You have Spent $50 Million on a Sponsorship Your Brand Ambassadors Will Ruin

I sat in on a BA briefing for an F1 title sponsorship tour 2 weeks ago.

Seventy percent of the ambassadors knew very little about Formula 1.

The event agency didn’t notice. Didn’t flag it. Didn’t seem to care.

That’s the problem.

Right now as these BAs stand at the activation booth, an F1 fan — someone who’s been watching this sport for fifteen years, who understands downforce and pit strategy and why this season matters — will ask them a question about the championship.

The BA won’t know the answer.

The fan will know instantly that the brand doesn’t respect them enough to send someone who gets it.

That fan will leave. They’ll tell someone. Your £50 million sponsorship will have cost you goodwill in the moment that mattered most.

And nobody upstream will know why.

F1 Fans Know

They’re engineers. Tacticians. People who’ve spent fifteen years learning this sport.

They know pit strategy. They know driver history. They know why this season matters.

When a BA doesn’t know any of it, the fan doesn’t think the BA is just uninformed.

The fan thinks the brand doesn’t care enough about them to send someone who does.

That’s not a training problem. That’s a selection problem.

The Briefing I Watched

The event agency did a standard briefing.

Key messages. Brand position. How to sign people up. Standard event protocol.

Nobody asked the seventy percent: Do you understand F1? Can you have a real conversation about it?

The answers would have been no.

The agency didn’t ask. Didn’t care if the answer was yes or no.

They were focused on outputs — sign-ups, foot traffic, data capture.

They weren’t thinking about outcomes. Whether a fan leaves thinking better of the brand. Whether they’d tell someone.

That’s where the miss is.

What Will Happen at the Events

An F1 enthusiast will approach the booth. Ask about the championship. The strategy for the weekend. Why this driver is in the mix.

The BA won’t know.

Not because they weren’t trained. Because they were never selected for this work in the first place.

The fan will know instantly. They’ll finish the conversation politely. They’ll walk away. They’ll tell their friend: “The brand didn’t even bother.”

Your £50 million sponsorship will have cost you goodwill in the moment that mattered most.

This is predictable. It will happen. Multiple times across the tour.

And the event agency won’t see it as a problem.

The Fix

Better BAs. Not more training. Better selection.

Source BA’s who actually know F1. Look for ex Mechanics. Engineers. Journalists. Super-fans who can talk about the sport with conviction. I recently was on a job for BET 365 — they hired a couple of ex jockeys — the fans all knew them — they were a fabulous addition to the event.

Use the same people across the tour. Consistency builds learning and relationships.

Have your brand’s marketing director brief them. Not the agency. Your leadership. Because this matters strategically, not tactically.

Pay proper expenses. Attract the right caliber of person.

Cost increase: £10,000 across the entire tour.

That’s the investment. That’s what it costs to fix this.

Why This Matters

The brand ambassador is the only human contact a fan has with your brand.

Everything else — the booth, the lighting, the collateral — that’s set dressing.

The BA is the relationship. The BA is the memory.

When the BA respects the fan’s knowledge, the fan respects the brand.

When the BA doesn’t know what they’re talking about, the fan leaves thinking you don’t respect them.

For a £50 million sponsorship, that’s a catastrophic return.

What the Best Do Differently

Source obsessives. Not warm bodies.

The BAs who move the needle aren’t event professionals. They’re people who live the category. They can talk about it because they care about it.

Brief through the brand, not the agency.

Have your marketing director spend 90 minutes with the BAs. Not a script. A real conversation about why this sponsorship matters. What you’re trying to achieve. How they’re the frontline for it.

Use the same people across the tour.

One-off staffing is performance theatre. Repeat BAs build consistency and real relationships.

Measure the right thing.

Not foot traffic. Not sign-ups. Did this person’s feeling about the brand improve? Would they recommend it? Did they feel respected?

That’s what matters.

What I’d Actually Do

If I were running this sponsorship, I’d act before the first event.

Audit the current BAs. Who actually knows F1? Who can have a real conversation?

Source properly. Find the obsessives. Mechanics. Engineers. Dedicated fans. People who want this work because they live the sport.

Brief hard. Have your marketing lead do it. 90 minutes. Make it real.

Repeat. Use the same people across the tour.

Measure sentiment. Not outputs.

Cost: £10,000 more.

Impact: Measurable within two events.

Why This Matters Beyond F1

This isn’t unique to Formula 1.

Every premium sponsorship operates in a category where the audience knows more than most people in the room.

Luxury automotive. Fine spirits. Tech. Sailing. Cycling.

Your fans are passionate. They’re knowledgeable. They know when you’re sending someone who doesn’t respect that.

The signal you send by resourcing properly is: We brought our best. We respect you.

The signal you send by sending unprepared BAs is: This wasn’t worth our time.

Which one do you want to send?

The Closing Thought

The brand ambassador is the primary strategic variable.

Not the booth. Not the tech. Not the collateral. The person.

That person will either enhance or undermine every other pound you’ve spent.

A £50 million sponsorship deserves BAs who can actually talk about the sport.

Your fans deserve someone who respects their passion.

Make it happen.

Yes it was a long time ago, in a Williams.