What’s your name and position within the organisation?
Chris Zachar, Head of Partnerships, Silverstone Circuit
You are an iconic sporting venue and brand, and we are delighted to see you join ESA – but what are the main drivers for joining?
We have never taken the opportunity to capitalise on our brand in a commercial manner.
Silverstone’s history dates back to WWII, and since then has been at the forefront of two and four wheel motor racing, with some of the most iconic moments in motor racing happening at Silverstone. Over the years, the strength of the brand has increased, but we have never taken the opportunity to capitalise on that brand in a commercial manner.
How did the organisation come to work with the current sponsors? What “bigger picture” did this relationship seek to meet?
Believe it or not, we don’t actually have any direct sponsors..!
Believe it or not, we don’t actually have any direct sponsors..! The challenge Silverstone has had is that a couple of our key events (specifically the British Grand Prix and MotoGP) are actually white label events, and therefore, the rights to these events belong to the promoter. As a result, historically, any response to an inbound enquiry was always around what was restricted, rather than focusing on the much larger potential of what is achievable.
For me, though, the key to the bigger picture is understanding how Silverstone can articulate the wider opportunities we have to offer across the wider site and calendar. We currently welcome in excess of 1.2 million visitors through the main gates of Silverstone every year, with that audience being driven by a diverse profile of guest. With over 40 National and International race events every year, the largest covered MICE space between London and Birmingham and in excess of 70,000 visitors (participants and friends) experiencing our retail experiences, there are significant opportunities for partners to be able to engage or activate.
So, are you focusing on sponsorship or partnership?
Initially, we set out on the road to explore how we could attract sponsors.
That’s a great question, and I think initially, we set out on the road to explore how we could attract sponsors. However, as I mentioned, Silverstone don’t have any experience of commercialising our assets in this way, and therefore we looked to the agency environment to help us understand the right way to move forward.
One of the key learnings for us during this process is that it’s really about identifying partners that not only bring value to Silverstone, but importantly that Silverstone can help to achieve their objectives. I am fast coming to the conclusion that the opportunities for a simple branding activity are few and far between.
And, actually, that really supports where we want to be – we want to try to build long lasting partnerships that will not only meet the needs or objective of a partner, but also either drive a commercial benefit to SCL, or enhance our customer experience… or ideally both!
What is your rights holder USP?
We are the Home of British Motorsport! There is nowhere else in the UK that hosts the UK round of any International Race Series, and that now includes the World Rally Cross championship, taking place over the last Bank Holiday weekend of May. But it’s more than that. Not only has Silverstone been instrumental in attracting an ever growing community of High Performance Technology and Engineering brands, we are fortunate to attract an ever diversifying variety of visitor profiles, ranging from true petrol heads, through to millennials and families.
What are the current trends within your business area, and how are they affecting how you work and how you deliver on strategy?
We are also challenged with discretionary spend considerations, both in terms of ticket sales and incremental revenue.
Motorsport is no different from any other sport, in that, as a business, we need to continually address how motor racing is consumed. Not only are we challenged by the content now available online, we are also challenged with discretionary spend considerations, both in terms of ticket sales and incremental revenue. So, we need to be looking how we can not only retain and grow our core audience, but also grow our other visitor profiles, in particular this focus on families.
The challenge here will be making sure that the experience matches the expectations of this wider audience, both in terms of content and value, and this is why our strategy is focused on creating a motorsport and automotive themed leisure destination.
How has sponsorship changed in your industry over the past few years? And how do you think it’s going to change in the next five years?
We will have to be nimble, flexible, innovative and creative to ensure that we can attract partners on both a tactical and strategic level.
In terms of how things have changed, that’s a tough one for me to answer, given our relatively recent immersion in this environment. However, in terms of the future, I thinks it’s really clear that we will have to be nimble, flexible, innovative and creative to ensure that we can attract partners on both a tactical and strategic level. I think this will be compounded by the increasing opportunities for industries beyond the traditional motorsport sponsor. For example, alternative propulsion and renewable energy are already disruptive in the automotive and motorsport environments… how do we, as Silverstone, ensure that those at the forefront of those industries clearly understand how Silverstone can help them reach more of their target audience?
Social media – cure or curse?
Is it either? I think that social media is great when used in the right way, but it’s not our only method of engagement. We are really fortunate to have a social media following in excess of 450,000 and it offers an effective two way dialogue with our audience, whether that be through promotions or live updates during an event.
But it’s not our only way of communicating. Both our digital approach and live event communication are constantly evolving and we are getting better at not only measuring the impact of our comms, but using the profile of our database more efficiently. And of course, we, like everyone else, have to actively focus on ensuring we continue to meet the new GPDR regulations.
What challenges have you encountered, and how have they been overcome?
Focus on a proposition that uses the right assets in the right way to meet that specific need.
There are two big challenges, which I have already touched on – the first is getting the wider community to understand we are open for business. The second is not letting the huge potential here become too overwhelming. With a diverse B2B and B2C opportunity, it’s going to be key to ensure we don’t try to be all things to all men, but to focus on a proposition that uses the right assets in the right way to meet that specific need.