the C5R, which utterly dominated GT1 throughout it's career. Even a straight-off-the-showroom-floor Corvette is a very  very nice piece of equipment that will blow holes in anything remotely close to it's price-point. Track success sells great cars - doesn't really work if the cars aren't great - or insanely priced. Spykers involvement in Sportscar racing has brought attention to the otherwise unknown quirk brand. I can't think they've sold many cars based upon their racing success, simply because they haven't had any. 

[termietermite]

Actually, Matt, personally I love them and do covert one!  Those looks, that noise, the pricetag.  But I know many people on the forum "poo-poo" American muscle cars and no doubt Mr Zarse for one would engage in a lively slanging match (sorry, debate) on this subject.  But I suspect that this is a bit of heart ruling head in my case as I feel sure that a more refined "European" (ha-ha) sports car would be more pleasurable to drive and to own in the long term.  Sadly, I will never have the budget to test this theory out for myself so it's only an opinion and is likely to remain so (sob).
But what you say does reinforce the point - development on the track in sportscar racing does have a direct benefit to the road going versions of cars - GTs in particular (which is why they are of much more interest to me than those cheesy jobs in the LMP categories) and potential owners do identify directly with the cars they see racing.
If Spyker manage to find the budget to run F! and endurance racing good for them, but where will all this money come from?  Maybe the bid is just an attempt to get a bit more publicity for the brand and they'll withdraw it?  Let's hope so.