The case talks about the failure of F1 to tap the potential of the Indian markets and leave a mark

in the inaugural year that was received in an extremely positive sentiment.

Situational Analysis:
The Situational analysis of any event is generally evaluated on the basis of a few parameters:
1. Financial Analysis: The Indian Grand Prix was pegged to generate heavy revenues out
of the total market (India) potential of $170 mil. The Indian Grand Prix is one of the races
in the world that is not subsidized by the government and has to pay $ 40 mil to host the
event once a year. Bernie Ecclestone CEO and President of Formula One announced that
the New Delhi race will not be run either in 2014 or 2015; the 83-year-old said that the
problems were mainly related to tax and bureaucracy.
But he has now told the IANS news agency: The race promoters there [Jaypee] have not
been able to comply with parts of the contract and the breaches are mostly money
related. The circuit, despite the placards saying "New Delhi" is not located in the state
of Delhi, but in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh. The government of UP now says
that F1 is not a sport, but entertainment and wants to levy taxes on the event.

2. Marketing: Airtel spent 34 crores for title sponsorship and the entire ticket marketing
and track marketing responsibility was assigned to Airtel. The inaugural event created a
lot of noise and the grand positioning of the event because of a lot of celeb involvement
encouraged a lot of F1 fans to travel across the country to be a part of the event.
Advertising activities slowed down progressively across the 3 years resulting in a slow
sale of advertising spots. Airtel Indias FB page is the largest F1 community in the world
with 1.2 mil people out there but still the digital media campaigns which would been the
most effective way of targeting youth fell short by a mile. All the team sponsors other
than Vodafone disappointed in terms of creating the buzz needed for the event and not to
mention, Vodafone did their bit because Airtel was hogging all the limelight. Renault,
Tag Heuer, Redbull, Hugo Boss, UBS etc. were the team sponsors that disappointed the
most. Renault supplies engines to Redbull racing which failed to seize the opportunity in
spite of having a national presence. Tag Heuer & Hugo Boss could have opened a lot of
closed doors in these Indian markets

The problem identified by us as a team is a two-fold problem that in our opinion is a
combination of bureaucratic (feasibility) issues at the back end and a marketing problem
at the front end where all big companies failed to seize such a big opportunity. The event
was modulated on the lines of the IPL with associating glamour and sports and cricketing
figures were also made to be present. In comparison, the buzz created by IPL was
phenomenal and the Indian grand Prix also made its mark in the inaugural season. But,
we need to understand that people in the country have been travelling up and down since
ages to get a glimpse of the Gavaskars and the Tendulkars. IPL drew the attention of the
family audience in totality but if it would have failed to do so this cricket crazy nation of
ours would still have travelled to see the Harbhajan and Dhoni lead their teams to the
ground to fight for the trophy for the IPL final. Relying on buzz and not educating the
viewers about the sport and its functioning hit the organizers hard in the second year
where the response declined in all forms after a commendable show that was put up in the
first year. Indian grand prix was marketed as a one-time event and not as a sport. IPL
followed the same model and succeeded because they dont need to market cricket at all,
the noise is created throughout the year for them; whereas Indian Grand Prix creates
noise for 2 months or so before the race which is never a healthy option in the longer run.
The technical issue that we see is, F1 has the media & sponsorship rights, and it is only
the ticketing revenue that comes to circuit promoters (Jaypee) whereas in the case of IPL,
BCCI own all the rights and they also promote the event themselves. F1 in that sense
does not do any promotions, especially in new circuits. The reason being F1 is based out
of UK and doesnt want to invest heavily in newer markets while BCCI is the big daddy
of the ICC and is based out of India itself and trusts the Indian market heavily. FIA failed
to understand the need to involving local promoters at the grass-root level and also, failed
to device an encouraging revenue model for sponsors & promoters which led to
miscalculating the break-even by 2 years.

Leveraging the circuit in absence of the event:
The nationalistic aspect of the project - Buddh International Circuit, is very much visible.
This facility will encourage young Indians to take to motorsport and some sponsors, some
advertisers, will also back them. The concept of track day racing is ideal for the circuit,
where commoners can try out the track with vehicles. Track day racing generally garners
a lot of sponsorship from the companies working in the automobile industry. Budhh
circuit is a part of the Jaypee Green Sports city where there is a go Karting arena, an
under construction cricket stadium and a plethora of commercial and residential projects.
Events at the go karting arena can gather mind share. If the infrastructure sector identifies
lucrative opportunities at the premise they have all the ammunition to market the circuit
in a national manner. Force India is Indian representation at the national level in F1
which is based out of Silverstone (race circuit) in the UK. Budhh circuit provides all
similar facilities and if Force India can be persuaded to shift base they can prove to be the
year round presence at the circuit which would automatically attract fans and highlight
the circuit in a glamorous manner. Also, an association with the quite famous Delhi auto-
expo can prove beneficial when the circuit premises can be used to host the event. The
cricketing facility at the sports city can host exhibition matches and provide all sorts of
training facilities due to its world class infrastructure at least to the Ranji Trophy teams of
Delhi and UP also.

Recommendations:
F1 racing is a European Phenomenon, the revenues that are expected in the form
advertising and sponsorships should be coming from European companies trying to
venture into Indian markets and vice versa. Identification of such companies is a must
because they are the ones who will prove to be the support in terms of fund backing that
is missing. Heromoto Corp. , Shriram Group and JAYPEE themselves are a few of those
company which are initiating global operations their need of global recognition can be
leveraged in the Indian Grand Prix as it attracts a global viewer base. A portal on the lines
of the fantasy premier league can be initiated to keep the youth involved year round with
the sport which is a combination of gamification and crowd sourcing. Redbull should be
approached as a co-branding partner to promote the track and racing in India. Merc,
BMW, Renault being engine providers to the F1 community and also having pan India
presence should be given preference and lucrative deals should have been struck with
these automobile majors that would have boosted their brands across the country and also
would have provided a financial cushion to the organizers. A digital campaign that runs
from 6 months prior to the event can create a highly effective viral buzz which would
involve and educate the youth about the sport leading to long term rewards for F1 in
India.