Can the FGC learn from Motorsport? A look at how timepieces became involved in F1
Today, I want to look at a few of my favorite things. I'll try to combine motorsports, watches, video games, and terrible analogies. I want to focus on the history of how motorsports (especially F1) got outside sponsors. There are lessons there from which the FGC can draw. One of the questions in the FGC is how we can grow the economic pie so that people can make (at least a partial) living from it. I also have a personal interest in the organic growth of the FGC. It has worked well for most of our history and inures us somewhat from economic vagaries. All else being equal, that seems better than relying on developer largesse. Securing outside sponsors isn’t a unique problem – motorsports have gone through a similar evolution. But before we continue, a warning – an analogy is not anywhere near an air-tight argument. It is simply one thing reminding you of another, so as always, caveat emptor!
There is an old joke saying that the first car race happened right after they built the second car. Humankind’s ability to make anything a competitive seems unquenchable. But as you might imagine, motorsport had its start among the wealthy leisure classes. Automobiles were expensive and dangerous. Only the wealthy, or those with patrons, could afford the costs involved in the sport. It was also a matter of national pride – before the 1960s, race car liveries were national colors. To advertise things was unbecoming of a gentleman, who raced for the honor of his nation. To derive monetary benefit was the realm of the nouveau riche, not the aristocrat.
It was only a matter of time before some manufacturer decided to break that unspoken taboo. In the 1960s, Lotus had the audacity not just to introduce the now-famous Lotus Racing Green, but to slap their name on their vehicles. Other manufacturers followed suit. We were still a bit away from the raucous billboards on a modern F1 car, but the floodgates were open. At the time, you had endemic sponsors like Shell and Goodyear providing free supplies to teams. Manufacturers, too, were taking some advantage of it. The famous mantra of “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday” was the motto of the era. But there were storm clouds on the horizon.
Racing, F1 especially, was getting too expensive. At that point, even well-heeled individuals could not go it alone. Even manufacturers were struggling to justify the costs. Yes, it was advertising, and you could argue some of that R&D made its way into road cars. But the economics broke down as cars got faster and more expensive, but revenue stayed flat. Then in 1968, the hammer dropped – the endemic sponsors pulled out. In desperation, F1 teams began the search for outside sponsors to help plug the yawning budget gap. Enter F1 driver Jo Siffert and Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer AG, now better known as Tag Heuer. Jo Siffert was a part of a new breed of driver. He wasn’t wealthy. He had a part-time job selling cars and smoked to offset hunger pangs from not being able to afford food. But he was a damned good driver. Heuer was a manufacturer of Swiss watches, without the cachet of a Rolex or an Omega. It was looking to capitalize on the glamor of motorsport and jump into the big leagues. Heuer decided to form a partnership with Jo Siffert. He would sell watches to other drivers, Heuer would slap their logo on his car, and of course, Heuer would compensate him for it.
This ended up being a masterstroke for Heuer. Siffert was both an exceptional racer and an outstanding salesman. In an age before affordable quartz watches, an accurate timepiece was an essential and sought-after tool. Motorsport was a glamorous endeavor back in the ’60s and ’70s. The drivers of the time were equal parts daredevil and rock star. Sporting their Heuer watches, their cars emblazoned with the Heuer shield, they were audacious in a way unheard of before. Heuer became associated with motorsport - its speed, its mechanical and technical excellence. If it is sturdy enough and accurate enough for Jo Siffert, it is good enough for your average desk diver. F1 got some much needed monetary support, and not just from watchmakers. Other companies decided to get in on the action, further increasing the economic pie.
It didn't stop there. Heuer also cemented itself in popular culture. In the 1971 film "Le Mans," Steve McQueen wore the now-iconic rectangular Heuer Monaco. F1 and motorsport, in general, grew into the advertising behemoth that we know today. F1 drivers are no longer struggling part-timers doing what they can to scrape by. They are amongst the highest-paid athletes in the world. Sadly, Jo Siffert was never able to appreciate the revolution he wrought, dying in a tragic car crash at the age of 35. Modern advances in technology, wrought from tragedies, make it far safer sport now.
Today, the Swiss watch industry is far different from its legacy of utilitarian, but cutting-edge technology. From a technical standpoint, your $10 quartz watch will keep more accurate time than a $10,000 Rolex. Nowadays, mechanical watches are a luxury. But the idea of using brand ambassadors continues, and even ties into the FGC. Recently, Daigo “The Beast” Umehara did a promo for Hamilton Watches. There he showcased the Hamilton Chronograph Intra-Matic. And once again, we return to the '60s. At the time, there was a race among manufacturers to put in chronographs (stopwatch functionality) into a mechanical watch. Companies such as Omega, Zenith, and Heuer were all devoting vast resources to this task. The Intra-Matic was Hamilton’s entry.
The technology was cutting edge at the time. Even today, a chronograph is a complex feat of mechanical engineering. Unfortunately, it is also obsolete in a world of quartz watches and smartphones. And that in some sense summarizes why the Swiss luxury watch industry is a poor fit with the FGC. The Hamilton Intra-Matic’s current claim to fame is as a finalist for the iconic watch category at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). For a Swiss luxury watch, it is a proverbial steal for only a little north of $2,000 US dollars.
It is a throwback to a different era and a different time. Swiss luxury watches are too expensive, too stuffy, and too removed from the FGC. It is hard to see how the branding benefits Hamilton. The cross-section of gamers that will buy a $2,000 mechanical watch because Daigo wears one is next to zero. It also doesn’t help the FGC, there is no synergy, and no link between the two. A man or woman who is in the market for an "affordable" chronograph is unlikely to decide to enter Evo. Hamilton will never sponsor an FGC event or player for fear of lowering the “prestige” of their brand. We should want to foster long-term relationships. The FGC should look for brands that serve the interest of both parties well.
There exists a watch brand that does line up well with the FGC. Like the FGC, it was born in the late ’80s and hit its stride in the ’90s. It was the North American market that saved this brand. Its popularity here led it to success in its home country and beyond. It is affordable. It has become an integral part of Japanese culture and street/urban culture in general. Nowadays, we associate Swiss luxury watches with James Bond, investment bankers and consultants. We associate this brand with skaters, adventurers, and hip-hop artists. Even better, they have already dipped their toes into sponsorship in the FGC.
That brand is Casio and its G-shock line of watches. We know it for its legendary durability and somewhat brutalist design language. What is less well known is that G-Shock, much like the FGC, is a child of the ’80s. Over the years, G-shock has moved beyond being the most robust watch around. It has made a name for itself in popular culture with a dizzying array of collaborations and variants. Indeed, one of the athletes they sponsor is the FGC’s own Gachikun, winner of Capcom Cup 2018. Of course, as with most discretionary products with legacy, they can be expensive. But the entry-level iconic G-shock DW5000, the base for so many variants, is still often under $100.
In my next post, I’ll write a little more about the history of G-Shock, a (poor) history of the FGC, and go into more detail about why a collaboration with the FGC makes sense for both groups.
Image source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Max_Verstappen_2016_Malaysia_FP2.jpg
Additional Reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiAywuFKtYI Why you should give Tag Heuer a Chance
https://www.reddit.com/r/StreetFighter/comments/czaodo/daigo_advertising_a_new_watch/ Hamilton Intra-Matic Automatic Chronograph, 1968
https://shop.hamiltonwatch.com/h38416541-intra-matic-auto-chrono.html
https://www.gphg.org/horlogerie/en/gphg-2019/pre-selected-watches#2019_ICONIQUE (the winner was Audemars Piguet Royal Oak)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067334/ Steve McQueen Le Mans
https://twitter.com/GSHOCK_OFFICIAL/status/1100666848763211777 Gachikun as a G-shock Athlete