ICYMI: Drive To Survive Turned Drivers Into Stars And Changed Fandom

The New York Auto Show passing by our office triggers a sharp memory about how global fandom works when the main event is far away. We revisit Jonathan Linden’s thinking on the F1 Exhibition and how Drive to Survive helped turn drivers into people fans can truly follow.

• the challenge of accessing Grand Prix races as popularity rises and tickets cost more
• creating a live F1 Exhibition as a touring fan experience
• where the exhibition has traveled and how it scales globally
• what Drive to Survive unlocks by showing drivers off the track
• how modern fans attach to the sport, teams, and individual drivers
• the reminder that fans exist everywhere your event is not

Listen to the full conversation with Jonathan Linden: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2449648/episodes/16825471-the-secret-to-building-and-engaging-a-global-fanbase-with-f1

Transcript

Quick Intro And Why It Matters

Heather Gault 0:00

Hey, I'm Heather from the producing team of Phandom Unpacked. And this is in case you missed it. The New York Auto Show just wrapped at the Javit Center. Basically, right down the street from the Phantom Unpacked office. Or technically a 10-minute walk, which we all know is more like six or seven if you're moving through Midtown. Watching the steady stream of people in and out over the past few weeks, it made me think back to a conversation we had last year. This time around Formula One. Jonathan Linden, co-president of Roundroom Live, he produced F1, the exhibition.

How Drive To Survive Changed Fans

Jonathan Linden 0:35

This is a brand that has truly global appeal. The Grand Prix are held all around the world. It can be a challenge if you're a big fan to get to a race because they're not always uh near you. It's become very popular over the last number of years. And so that the tickets have become more expensive. And so, how does an F1 fan engage with the brand? And how do they how do they experience it live if they can't get to a Grand Prix? And so we created the F1 Exhibition Experience. It debuted in Madrid, Spain last March. And then it went to Vienna, Austria, and it is now in London, where it's uh performing exceptionally well. We created a second version of the show, which is in uh just finished a run in Tehran. And uh just last week we announced that we're working with Formula One and the Las Vegas Grand Prix to work with them in Las Vegas, which we're very excited about.

Heather Gault 1:29

And then he talks about Drive to Survive and what it actually unlocked for F1.

Takeaway And Link To Full Talk

Jonathan Linden 1:34

There was a period of time where a lot of the times when you saw Grand Prix, the drivers were deep inside the car with a helmet on. And so you knew their personality a little bit as a driver, whether they were aggressive or passive or how they operated on the track. But through Drive to Survive, you had an opportunity to, you know, meet Carlos Sainz's entire family and his agent and his manager and uh what he does in his spare time and what kind of a golfer he is. And so I feel like it it raised the profile of a lot of the drivers. And to your question earlier of what are people fans of. I think more than ever, people are fans of the sport, individual teams, but also individual drivers. And I think Drive to Survive has contributed to a heightened awareness of who the drivers are.

Heather Gault 2:19

Such a good reminder that your fans exist everywhere your event isn't. Full conversation with Jonathan Linden? Links in the description. I'm Heather. This has been Fandom Unpacked, in case you missed it.