This episode is where Lali and Vincenzo lay out their manifesto, explaining what they believe is changing and what is happening in the world of racing. They discuss what their new venture, Business of Speed, is offering to inquiring minds.
A key part of their manifesto is making B2B cool, which they argue is a large part of motorsport sponsorship (such as with Oracle, AWS, and Arrow Electronics). They reject the "old model" of sponsorship as just signage or a "logo slap," calling it expensive and often an "ego play". They argue that today's advantage is "velocity," requiring brands, rights holders, and the C-suite to move faster and connect deeper with the fans.
They reject "passive deals" tied to vanity metrics, which they believe lack real-world operational impact, fan engagement, or cultural leverage. Furthermore, they reject the "black box" idea that motorsports partnerships are so complex that the C-suite cannot grasp them, which leads to underinvestment and missed opportunities. They emphasize that sponsorship is now a partnership, requiring integration into the culture of speed and "getting your hands dirty".
The episode details their six core mechanisms of velocity, which are how they execute their model to create a competitive advantage:
C-Suite Education: Providing insider briefings and custom intelligence reports to ensure leadership understands and can drive the strategy of the partnership.
Partnership Messaging (Narrative Engine): Crafting a humanizing story or "narrative" behind the partnership to create clarity and engage an audience that may not know who the sponsor is or why they are involved.
Content Creation (Content Flywheel): Finding where audiences live and creating authentic content (not just high production value) to build brand equity and drive measurable actions, especially in the B2B world.
Activations: Executing well-done, "laser-focused activations" that work and are not always on the circuit.
Event Hosting: Leveraging their personalities and knowledge as hosts to facilitate insider-led events and deepen key client and partner relationships.
Employee Engagement: Demystifying motorsports (through things like "lunch and learns") to get employees on board, enabling them to take pride and excitement in the partnership for a full activation.