The dawn of the social media age and the advent of the download era of music has given rise in recent years to an influx of spontaneous re-issues and re-releases that have resulted in the music charts taking on something of a retro feel.

When downloads were initially incorporated into chart eligible sales, I remember Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles’ successful attempt to get Billie Piper (her of Dr. Who and Call Girl fame no less) back into the charts with her late 90s saccharine-overdosed Honey to the Bee tune. Twitter and Facebook have – quite famously with the “Rage Against The X Factor” campaign – added to this new dimension of people power influencing the music charts.

I am quite a purist when it comes to the charts and while my advancing years seem to have an equal and opposite effect on the number of songs I actually like on Now! That’s What I call Music compilation CDs, I tend to react with repugnance at chart manipulation. So it was with some surprise that I found myself smiling at the current attempt by Manchester United fans to get Paul Hardcastle’s 1985 classic “19” to Number 1 when I found out about it yesterday. (I should have added a caveat to that statement that I am not an MUFC supporter, but do rate the song highly.)

Sporting anthems frequenting the upper reaches of the charts is certainly nothing new, just go back to 1970 with the England World Cup song Back Home (number 1). With England national tunes, however, it does tap into a display of unified hope and national pride, take World in Motion, Three Lions and last year’s Shout (for England). Occasionally, a star turn by a footballer can help the cause yet further (John Barnes in 1990 arguably the most memorable), giving relevance to the song in question. The 1988 Liverpool anthem Anfield Rap (Red Machine in Full Effect) was another great example of involving the players themselves to sell to their supporting army, hence the top 3 placing (ironically behind Wet Wet Wet’s “With a Little Help from my Friends”).

Bearing that in mind, the involvement of players, or support of the club itself, is what will make or break social media campaigns nowadays. A recent attempt by Formula One fans to get Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain (and F1 theme tune) into the upper reaches of the charts, stalled after a fragmented campaign that lacked clarity. The song did penetrate the iTunes top 100 but it lacked the one-shot ‘go, go, go’ that will sell enough downloads in the one solitary week required to gain traction.

That is what the ‘19’ campaign needs if it is to succeed. As I write, it is in a still impressive 35^th position on iTunes, but needs something more to deliver on its promise. The ‘19’, of course, refers to the number of league titles that MUFC will win if they secure a point away at Blackburn on Saturday but the lyrics themselves couldn’t be further removed from that achievement. If Paul Hardcastle needs the money, a celebratory rewrite with involvement from Sir Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney would certainly do the trick. Then, I’d put money on 19 being a sure-fire number 1, only after I’d recoiled in abhorrence at the butchery carried out on such a classic tune.

The London 2012 Games are now 500 days from becoming a reality. We have already seen a lot of coverage online, in papers and on the TV, but what of the athletes – those super humans who can transform Team GB into a home frenzy in just over 15 months time….?

It is not often that you get a glimpse in the life of an Olympic Gold Medallist, World Record Holder and Member of the Order of the British Empire – let alone one who is embarking on an intensive training regime in order to defend his title at next year’s Olympic Games – but then there are not many Olympians as humble, personable and business savvy as rowing sensation Zac Purchase.

Three years ago, Zac took gold in the Lightweight Double Sculls alongside rowing partner Mark Hunter, one of Team GB’s haul of 19 gold medals at Beijing 2008, beating Greece into second place by almost three seconds. Since then, he has appeared on countless TV shows and made that celebrated trip to Buckingham Palace to collect the MBE from HRH The Prince of Wales.

While rowing remains one of the UK’s most revered and successful sports in the Olympic Games, its stars are some of the country’s untapped success stories. Companies can derive waves of positive exposure from an association with a Team GB gold medallist while intrinsically building an unconscious link between brand and one of the world’s most watched sporting events. Rowing is precisely the sort of clean, untarnished and historic sports we have – and what brand would not want to be seen in that sort of overwhelmingly positive light.

Zac took time out from his hectic schedule to speak to The UK Sports Network.

Zac, we are 500 days away from the London Olympic Games – what does that landmark mean to you as a competing athlete?

“With 500 days to go you can guarantee that the athletes who are serious not just about competing at the London games but winning as well will be training hard. It will be just another day of pushing limits and maximising opportunities. The countdown timer on my website is a constant reminder that I need to be doing all I can on a daily basis to ensure I get the result I’m after. It’s a great reminder that there is a reason for all of the hard work along the way.”

Does being the reigning gold medal holder for the lightweight double sculls add pressure?

“I try to set myself exceptionally high standards when it comes to competing and producing the best race I can on the day. The pressure from the crowd is a welcome relief from the pressure I put myself under. We raced at Beijing as favourites having not been beaten in the 2008 season, so I hope we are learning the best ways to use that adrenaline!”

What does your training regime entail?

“It’s a fairly monotonous regime to be honest, usually 3 sessions per day with a day off every 2 weeks. We have a good mix between endurance and technique on the water mixed up with weights and the dreaded Concept II rowing machine – every rower loathes the solitude of an ergo! We then have to ensure we get the most suitable recovery (usually an afternoon kip!) and also repair our bodies with a good diet and help from Science in Sport’s drinks.”

What does London hosting the Olympic Games mean to you?

“What more can an athlete ask for? Not only the opportunity to race at the most important sporting event in the world, in front of a huge, interested and excited crowd but also to be doing it in your own country, with the crowd singing your national anthem. Beijing was a fantastic experience, but I expect London will, for me, massively exceed the 2008 Games.”

How do you use social media platforms to interact with the public?

“It’s great to give people an insight into what I’m up to on a daily (or even hourly!) basis. My twitter is @ZacPurchase and I try to answer most questions! Facebook (Official Zac Purchase) is great too for sharing pictures and relevant links/articles that I think other people might enjoy as well. Of course my website has more general background information about me and my journey through the sport, as well as ways for anyone to get in touch.”

How different is the world of rowing to other perhaps higher profile sports in terms of public engagement?

“Rowers in general are great. We are, as a breed, happy to spend time talking to people and get to know them. Sometimes in other sports the athletes’ time is so important, and the demands on them are so great that they lose sight of this really key aspect. Public engagement is great fun too; we occasionally get let out of our training centre and allowed into the real world and I tell you, it’s a welcome relief.”

What commercial opportunities does rowing offer to brands?

“Rowing can offer brands a stable and consistent image of sustained successful performance. Rowing in Great Britain has gone from strength to strength over the years and I know that brands love to be associated with sports that provide positive messages like that. Also, with the Olympics just around the corner there is a massively heightened awareness of the sport and the athletes involved with it. Any brand associated with a successful athlete will be synonymous with and part of that success on a world stage.”

You are also a popular public speaker, what does your repertoire consist of?

“I talk to many different types and sizes of audiences and tailor what I’m talking about to each one. It’s great to know a bit about the audience beforehand and try to match up some of my experiences in sport to aims or objectives that they have as a group. Having said that, the ‘human’ side of the story is also quite important and people enjoy hearing about the behind the scenes information and a more personal insight into my experiences at the Beijing Games.”

Does your ‘act’ appeal to a wide range of audiences, or just rowing fanatics?

“I know not a huge number of people have an understanding of the sport, so I try to keep away from any of the technical aspects or any of the day to day drudgery. Rowing fanatics might actually be a little disappointed that I don’t waffle on about it more often.”

What do you think British sports fans can expect from the Games next year?

“Given what the country achieved in Beijing, I know that as long as people keep supporting the athletes we can produce more and more thrilling competition. We are a hugely driven group of people, determined and ambitious. With the right people around us and the right support there is no reason that Great Britain can enjoy a month of win after win after win.”

Lately, it appears that the dreaded ‘S’ word has started to lose its negative connotations in the aftermath of one of our worst economic crises in recent times. Yes, sponsorship is slowly beginning to reassert its authority in the marketing mix and with just cause.

The recent announcement that consumer giants Procter and Gamble has signed up to become the 11th global sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games will be a huge morale boost to those involved in international sports sponsorship. P+G, as you would expect from such a world renowned firm, are in good company on the 2012 list, which also boasts tech giants Panasonic, Acer, Atos Origin and Samsung. And it is not only global corporate who are being encouraged to sign up. As the BBC reports, small and medium sized firms are also lining up to get a piece of the Olympic dream in 2012.

The International Olympics Committee has confirmed that close to $900m has been accumulated in sponsorship revenue and it is hoping to top $1bn. And they say that sports sponsorship is suffering…

With just over 700 days until the start of the 2012 Olympics, it is worth recognising the plethora of opportunities that exist for brands wanting to gain true global recognition through a sports association. Whether it is the four yearly bonanzas like the Olympics and the World Cup, the truly international annual motorsport championships like Formula One or MotoGP, or more regional events or series, the perfect sports opportunity is there for the taking, if only you know where to look.

An article on PR Week a few weeks ago looked at the results of a recent Echo Research poll (of 1,002 adults in the UK) which found a surprisingly low awareness rate of brands sponsoring this year’s World Cup in South Africa. Coca-Cola and McDonalds, both sponsors of London 2012, garnered the highest recognition but less than 50% in both cases. Interestingly, Nike was identified by 20% of people even though they were not actually sponsor.

It is hardly surprising to see a name like Nike on the list, just as we may well see Coca-Cola on a similar poll in modern day Formula 1. This unintentional or intentional ambush of rival brands on high level sporting events is to be expected and brands should build that into their own activation programmes to minimise the impact. Activation is more critical for less visible sponsors as they seek not only to gain a bigger piece of the sponsorship pie for any event, but also to fend off their own rivals attempts at hijacking coverage.

The low recall rates themselves have nothing to do with the value of sponsorship as a marketing tool, but perhaps more to do with the audiences that were targeted or the ways in which the sponsorship was activated.

Before we start writing off sports sponsorship because recall rates in this particular research are low, let’s remember that McDonalds may only have used the World Cup to target 20% of the UK audience and with that achieved their sponsorship objectives. Success from sports sponsorship is a very individual analysis and cannot be assessed by sweeping judgements based on a small cross-section of society. As long as brands like McDonalds continue to plough substantial finances into sponsorship of sporting events, one must assume they are deriving the necessary return on that investment.

The same must be said for technology brands whose primary objectives in a sports involvement may be less to do with outright branding and more to do with technological showcase of their product in a sporting environment. We have worked with a number of tech brands for whom this last point is the single most important aspect of their marketing strategy and in these instances the returns from a sporting involvement far outweigh the impact of their corporate logo in a stadium, on a shirt, on a car or on a website.

Sponsorship is not a one case fits all marketing tool. It is bespoke, adaptable and tailored to each company’s own strategy and unique brand attributes. To say that sponsorship is not successful on the basis of a small non-targeted questionnaire is short sighted and completely misses the point.

The rise and rise of social media is becoming increasingly recognised as the most influential catalyst for change in the world of marketing, but the stigma, or rather misconception, that surrounds social media is staggering.

Take this following statistic from technology marketing research firm The Radicati Group, Inc. and it should immediately start ringing alarm bells for any company, brand, rights holder or individual who is not already embracing social media as a genuine and viable communications marketing tool.

Social networking currently represents the fastest growing communication technology among both consumers and business users, with over 2.1 billion accounts in 2010 which are projected to grow to over 3.6 billion accounts by 2014.

Not only does that put social networking on par with the number of email users, which is projected to increase at a slightly more marginal rate from 2.9 billion to 3.8 billion by 2014, it also highlights the size of the social media market TODAY. To most companies those 2.1 billion social networking accounts represent untapped revenue. 

The world of sport is slowly awaking to the potential of social networking, whether through Twitter, Facebook or bespoke fan-facing websites, blogs or forums, but those that are hitting the mark are still few and far between. There are still far too many brands, teams, sports personalities and sponsors who are happy enough to simply open a Twitter or Facebook account and think job done.

There are also a lot of sports brands that are too scared to immerse themselves fully into the social media pool, whether through fear of getting it wrong and damaging the brand, or just not understanding the fundamentals to begin with. You wouldn’t buy a house without a thorough survey and then leave it unoccupied after purchase. You have to find the right area for you, make sure that the foundations of the property are secure, ensure the potential for long-term investment and then make the most of the property. 

There is a tendency for some to put social media on a pedestal and to treat it in isolation, but social networking should form one part, albeit an important part, of the greater marketing and communications mix. I have spent the last twelve months or so getting deeply involved in social media so that when it comes to client meetings and proposals, we can confidently and seamlessly incorporate social media into a wider marketing programme, ensuring consistency and clarity in key messaging across all disciplines, from traditional press releases right up to fan and public interaction.

Social media cannot be treated with kid gloves; it has to become fully integrated into the marketing mix. Social media is not just another tier in the already long line of business > product > brand > advertising, forcing the audience upstream the engagement ladder in a linear fashion. If there is one thing that social media is not it is ‘linear’. Digital tech means we all have the flexibility of being able to dip in and out of media at any point and share it in a manner that can spread at a much quicker rate. Social media has taken the dawn of web 2.0 and given it a whole new dimension, two-way communication. It is more than simply another layer to the marketing cake, it can and should be a shared tasting experience of all layers of the cake that are already there. Social media does not need a strategy of its own; it is an effective and increasingly valuable tool which companies can use to aid the over-arching marketing strategy.

Let’s remind ourselves of that projected figure – 3.6 billion social networking accounts by 2014 – but that’s just a number. If you are a sports property make sure your social networking account is more than just a statistic – more than just one out of 3.6 billion; make your social networking account work for your marketing strategy and make it a success story for your brand.

There is an increasingly common misconception about ‘social media’. It is a phenomenon that is still rather loosely interpreted and with sufficient uncertainty surrounding its true meaning to warrant the need by some firms to segregate it into a separate box within its annual marketing and PR plans.

This has led to an influx in recent years of specialist digital PR firms, experts and social media strategists, all of whom are – quite legitimately – finding new business with brands or companies who are not truly au fait with all that social media entails. But sometimes even the most expert of experts cannot fully capitalise on the various social media opportunities that arise hour by hour, day by day.

In Formula 1 circles, there has been a notable increase in the use of Twitter as a communications platform this year, which has been a huge step forward in bringing Formula 1 fans closer to the action on track and behind the scenes. This revolution has been sparked by the need for journalists to satiate the immense hunger of the F1 fanbase who are always after the next morsel by laying claim to the next big story or the most insightful backstage feature.

It has also been helped in no small part by the openness of the new teams and their drivers who have embraced social media unreservedly. While the new teams have adopted social media as their communications tool of choice, it is unlikely that they have a specific strategy on how it should or should not be used. And that is no bad thing. In my own experience of social media, the moment you start to stifle it is the moment you start to go wrong. With anything as open and engaging as, say, Twitter, there comes an unwritten invitation for the public to criticise, to deride and to attack the brand, but in equal measure there is the opportunity to praise, commend and – most importantly – recommend.  Ah, yes, the power of an endorsement.

An excellent example of an organic social media success story in recent weeks was with the tongue-in-cheek GrandPrixDiary.com and German race driver Timo Glock. Below is a brief background to the story and how Glock’s team Virgin Racing used an out-of-the-blue social media opportunity to bolster its own reputation online. GrandPrixDiary looks at the world of F1 from a very sarcastic viewpoint. Its founder has made no qualms about the site’s sincerity, but instead offers a light-hearted and comical look at Formula 1.

When Virgin Racing driver Timo Glock started to use Twitter, there was an overwhelming culinary feel to his content. From a quick coffee to lunch in the motorhome to dinner in a restaurant, Timo would always tweet a photo. GrandPrixDiary pounced on the subject and quickly developed a column called Ready, Steady, Glock! (for those not familiar with the TV show Ready, Steady, Cook! its premise was to challenge chefs to cook a meal from an unknown bag of ingredients in under 20 minutes).

The column reproduced Timo’s Twitter images and presented them as if from his own German recipe book. Cue meals such as ‘Pizza mit der ham und mushrooms und olives’ to ‘Double chocolate cake mit Ice Cream’. After the Turkish GP, GrandPrixDiary challenged Timo (via Twitter) to participate in F1’s first ever online cookery show, Ready Steady Glock, offering Twitter followers the chance to submit recipes for Timo and his girlfriend Isabella to cook during the weekend.

Succumbing to a barrage of online pressure, Timo agreed. In fact from here on in, it was Timo’s own enthusiasm for the challenge that really propelled it forwards. The winning recipe was selected and announced on Twitter through the @grandprixdiary page, as well as through @realtimoglock, with suitable fanfare, and thus the shopping trip was set.

The winning entry, submitted by Kathryn Bird, was Marinated Chicken with Virgin Olive Oil followed by Timo’s Truffle Chocolate Puddings. Timo promised to tweet photos of the shopping trip as well as images from the cooking challenge itself, which he duly did. Credit also to @VirginRacing who recognised the growing stature of this online competition and agreed to supply a prize to the competition winner. The team has agreed to cook the winning recipe in its hospitality area for team members and guests at the weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.

As Rob Sinfield of GrandPrixDiary.com explains: “Ready, Steady, Glock! would not have happened were it not for a combination of Virgin’s laid back style and Timo Glock’s now obvious sense of humour. We never set out to be cruel but we do like to prick the precious F1 bubble. So, referring to Glock as ‘the 5th best German in F1′ and then writing the cookery column in an ‘Allo ‘Allo style could have easily offended him but once he got into the idea it was he that drove it. The photo diary of the day is hilarious, he even decorated the fridge.

Once Virgin saw the fans response they too embraced it. The feedback I have had about Glock has been immense; he has scored a hit here. Now he has turned the tables, organising his own competition via Facebook where I have to cook a meal of HIS choosing with the winning recipe provider getting the cap he wears at the Canadian Grand Prix. A whole lot of fun has been had by all.

F1 must encourage this sort of participation with its fan base.” The outcome has been a hit for all concerned: – The GrandPrixDiary site has a heightened profile with endorsement from Timo Glock and Virgin Racing – Timo Glock has engaged directly with a website who were portraying him in a comical light and turned potentially negative comments into a massive positive – Virgin Racing has used an impromptu social media competition between one of its drivers and a Formula 1 fanbase to derive positives for its team – Formula 1 fans have been able to gain a closer connection to both team and driver via a social media portal and to have a bit of a laugh along the way.

So it doesn’t always need a carefully honed social media strategy to enhance a brand’s reputation online. Sometimes, it just takes a sense of humour and a willingness to engage socially.

I have to put my hands up right from the outset and admit that I only have a casual interest in football. A quick scan of the results and league tables on a Saturday afternoon and the all too occasional trip to the Madejski Stadium to watch The Royals play but that’s about it.

My career has been entirely consumed by fast cars whizzing around race tracks, but thankfully I do realise that there is more than one Alonso in the sporting world. But whenever the World Cup comes around, an unexplainable sense of national pride takes over and I find myself wanting to fill the vacuum in my head where the previous four years of football knowledge would otherwise have been stored.

Recently, I have persuaded my 5-year-old son to start collecting Panini stickers for this year’s 2010 South Africa World Cup. Again, I have to be honest, this was initially more an excuse for me to recreate a childhood hobby than providing my son with a new pastime, but thankfully for both of us, he has more than come around to the idea.

With Nigeria and Ivory Coast fast filling up, it dawned on me that the classic Panini sticker album is a classic social media tool. It is about a company using an international sporting event to tap into the wider public conscience and attract a long-lasting brand association.

My first Panini album was Mexico ’86, a contest best remembered by English fans for Diego Maradona’s Hand of God and Gary Lineker’s Golden Boot. Four year later, Italia ’90, think Schillaci, Gascoigne, Roger Milla. All of these things stick firmly in my mind and for someone with a self-admitted passing interest in football that’s quite something. It proves the power of football extends far beyond the loyal fans who frequent the terraces and embrace the sport as if it were their own creation.  

Panini’s sticker albums allow kids (and us big kids) to get passionate about a sport that might otherwise have been just on the periphery of interest. Just last week, Joshua (that’s my son) and I had a Charlie Bucket moment, when the silvery foil of one of the album’s team emblems glistened out of the packet. That is a moment of triumph, a feeling of obtaining one of the book’s more elusive stickers. I recalled with clarity that same feeling all those years ago and the feeling of triumph when we completed a team’s double page (the first one I finished for Italia 90 was Sweden and I chose them as my adopted team after England).

The social aspect of sticker collecting, of course, comes with the frustrating concept of swaps. There is nothing more frustrating than finding stickers in your pack that you have already got, especially if you’ve been waiting all week for a new pack.  But then comes the opportunity to exchange with your mates… Just like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, any of today’s social media platforms, it is the ultimate sharing experience, learning from each other, drawing upon each other’s involvement. Who doesn’t remember the playground monotony of ‘Got…got…got…need…got…got…need’.

In a world where iPads, 3D HD Plasma screens and endless websites are offering fully interactive media options, it is refreshing that Panini sticker albums still exist. It may be my advancing years, my thirty-something tendency for nostalgia, but I hope Panini sticker albums continue to find their rightful place in households the world over and continue to unite sports fans around the world. As FIFA’s portfolio of partners and World Cup sponsors explore new ways to tap into this stream of public interest in the World Cup, to find new ways to activate their already costly sponsorship deals and to experiment with this still unexplained ‘social media’ concept, just look at Panini, a fifty year old Italian company who have been tapping into a much more traditional form of social and personal activity for decades and with such global success.

Now does anybody need Lukas Podsolski?

Tuesday was judgement day for England Manager Fabio Capello as he named the 23 men who will board the jumbo to South Africa for this month’s World Cup.

A rather dismal 2-1 win over Japan on Sunday (with Japanese players scoring all three goals) was apparently enough for Capello to make up his mind, but he kept tight-lipped until yesterday’s much anticipated announcement. Ironic then that after all the secrecy England football fans found out from Twitter, albeit unofficially, which seven players would be dropped from Capello’s initial short list of 30.

The moment that Theo Walcott’s name was mentioned as one of the casualties, the Twittersphere erupted. The young teenage sensation who was unexpectedly called up to the 2006 squad having never kicked a ball in Premier league competition was now equally unexpectedly omitted from the 2010 line-up. 

But rather than nip the leak in the bud and bring forward the official announcement from its allotted 3pm time slot, the FA instead delayed it to the tune of one hour. Did the FA or Mr. Capello not expect names to leak, for speculation to be rife at what is the biggest single piece of news in English football this year? Were there not contingencies in place to counter Twitter rumour? Or for that matter did they really expect the rejected players to keep quiet in the many hours between the dreaded phone call and the FA announcement?

One person played a stroke of PR genius and that was Walcott himself who immediately issued a statement saying:  “I am very disappointed not to be included in the squad going out to South Africa, but completely respect Mr Capello’s decision. I would like to wish the team the best of luck and hope they have a really successful tournament.”

A brilliant move. Not only did he manage to steal a march on the FA and Fabio Capello but he showed grace and maturity in wishing the team well in South Africa. He might not have won a place in the final 23 but his PR tactics are world class.

The Daily Telegraph summed up the feelings succinctly when Claudine Beaumont signed off with: “Fingers crossed the England team has a better grasp of formations, tactics and training methods than it does social media…”

And there is the crux of the problem; there continues to be lack of appreciation for the impact that social media platforms are having in sport. Traditional press releases and web announcements still have their place but sometimes the weight of expectation requires more urgency and a better understanding of a fan’s resourcefulness.

Mr. Capello and the FA would be wise to learn from this experience because the path to World Cup glory is not paved with generous Japanese defenders…

As Formula 1 moves onto the most iconic and beloved circuits on the calendar with the Monaco Grand Prix shaping the sporting weekend ahead, we spoke to the Tony Fernandes, Team Principal of the new Lotus Racing team, who gives a fascinating insight into the team’s modern approach to Formula 1. In an exclusive chat with the UK Sports Network, Tony discusses the Lotus heritage, the impact of social media on the team’s communications strategy, why F1 is still has a lot to offer international brands and how Lotus Racing aims to put the sport’s legion of fans first.

As a new F1 team with an iconic name, how difficult is it to satisfy the F1 purists and concurrently appeal to new audiences?

“Some would see this as a potential problem, but since day one we’ve seen it as a major opportunity. The key to satisfying both parties has been honesty – we have never pretended to be, nor do we want to be, a rebirth of Colin Chapman’s Lotus, but we are very aware of the responsibility we have to uphold his legacy, and that of his cars, his drivers and his employees. We embrace a number of his philosophies in the way we go about racing – innovation, passion and dedication all being key watchwords for us, and those are as relevant to the purists as they are to the younger fans. We also chose our cars’ livery specifically because it is a contemporary nod to the classic green and yellow colours, and have been delighted to see that both new and old fans have unanimously come out in favour of our choice, many already saying it is by far the best looking car on the grid.  

So that’s the philosophy and the way we look on track – we’ve also embraced the new audience by being open, honest and very interactive in all forms of media. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube all afford us the opportunity to talk directly to individual fans, to build a relationship with them that gives them unprecedented access to team information and to give us their feedback on what we do. F1 teams are notoriously secretive about what goes on behind the garage or factory doors, and we want to challenge that, so Mike Gascoyne will tweet from the pit wall the lap before Jarno pits, telling his 15,000 followers what’s about to happen on track, or I will share a picture of me embracing Heikki as he climbs out of his car having broken into Q2 for the first time  – this is how the fans talk to each other and share in each others’ lives, and we do the same.”

What are the objectives of the team in 2010 not only from a performance point of view, but also in terms of fan attraction?

“The performance goals are clear – we initially want to be the best of the new teams, then challenge the established runners in the midfield, and the top, as quickly as we can. After the first four races we have achieved our initial goals – we are comfortably the best of the new teams and in China we took on and beat Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams in a straight fight on track. We had a major upgrade package in Barcelona, with a new front wing, front and rear brake ducts, new turning vanes and a number of mechanical updates, so we now want to push on from a solid base and take on the likes of Toro Rosso, Force India and Williams.

From the fan’s perspective it’s also simple – we want to be the number one team that fans follow. Traditionally fans will support drivers, and only one team has really broken that mould, Ferrari. The Ferrari legend is very alluring, but so is Lotus, and we have the opportunity to take on Ferrari and beat them in the fan stakes. We are new, fresh, honest and inclusive, but with the added magic ingredients of heritage and credibility. For fans this is a very cool mix, and gives us the chance to become, in a reasonable timeframe, the fans’ favourite worldwide.”

How do you view Formula 1’s global perception? What needs to be done to increase F1’s international appeal?

“In recent years F1 has started breaking out of its traditional European based model, and has expanded into the Middle and Far East. Next year there will be a race in India, and with the launch of the South Korean race this year, and the success of the Singapore night race, there will be more races in the sub-continent and Asia in future. This is critically important for F1 as this is where the developing nations are – as the countries’ economies strengthen so do the buying power of their people, and there will be huge competition for their attention from every area of the sports and entertainment industries. F1 needs to be seen and heard in their countries, and needs to be accessible 24 / 7 via their mobiles, laptops and TVs with content that is truly innovative, engaging and creative, and that’s the challenge for F1 – embrace the digital world and see the fan numbers swell, hold it at arm’s length and football, the Olympics, music, film and games, to name but a few, will push F1 further and further down the fans’ list of priorities.

As an Anglo- Malaysian team we have a unique opportunity to open up the sport to fans across China, Asia and India, and to give the brightest talent from those areas the chance to work with us, both at our factory in the UK, and at our base in Sepang, where we will have an R&D and production facility, a museum and other visitor attractions, all aimed at creating employment opportunities in a global sport, and at giving fans access to Lotus Racing, its stories and its experiences.

The other aspect of the sport that needs looking at is the on track action. For too long now the rules have favoured the teams at the top and have not encouraged enough on track action. Great efforts have been made to spice up the action on track, but when conditions are variable and the teams are pushed to the limit, strategically and tactically, the fans see amazing action, on track and in the pits. Australia and China this year have produced two of the best races seen in years and that’s because of variable conditions. We can’t artificially reproduce those conditions, but we can decrease the artificial conditions that lead to processional races – one immediate way to do this is to get rid of blue flags. Every one of the guys on track is a racing driver, and yet we have to wave a flag to make them let fast cars through, further slowing down the guys in the midfield and down, and widening the gap between front and back even more. Do away with these flags and suddenly everyone has to concentrate throughout the whole race – the guys at the back come into play in the action, wherever they are in the race positions, the element of risk when overtaking is introduced throughout the pack and the metronomic nature of the latter stages of races will soon become battles all over the track – we’re here to race, and overtaking is racing, so let’s get rid of the flags and show the fans what the drivers can do.

Lotus is one of a few teams to really embrace social media (Facebook, Twitter) – was that a conscious decision?

“Very much so. As I’ve said earlier, our fans use social media to give each other total access to their lives, and why should we be any different? F1 precedent dictates that we should keep the doors shut and not give away any secrets, but why? What does that solve? Nothing. All too often a team has spent millions designing and building something that may or may not give them an extra tenth of a second on track, and when they finally unveil it everyone else rushes off and copies it, spending millions on something that has no relevance to fans and doesn’t improve the show at all. We must move away from this, and instead be thinking how we can use that money, or in fact much less money than is wasted on the latest gizmo, to embrace fans – let them experience what it’s like to be a mechanic in sweaty overall in 40° heat in Malaysia as Heikki’s about to pit, or what an Engineer is going through as the heat sensors on his car are rising to dangerous levels with three laps to go and he has to decided whether or not to bring his driver into the pit. That will increase our fan base, and that will ensure we have fans for life. Until we can all do that, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube are our best conduits to the fans, and we love the fact they respond to us every day.”

Does the team have a social media strategy as such?

“The strategy is simple. Embrace all the relevant social media platforms with content that is relevant, timely and innovative. We can over complicate it, but that’s what it boils down to in strategic terms. Tactically, the challenge is obviously immense, and requires a different but complimentary plan for each outlet, but we have embraced social media, we think, like no other team and are breaking new ground in our use of all its platforms.

Heikki is an active Tweeter, as are Mike and yourself, does this help break down the barriers between the teams and the fans?

“When used effectively Twitter is a fantastic tool for breaking down barriers – but it’s the same as having a conversation with your friends – say something interesting and relevant and you will get complimentary responses. Say something bland or banal and people will very quickly turn away and listen to someone else. That’s the challenge – to make it interesting. We’re lucky that we have a number of Tweeters in the team who are all interesting personalities, and that’s what fuels our Twitter strategy:

@h­_kovalainen gives insights every day into what the life of an F1 driver is really like. He seems to play a bit too much golf, but at least I know what he’s eating every day is healthy……..

@mikegascoyne definitely leads the way in F1 technical people, giving such detailed information about the team, on and off track, that some members of the media have already given us the title of Twitter Team of the Year

@mylotusracing is a source of general news from the team, again on and off track. There are a few people in the team who have access to that account, and they use it really well to give updates about what’s going on at the factory, show inside, for example, our new race trailers, and give timing updates throughout each on track session

@tonyfernandes is mine, and I’ve been an avid user now since late 2008. I love the fact I can tell a load of people what I’m doing and where I am in one message, and even more important to me is the fact people can respond to me directly and tell me what’s going on with them in their lives, what they think about AirAsia or Lotus Racing, ask my advice or tell me something amazing – it’s such a democratic tool, with no geographical, social or religious boundaries, it’s honestly one of my great loves.

Your website is very interactive, what was the thinking behind this concept and are there any developments in the pipeline?

“Thank you! The site was pulled together very quickly by a very talented team who worked extremely hard to get us online at the same time as we were putting the whole team together. The site is the gateway to everything we do as a team, it’s the door to all the content we produce, the conversations we have with our fans, it’s where our partners can create communities with our fans and it’s where we tell the world what we’re up to. It is being developed further now and we will very shortly be unveiling version 2 – keep clicking to find out what we’re up to next!

What can F1 learn from other sports…as a keen West Ham supporter do you have any football related experiences that can be transferred to F1?

“I’ve already said above what F1 needs to do to increase fan numbers and stay ahead of the other entertainment choices consumers have. The relatively recent explosion in interest in football is both down to the fantastic, interactive coverage it has around the world, and the way the brands involved in it use it as a platform for globally relevant, innovative marketing activities. Nike, Adidas, Coca Cola, Sony, Microsoft and all the other brands involved at club and international levels keep driving up awareness and fan loyalty, through amazing campaigns and great products. F1 must do the same, and the very nature of the sport, cool cars, amazing athletes and jaw dropping locations, give our sport the perfect platform to promote ourselves. This will see us replicate the success football has had in attracting new fans, particularly in Asia and India, and that’s the key lesson we can learn.” 

What does Formula 1 in 2010 stand for and what benefits can brands derive from an association with F1?

“F1 still stands for what it always has – speed, passion, glamour, risk, excitement, innovation, excellence and international cool! Any brand that counts these words amongst their own brand values can derive huge value from association with our sport, but the key is to embrace the sport and support the naming rights they purchase with fully integrated activation plans. There are too many brands in the sport who see the benefits of awareness, but, perhaps because their expectations were not fully managed, are somewhat blinded by the range of other opportunities that their investment can provide. We have a number of partners with Lotus Racing who are already showing what can be done with a well thought out strategic plan – Maxis, the leading Malaysian telco, have already created and launched an iphone application that within a week was the top application in Malaysia. This creates a dialogue with a new fanbase who will keep coming back to Maxis for more content, more access to the team, and this is a great use of their sponsorship. I think that shows what can be done, and what should be done by brands who come into the sport for the right business reasons.”

A resourceful group of MotoGP fans, fronted by Gadget Show presenter Suzi Perry, failed to let the Eyjafjallajökull volcano put a cloud over the cancelled Japanese MotoGP race last weekend. Instead, they turned to the power of Twitter to establish the world’s first ever virtual race, #TwitGP.

In what was arguably the first of its kind in recent sporting history, a postponed sporting event was salvaged and transformed into an online gathering of loyal enthusiasts and web junkies. The result was a bizarre yet intriguing fan-led celebration of MotoGP past and present which underlined the sphere of influence within the Twittersphere and the sheer appetite for online sports campaigns.

The concept for #TwitGP was started within hours after the official cancellation of the Japanese Grand Prix, as Suzi explained to me on the phone from her #TwitGP HQ: “We were all so disappointed that Motegi was postponed, that we started this as a bit of fun, just to see how far it would go,” she said. “We were amazed that in less than 24 hours we had almost 2,000 people on board, including riders, mechanics, teams, press, IT and even a few celebrities, including Ross Noble.”

Day-by-day, the #TwitGP phenomenon spread quicker than a volcanic ash cloud and in less than seven days, the @TwitGP account had close to 6,000 followers – not far from the 7,302 spectators who physically attended the actual season-opening Qatar Grand Prix just a few weeks back. The initiative also attracted the interest of top bands Stereophonics (@stereophonics) and The Prodigy (@the_prodigy) and genuine MotoGP racers Jorge Lorenzo (@lorenzo99) and Nicky Hayden (@nickyhayden69).

The rules of #TwitGP were deliberately loose to allow fans and contributors the chance to shape the next development, but the skeleton format replicated an actual race weekend with free practice, qualifying and the race itself from Friday to Sunday. Contributions ranged from MCN Sport editor @guyprocter producing a mock-up magazine cover to promote the race to @madmark99 acting as a virtual Photoshop advert with his creation (and admitted oversight in not copyrighting) of the TwitGP logo. 

Racing driver and TV star Tiff Needell took it upon himself to design the virtual ‘Twitegi’ circuit (Motegi being the real name of the Japanese GP circuit for those not well versed in motor racing venues!), while racing legends Max Biaggi, Mick Doohan and Kevin Schwantz all ‘virtually’ dusted off their leathers to join current superstars Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner and the aforementioned Lorenzo and Hayden in Twitegi battle.

As the sessions progressed with live updates from @TwitGP, contributions came in from actual MotoGP presenters and team members giving the public a rare opportunity to converse with those in the paddock’s inner sanctum.  The race unfolded on Sunday afternoon with Kevin Schwantz taking an unexpected and unlikely victory ahead of @Lorenzo99 and Rossi.

Once all the race day celebrations had eased off, Suzi gave us her post-race debrief:

“The anticipation for race day emulated an actual GP!” she said. “Messages came flooding in all day; people asking about the weather so they could wear the correct clothes, to questions about how the riders were feeling! It was as if it was actually happening. Of course it was all just a huge amount of fun and wordsmith daftness, which everyone seemed to love and relish, to the point of tweeting their thoughts and tech/bike mash vocabulary! We broadcast the event live, uploading appropriate pictures and it was a wonderful experience to be covering a ‘race’ again…and of course, to see “Revvin” Kevin Schwantz on top of the podium!”

It was a completely bizarre end to an utterly unpredictable week in the world of MotoGP and Twitter. But should we really be surprised by the power of Twitter?

As Suzi herself sums up: “Twitter is such an amazing medium and its power never ceases to amaze me.”

The 2010 MotoGP World Championship gets underway at the Losail International Circuit this weekend after an agonisingly long off-season period. It has been five months since the curtain fell on the 2009 championship in Valencia, but the Qatari night race will literally put motorcycle racing back under the spotlight once more.

There have been few big name moves over the winter with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo resuming battle in the divided Fiat Yamaha garage, Casey Stoner partnering Nicky Hayden at Ducati, and Dani Pedrosa alongside Andrea Dovizioso at Repsol Honda for a second season.

However, there has been a serious injection of fresh blood into motorcycling’s premier class this season with the arrival of a batch of enthusiastic 250cc graduates in the shape of Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki), Marco Simoncelli (Gresini Honda), Hector Barbera (Paginas Amarillas Aspar) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda). The youthful composition of riders in this year’s championship makes 30-year-old seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi look positively, well, veteran in comparison.

The age gap has certainly not flustered Rossi, whose pre-season form has been scintillating. His position at the head of the timesheets has been threatened only by a resurgent Casey Stoner aboard the Ducati who took top honours in the recent night test at Qatar. Not that seeing Stoner’s name in first place is any shock, particularly at Qatar where he remains unbeaten since 2007. With Jorge Lorenzo still in recovery mode following an off-season hand injury and the Hondas struggling for outright pace, it looks as if 2010 will be another Rossi/Stoner double act.

Off-track and MotoGP’s Spanish rights holders Dorna have been busy evolving the sport for the new season with some notable announcements in recent weeks. First of all, there is good news for armchair fans with the confirmation that MotoGP will go HD in 2010. Formula One fans are still patiently waiting for HD broadcasts, so MotoGP has stolen something of a march on its four-wheeled counterparts.

A word from Dorna’s Manel Arroyo on the subject: “Working alongside the most recognised sports broadcasters worldwide and being one of the leading motorsports championships, we have a duty to stay abreast of all the emerging technologies which help us to capture the speed and adrenaline of MotoGP”. Enough said.

A lot of MotoGP’s other developments appear to stem from a ‘home is where the heart is’ approach. Of those rookie riders we mentioned earlier, two are Spanish, bringing the total number of Spanish riders to five out of a field of 17 (note, there are also five Italians). MotoGP is unsurprisingly popular in Spain. The Jerez MotoGP event on race day is something akin to Mecca for motor-racing fans – whether two-wheeled or four.

One of Dorna’s recent agreements revolves around promoting Spain as a tourist venue. When the 2010 calendar was unveiled – with the three existing Spanish races all in situ as expected – there was the introduction of a fourth Spanish venue as a back-up should any particular race not proceed as planned. Lo and behold, when the already postponed Hungarian GP could not progress due to track development complications, the position on the calendar was duly given to the Aragon Motorland, an impressive looking facility in northern Spain.

So five riders, four races and ‘Visit Spain’ logos adorned wherever there is blank space, the MotoGP world championship is the world’s fastest moving Spanish postcard. It is a shrewd deal and makes sense for both parties. Certainly Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta is pleased: “For years, the three Spanish GPs, now four, have already served as an attraction to foreigners to visit Spain, and with this agreement we hope to continue to draw more people, not only to watch the races but to discover everything the country has to offer,” he said.

However, it is worth asking whether an overwhelmingly Spanish championship character puts off other brands looking for truly international exposure for their brands. Or does its Spanish flavour give MotoGP a distinctive character and appeal that sets it apart from other worldwide sports? If the objective is simply to “Visit Spain”, then Dorna’s job is done.