ChainOn launches the new ‘ChainOn Interview’ project: it is a series of exclusive interviews with representatives of #Partner companies of the digital marketplace, who will speak about what their work consists of and give advice based on their experience and professionalism.
Our first protagonist is… Fabio Mazzoni, Team Honda LCR.
Fabio Mazzoni, you are the business development director of the Honda LCR team: let’s start by putting your activity in context. What do you deal with on a daily basis?
Describing it briefly, I can say that my role is related to relations with the companies that are Partners and Sponsors of the Team. But going into detail… The concept of sponsorship has evolved a lot over the years, and today it is not just a matter of selling advertising space on racing vehicles, but above all of structuring a detailed and always innovative marketing and communication programme: in this respect, my work is linked to a commercial activity towards new prospects potentially interested in us, but also to the development of ideas involving content which, nowadays, is fundamental: if the visibility of a company’s brand on a motorbike is immediate, the activation part requires professionalism of a certain kind, and a detailed knowledge of our product.
Can you give us some examples of how your internal organisation is structured?
With my division we are directly involved in the strategic decisions of Team Director Lucio Cecchinello, and we take care of managing and organising all the activities that involve the company, but also our Partners and Prospects: events, hospitality management, the multimedia content we share on social media, but also the testimonial activity of the team riders and much more.
Let’s turn to the subject of sports sponsorship: what advice do you feel you can give, based on your experience and professionalism, to those who occupy a position like yours, even in different fields, such as amateur sports?
In the past it was thought that the world of MotoGp, which has worldwide visibility, was enough to attract those companies operating in an international market; but today this is no longer the case, because companies are asking for more and are looking for those who take care of them and constantly propose new ideas. Precisely for this reason, it is necessary to put ourselves at the service of these companies, with a very precise internal organisation: in the ‘LCR Team’, we have the technical division, the logistics division, the hospitality division, and the division dedicated to marketing and activations, which studies corporate communication and its evolutions constantly, at all times. The world is constantly evolving, and the advice I would give is to keep up with the times and follow the trends of the moment, which do not necessarily come from your own sphere.
Unlike other sports, which are more localised and linked to well-defined territories, motorcycling has an international impact. Which markets are the most receptive?
During the season we run 20 races and touch 15 countries in 4 continents. The strong basin is the European one, and it is also the one where our sport was born and grew up: Italy and Spain are the two reference markets where we manage to involve a general public, but in recent years there has also been a great growth in interest in France, Germany and Holland, with excellent results from the point of view of attendance on race days. And then, there is the Asian market: it is very popular in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India, also because the population is used to using motorbikes as a means of everyday transport, and does not see it just as fun (as it may be in Europe), and there is also a lot of interest in South America.
Staying on the subject, it is news from a few months ago that a new commercial figure has entered the MotoGP…
Exactly: the commercial management has now passed into the hands of Dan Rossomondo, a manager who comes from the NBA, a league that has always been characterised by a high level of entertainment, typical of the United States. The MotoGP can only benefit from this and I think that the involvement of our sport will evolve quickly.
Coming to the relationship that binds Team Honda LCR and ChainOn, it is worth emphasising how you were among the first to believe in the project and in the innovation brought by our digital marketplace: why, and from what, was this collaboration born?
With ChainOn CEO Giovanni Palazzi, we have known each other for many years because I started my career as a manager at the beginning of the 2000s starting with the online course ‘Selling Sponsorship’ realised by StageUp, a company closely linked to ChainOn and a pioneer in the field of sports and entertainment (the new course ‘Selling Sponsorship – How to sell sponsorships from Serie A to youth teams in the 21st century’ is available online and can be downloaded for free after registering at www.chainon.it,ndr). When the sponsorship marketplace was presented to us, we immediately decided to join because we like innovative ideas and we like to keep up with the times. We immediately liked it because of its simplicity and the fact that it uses a technology like blockchain: all this, without forgetting that our interlocutors are managers who, with just a little information, grasp the essence of what you want to convey on the fly, and ChainOn communicates its functionality and use in a direct and quick way. Now that the international section will also be launched, we are even more convinced that we made the right decision, considering that our market, as we said before, goes beyond the Italian context.
Let’s look at the coming months: after the summer break, it will start again in August and one of the most eagerly awaited events is definitely the San Marino and Riviera Grand Prix to be held at Misano on 9 September. What does Team Honda LCR have in store for those racing days? Are there any side events planned?
In July we will take part in several events around Europe, such as the ‘Festival of Speed’ at Goodwood, an event historically dedicated to cars, but which in this edition is also integrated with motorbikes. And then, as mentioned, in September we race at Misano: it is one of the most eagerly awaited moments of the season, we will have many guests and we will organise several side events, including an evening at the ‘Peter Pan’ with our partners and customers, with music, aperitifs and entertainment. We have been organising this event for years, and we do it because we want to create something different for the participants to enjoy themselves: people come to the circuit to follow the races, but it is also nice to share moments like this, in an alternative context.
But the events associated with Misano do not end with the weekend…
That’s right: the week after the race, we will organise a “Trackday” at the Cervesina circuit, an exclusive event reserved for the Honda LCR Team. We will set up the pits and make the bikes available for the sponsors, who will participate in person but may invite their customers to have the opportunity to experience the thrill of racing on the track. This, as we said at the beginning, is also a way to carry out marketing activities related to the experience.
