I learned working with the negatives can make for better pictures.
- Drake
Let us lay it down for you when it comes to what we are drawn to: drama. It is the true fundamental element of fiction, of storytelling and of narrative interest. Trouble is interesting, simple as that. The best characters are those you admire for their humanity, persistence and all of their highs and lows.
It is all part of our human programming and how we react to primal instincts. We LOVE a bit of drama.
We wrote in an earlier newsletter of how important it is to build narratives around Heroes and Villains, but that paradox can only exist when there is drama... so why not lean into it? The racing is already excellent, the rivalries are set up and ready to go and the personality clashes will already be developing throughout the paddock. Use it all.
The news of Marc Marquez joining the Ducati Factory Team certainly shook up the paddock, but what came soon after was very interesting: how will the team harmony develop once MM93 is as familiar with the bike as Pecco and how then does the team react when they will inevitably be clattering into one another on track again? Certainly a narrative worth keeping a close eye on in 2025.
Time to get practical…
Conventional PR and media training will tell you to "own the narrative" during press conferences or post-race interviews.
The reality, unfortunately, is a series of pre-determined one-liners and "thank yous" that do very little to move the narrative forward.
Platitudes designed to stay neatly in a non-confrontation box that appeases sponsors, governing bodies and fellow riders and teams.
Zzzzzzzz... you are allowed to show your emotions! Sponsors WANT to see emotion.
By all means "stay calm" or "take a breath before answering" but give the audience something to work with.
You want to make some headway in the comms game? Go on the front foot and have some fun.
Let's lay out a scenario, a team manager in a media scrum:
There are rumours of a team rift between the riders. Journalists will ask you to address the issue so how do you go about it?
Our advice: Embrace it. It's a sparring match between them and you, as they try to poke the bear or rattle the cage. Have some fun. Perhaps you could research some popular rivalries from sporting history and draw some comparisons (Ali vs Frazier, Senna vs Prost, etc). You might even choose to go full Bill Belichick and embrace the dry side of press conferences.
Try literally anything to avoid going down the tried and tested route of: "We are all working really hard and the team is looking forward to this weekend's race..." 🤦♂️
“People forget that the popularity of MotoGP was built on one rider's ability to lean into drama and weaponise communications to beat his opponents on the track - Valentino Rossi.
He used his ability to own a narrative and turn swathes of fans (and the media) against his key rivals, beating them off the track as well as on it. Biaggi, Gibernau, Stoner, Lorenzo... and then came Marc Marquez.
In 2015 at Sepang, Marquez was out the championship running, it was Rossi vs Lorenzo, but with MM93 as an ever-present threat for victories and valuable points. So Rossi turned to page 1 of his user manual on how to beat his opponents on track through off-track methods and used Thursday's press conference to intimidate Marc by accusing him of wanting Lorenzo to win the title due to a grudge for Rossi beating him in Argentina & Assen earlier in the year.
The message was clear "don't mess me around".
It was a huge error on Rossi's part as this only fuelled Marquez. A decade later and the 93 more or less admitted in his documentary 'All-In' that he didn't previously care who won the title, but after that, he 'wasn't exactly going to play nice with his former childhood hero'. We all know what subsequently happened that fateful Sunday…
The lesson? Be careful what you wish for and make sure you actually have the measure of an opponent before engaging in any kind of verbal warfare.”
1. “Multi 21, Seb, multi 21!”
Remember this iconic Mark Webber moment? Well, here’s what was waiting for him courtesy of Yamaha at the Monster Energy ’Track Day of Legends’ in Silverstone last week. Superb use of an offline joke among friends (Webber goes way back with numerous members of the MotoGP/SBK world) making outstanding (and spicy!) online content.
2. “Random White Acts of Danger”
Courtesy of comedian Lawrence Johnson, this gem from TT race week doesn't shy away from calling it as he sees it, making the content so amusing. Davey Todd even shared it on his stories after winning the Senior TT. You can’t be a TT fan and not have a dark sense of humour.
3. MotoAmerica ups the spice and reaps the rewards
MotoAmerica had an instabanger of a weekend at Brainerd the other week. A two-man wheelie on a Harley, some spectacular crashes, a race-winning backflip off the tyre wall… but one of the top clips came after qualifying, with Bobby Fong & Josh Herrin arguing over a close call on track. It got heated, not NASCAR heated, but that didn’t matter. 500k views, 390 comments and over 900 shares tell you the fans want to see less fist-bumping & MORE spice. 🌶️
A slightly different route than the usual quick fixes, but for good reason…
If you consume content on the ‘big 3’ YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, keeping an eye on what the top content creators out there are up to… you may have come across “your favourite creator’s favourite creators”, Colin & Samir.
They make content about content & the creator economy. Want to know who’s big right now and changing the game? Keep an eye on their channels.
Well, last week on their podcast they had none other than the head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, who tackled questions from Colin & Samir about the ins & outs of Instagram’s functionality with practical tips for everyday users.
His breakdown of why Instagram is paying close attention to reach on posts gained through shares is particularly interesting - it starts at 9:50min. The ‘quick’ fix this week is to simply click the subscribe button on their channel… the not-so-quick-fix for your Instagram page is to watch/listen to that whole podcast and take notes!
