USF1 unveils YouTube channel, no one notices
December 24, 2009 by vmr
Filed under Prime & Option, Top Story
Very late (for Americans) Wednesday night, USF1 sponsor YouTube rolled out the long-promised USF1 YouTube channel. Unfortunately, no one has noticed. There are three separate videos, which total a little over six minutes of viewing, two of which are interviews with Ken Anderson or Peter Windsor and one is an “introduction to the team.”
At the time of this posting, there have only been about at thousand views, combined, of the three videos. Both of the “interviews,” and I use that term loosely, are just over a minute long and have the team principals re-iterating the information and sound bites that have been released. The intro to the team is more interesting and shows some of the construction of the factory as well as some design work and building of various car components including the tub, complete with a rockin’ soundtrack. I suggest you hide from annoying family members this holiday by watching the three minute video.
While it is great to see more information come out of Charlotte, particularly right after Bernie Eccelstone has again cast doubt on the readiness of USF1, it again feels as though F1 public relations people are missing some common sense. As I have repeatedly mentioned, for a sport that spends billions of dollars on development and technology and travel, too often press releases and genuinely interesting information get lost by release at the wrong time or without proper fanfare. This attempt by USF1 to make F1 more fan and internet-user friendly with possibly inside information through sponsor YouTube and more transparency available online is great, and the way that more of the teams ought to go. Bravo for the thought, USF1. Boo for not shouting that this information is available from the rooftops.
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No one notices, or no one cares? I’ve become VERY disillusioned with the USF1 concept. I’d love to be happily surprised, but I don’t think the team will survive the 2010 season.
If* the only source for USF1 news is blogs like this one, then isn’t it your job to shout it out for them? I didn’t know about the YT channel until reading this post, and if you hadn’t mentioned it I wouldn’t have ever known about it. Thanks, and Merry Christmas!
*it’s the only source for me
EDIT: Found their twitterfeed, but no mention of the YT page. That’s encouraging…
It’s Christmas Vacation…..or hadn’t you noticed? There are 6 people awake in the US and on their computer….and I’m one of the 6. You make number 5….that leaves 4 and they’re surfing for p0rn.
This is piss poor “reporting” at it’s finest. It’s no wonder the US is laughed at in real racing circles….not even their own people get behind this sort of venture and adventure. Instead of pissing on the parade, why not get IN on it and try to help make it a success? Or are you going to wait until it succeeds or fails so you can jump on that bandwagon and claim you knew this would (succeed/fail) all along? Cant wait for that so I can rub your face in it.
This site is starting to suck more every day. Congratulations. The worst part is it’s based in my home city where we dont even own our brewery anymore…
I love your post. Thank you. It’s unfortunate that most people in the US know very little about Formula 1. The only people who are interested are the people at the tracks on the weekends racing their own cars.
On top of that, because the US is so spread out, travel is so expensive that when they do bring Grands Prix to the US, the budget-racers simply can’t afford to go; the wealthy racers can’t take off work!
Regardless, I agree, the USF1 team MUST be announcing their dreams and updates to the interested community. They simply don’t have the staff to support this, however. They’ve half-assed their grassroots/social media campaign and it’s a shame. They need someone exclusively building their brand.
Jordan Callaway
jordancallaway.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVYZDsc6XWo
Looks like they have hidden their famous “Toasters” from eyes of media, fans and competition
Glad to see them get the You Tube page up. I was sitting at home for here on Christmas Eve pretty much bored while the wife went out shopping for last minute things…now I am excited to have seen these videos.
YT is so 2008. Where’s their simulator? How will USF1 test and race without a simulator?
Cheers
here’s my take – youtube is social media, the people who view the content spread it themseves – like you’re doing now. the team doesn’t have the mega bucks to spend on promotion and prime time spots on TV, cable, or other media. and why should they? F1 in the US now is like soccer here was in the 70s. IF that. so it’s probably just as effective right now to drop some social media content out there and let it grow legs. although i agree, some better editing and presentation would improve what’s up there now.
i don’t think the team is going to have any major backing until they win or more precisely, an american driver they hire wins a race. but then again, the race will be somewhere in euroland or the middle east or asia, so US fans aren’t going to travel to go see it like they do other home grown sports. maybe then they’ll want to spend some ad dollars to boost tv viewership, but it’s too early now.
USF1 has a very unique and difficult challenge on their hands PR-wise. i think for now they should focus on the car and development, get a team that can compete, and make use of the low cost PR channels that exist in the meantime. my guess is that we’ll see some internet blasts near the start of the season though.
Well their YT channel has over 9000 views…thats about 8999 more than this site eh?
Sorry we’ve annoyed you so, Tim. Merry Christmas. On the bright side, some of those 9,000+ views have come direct from this site, so at least we’re helping get them a little exposure, even during this quiet spell.
I think it’s safe to say that any skepticism displayed on here is more a sign of concern than an attempt to insult or belittle. I read the criticism rather constructively, along the lines of ‘great idea, now go tell the world’. The good news is the world is informing itself gradually without being told by that many people (we tried, for what it’s worth), but who knows how much traffic might have been generated already by some exposure in the right places? Or perhaps they’re waiting to generate a little more content first…
Mark, thanks for the support before I could read the comments on the article.
Tim, I’d like to point out that I adore the idea of USF1 and am quite tired of the European press (and Bernie) suggesting that they won’t show for Bahrain. I know some of the people working on the team and it’s a shame that they have had to deal with such negative press. However, I tend to show my love by poking at things, and many of my negative comments (if you might read the link provided in this article) are about F1 PR people in general…not just USF1. They have a media strategy, I simply disagree with it. In any case, thanks for your “concern” for the site.
To the others who have commented and begun a constructive conversation about USF1, thanks for reading.
and Merry Christmas to all!
It’s about 8 million less than F1B, Tim. Lighten up Gunga Din; we like the idea of USF1 as much as anyone and want it to succeed very much.
I’m not even sure what your problem is, the blog entry had both negative & positive and I think the last line summed her thoughts up well “Bravo for the thought, USF1. Boo for not shouting that this information is available from the rooftops.”
I happen to agree with VMR on this one. It seems like pretty poor thinking to release the channel at this time of year unless there’s some marketing reason to do with Christmas, in which case they should promote the thing.
I do think people are possibly going a bit overboard with all the negativity related to USF1, I’m sure there is a balance point in the middle somewhere where we might all be concerned but not neccessarily listen to every little henny penny “the sky is falling, the sky is falling” comment either from F1 proper or fan blogs/commetors.
I think a lot of peoples frustration with USF1 is quite valid seeing that earlier in the year there seemed to be an overabundance of comments via Peter Windsor and now that crunch time is approaching the information has dried up. Why should it be up to F1B to promote USF1, who have proven they are big enough and ugly enough to do it themselves (that’s not specifically a reply to any of your comments).
Finally, I understand from what I have read on the blog and heard on the podcast that F1B HAS offered to work USF1 to help them and promote them. Not that they should have to just because both are from the US, but still they have offered.
You are lucky that Todd, VMR and Mark are such polite people because I am sure that a lot of people who read your post would like to tell you to get #%$*ed. I think if the 1 view that this site had was yours they would rather shut it down! It’s a fan site and your not paying for so chill out and go eat another corn cob, no offence NC :)
Hey easy guys. Bernie must have thought as all was quiet at Charlotte he had better start the ball rolling, and he has, now everybody is talking about USF1 that is good pr I think. He proberbly has no doubt about their participation in 2010 but nothing was forthcoming from the team. Maybe after the new year break USF1 will open up a little.
Happy New Year, only 78 days to the opening round.
Hey everyone, their website is now a go as well: http://www.usf1.com
Ken and co asked me for advice way back when… and then took none of it. They have left the potential fans in the dust and there is NO WAY between now and March to involve them sufficiently to have Tiffosi of their own… and that is a great pity. A fan base can teach you, can weigh in on issues for you and, above all, can show sponsors someone, somewhere actually gives a damn. As it is, they have the American moniker to hide behind but no one gets angrier than Americans when someone dresses up in the red white and blue and then lets the side down. Peter Windsor will be the prime target if things go wrong – “He’s not American anyway” will lead the accusations.
I cannot understand how they think, at USF1. What don’t they understand about fans and the needs of the sponsors? It seems just about everything.
One more thing… the site is boring and does not serve either the sponsor masters nor the fan base.