Since Liberty Media took over F1 in 2017, it has targeted the USA as a key growth market. When the US get behind a sport, they are fanatical, and given market size, it is a huge commercial opportunity for F1.

F1 are seeing returns on their investment in the US, with TV viewership up YoY since 2017. But TV viewership alone does not make a direct relationship, and F1 know that it will be critical to connect with fans on a more personal level to really serve their needs and unlock their potential value.

Our brief was to give US fans a reason to opt-in to a direct relationship – growing our database, learning more about each fan, nurturing the relationship and ultimately increasing their value to F1. After all, the bigger the fan, the more they spend.

It can be tough being an F1 fan in the US. 82% of races happen in Europe and Asia, so much of the on-track action happens when they’re fast asleep.

So we created an F1 Wake Up call service.

An actual phone call, just like you'd get if you were staying in a hotel. Allowing fans to request a wake up call from their favourite F1 driver, to ensure they don’t miss the start of the race.

We turned to a much-derided piece of technology - robocalling. But instead of asking if you've been in a car accident that wasn't your fault, robocalling helps fans watch cars go faster than they have any right to go.

All 20 drivers recorded wake up messages, which, with some added spice, we mixed into longer messages encouraging fans to get out of bed and watch the race live on F1TV or ESPN.

Our strategy was to show our US fans that we appreciate the extra effort they make to follow F1, and provide a little help for those early morning wake ups. By empathising with US fans, and creating a service that required them to give us their contact details, we could expect more of them to opt-in to a direct relationship with F1. Allowing us to serve them tailored content and introduce them to paid services like F1 TV and F1 Experiences to unlock their true value.

While the calls themselves told fans where and when to tune in for the race, we also created visual content that encouraged fans to share. This also told other fans where and when to tune in, extending the reach of the campaign, and taking F1 Wake Up call much further than the small paid media budget ever could.

F1 Wake Up was run as a pilot ahead of the 2021 British Grand Prix, aka Silverstone. We promoted the wake up call service to our US fans in the week leading up to the Grand Prix (12th – 17th July).

The service was promoted on F1 owned channels – F1.com, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and in our weekly fan emails – while a small media budget also allowed us to promote on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Fans were led to a sign-up page and asked to provide their contact details (name, email address, phone number) and choose which driver would call them. We also provided the option for fans to opt-in to an ongoing direct relationship (communications and marketing consent) with F1.

Fans received their calls on Sunday 18th July, just before the race commenced.

During the pilot campaign we achieved:

• 106,678 visits to the registration page

• 23,698 wake up calls were ordered

• 33% increase in F1 TV viewership by US fans on the Silverstone weekend

• An 11% increase in fans opting-in to communications from F1

• 9m+ impressions via paid media

• The driver audio and video content continued to be shared and remixed by fans well beyond the campaign period. Organic posting and sharing amongst the fan community achieved a further 1.02m Twitter impressions, 8.6m videos views on YouTube and TikTok, 275k YouTube likes and 3,430 YouTube comments.

Given the initial appeal, F1 are looking to level up the service in the US, as well as provide it as a service for fans in other markets – after all, in this global sport, some races happen at inconvenient times no matter where in the world you live.