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Formula 1
the pits
by Ian Cocoran
March 6, 2006
If you like your thrills and spills adorned with glamour and glitz, then stick March 12 in your diary and wait for the green light, as one of the greatest traveling shows on earth starts its engines in Bahrain before roaring away from the grid in a blaze of cash and decadence. Alternatively, tune in to www.formula1.com and join the rest of the armchair fanatics as they attempt to catch the action online.
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For a sport as openly opulent as Formula 1—an auto racing circuit that covers nearly twenty countries in just over half a year—the homepage of the official site is about as representative of the brand as a wet weekend on a go-kart track, with little to offer in the way of pit babes, grid girls, noise, or adrenaline. Indeed, perhaps the only highlight of this somewhat insipid offering is the icons of the race tracks which, when clicked, open up to provide information on the circuit and destination in question.
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The claim that the circuit maps are interactive, however, does nothing to enhance the value of the F1 brand and is typical of a site that fails to fulfill its potential, as visitors are fed a series of still photographs and dull one-dimensional information, such as what gear a car should be in before taking a particular corner. Now, recreate that same proposition with voice-overs from superstar racers Alonso and Schumacher, set against a background of screaming pistons and enhanced with either videos or shockwave graphics and bingo, the possibilities are endless.
The same criticisms can be leveled at the News and Insight sections, with the lack of audio interviews, archived commentaries or historical videos of great F1 moments making for a pedestrian and uneventful drive around a site that should really be brimming with animation and excitement.
Although the site does have some useful functionality, such as the travel planner and the live race timing system, it just doesn’t exhilarate or energize in the way that a trip to a race track should. The very mention of Formula 1, for example, should stimulate the brain with images of well-honed Europeans in fire-proof romper suits throwing magnums of champagne at each other, having just driven a screaming lump of near priceless technology around a strip of tarmac at speeds that beggar belief. The F1 brand is dynamic, wealthy, cosmopolitan, and sophisticated—it should not therefore be represented by a bland and flat web proposition that, quite frankly, looks like it couldn’t find its way around a marketing course without the use of a GPS.
Finally, and for those who may still doubt the extent to which formula1.com fails to get out of the pit lane, a trip to the FAQ section reveals a world-class abdication of responsibility that would send even the most junior of marketers diving for cover. Apparently, if the countdown clock on the homepage is showing the wrong time, it’s likely your PC’s fault for having the wrong settings; likewise with the site’s quality of images. You should also read your local TV listings if you want to watch a race (you won’t find this info on the site), while those who are looking for tickets should speak to the respective race tracks—regardless of the fact that you can buy tickets and travel packages through formula1.com on the homepage. Bolt all of this together with the absence of a site map and search engine, and a visit to formula1.com will leave you as frustrated as a stall on the grid.
So come March 12, if you’re one of those people who can’t get to a race and are desperately searching for the next best thing, the current performance of formula1.com in the constructors championship would appear to suggest that you should steer clear of the Web and head straight for the TV instead.
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Ian Cocoran has worked as a senior manager and director with a number of multinational organizations and has been a contributor to brandchannel since its inception. He currently lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife and daughter.
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*Due to the constantly changing environment of websites, some reviews may no longer reflect the current website for this brand.
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Feb 13, 2006
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The Torino 2006 Winter Games face an Olympian challenge. But the site awards function over emotion.
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