I ghostwrite Educational Email Courses for motorsport brands so they can turn fans into fanatics | Creative Director & photographer

I am the founder of The Commercial Table, where I talk about the commercial world of sports and entertainment. 

We also help commercial executives turn partnerships into revenue through the newsletter and consulting practice.
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My career is far from traditional, almost paying catch-up at times - I spent 10 years as a photographer before transitioning to writing, lived across three countries (with more airport mishaps than I care to count), and somehow found my way into the niche world of motorsport marketing without ever fully stepping into the corporate world.
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My approach to LinkedIn mirrors largely my personality - more listening than speaking, trying to be more authentic than polished. My theory is If you treat LinkedIn like Twitter in 2021, you'll win. I am obsessed with how comedians and TV shows write, have dreams of working on a screenplay someday, and can talk your ear off about tennis.

I have coached 30+ clients globally, earned LinkedIn Top Voice recognition, and built my business by following curiosity and scratching my own itches - and putting ideas into action.

Nirupam Singh

Liberty Media shared its Q4 2025 earnings with one number standing out (at least for me)

Sponsorship now makes up 21.7% of F1's total revenue.

That might not sound dramatic, but there is more in the details.

F1 revenue hit $3.9 billion for the year, up 14%. Sponsorship grew faster than race promotion or media rights. And Liberty specifically called out "growth in digital advertising revenue" as a driver.

This shift reveals a new type of partner coming to the table.

This is the sponsor roster they highlighted: Disney, LEGO, Pepsi, Apple, Standard Chartered.

Consumers' brands have shifted their perception of this sport.

Here are a few reasons why:

1/ Activation expectations are changing
Consumer brands at this are doing more integrated campaigns (or they should be). The partnership teams servicing these deals need to operate more like agencies and as sales teams, perhaps why people are catching up.

2/ Digital becomes a core revenue stream
When Liberty calls out digital advertising growth in an earnings report, it signals that F1's owned channels are becoming monetizable assets. F1 TV, social platforms, the app. The core fans will naturally be upset that this is no longer a sport, and they wouldn’t be wrong.

3/ The bar for new sponsors is higher than ever
If you're a brand trying to enter F1 now, you're competing against companies with massive creative budgets and global reach. The question isn't just "can you afford it?" but "can you activate at the level the sport now expects?"

Kim Hobson wrote a great piece on this exact gap — how most F1 partnerships default to one-off assets rather than a season-long campaign architecture. 

The teams that help partners build that structure will win the next wave of deals, but they will also need strong teams to supply that work.

Helping people master the commercial playbooks in motorsport | Founder @ The Commercial Table

Claude and Williams' F1 partnership proves that not every partnership announcement has to be over-the-top

Earned media will pick it up, so the focus should really shift to: 

What can we say about this partnership without shouting it? 

The bare minimum should be a simple video from the founders at Anthropic announcing: 

1. Why it's happening 
2. Why should people care 
3. What can people expect 

I'm sure this video wasn't easy to execute, but it also doesn't demand your attention like a screaming toddler.

Cool partnership, hope we see some unique activations

Most of the motorsport industry operates out of the UK.

I'm based in Toronto.

For a while, I assumed that was a problem. The events, the teams, the decision-makers — they're all an ocean away. 

I didn't have the budget to fly over regularly, and I wasn't sure how to build relationships with people I might never meet in person.

So I started writing The Commercial Table.

Every Tuesday, I'd send out something about the commercial side of motorsport — how partnership teams actually get structured, what sponsors are thinking that doesn't make it into the press release, and the operational stuff that shapes right-holders behind the scenes.

I was just trying to stay close to an industry I cared about from a distance. 

What I didn't expect was who would start reading:
→ Commercial directors
→ Heads of partnerships
→ People working inside F1 teams and series.

The kind of people I would've spent years trying to get in front of through traditional networking.

And then consulting work started coming in.

From people who had been reading for months and already knew how I approached problems. By the time we got on a call, the trust was already there.

That's the thing about writing consistently in public. You're letting people see how you think over time, and for the right readers, that builds more credibility than any intro meeting could.

I still go to London when I can because the in-person stuff matters (honestly, I will still move there) but the newsletter has become a way to stay present in an industry even when I'm not physically there.

If you're trying to build credibility in a space where you're geographically on the outside, writing might be worth considering. You don't need to be in the room if you're already in their inbox every week.

Still early, still figuring it out — but the doors that have opened so far have made every Tuesday worth it.

P.S. Random run-in with Scott Keeney in London during my time in London

Eight Sleep just partnered with Aston Martin F1 Team this year, and I subscribed to their co-branded landing page.

I'm still waiting for a welcome email.

For context: Eight Sleep just became Aston Martin Aramco's official sleep technology partner.

They make AI-powered pods that regulate temperature and track biometrics while you sleep — research shows up to 34% improvement in deep sleep.

For F1 drivers crossing 15+ time zones a season, recovery is a great performance variable.

The logo appears on the car nose, driver balaclavas, cooling vests, and handheld cooling fans in the garage. Functional placements that reinforce what the product actually does.

So I went to the landing page to see how they're activating beyond the car.

There's a section called "Stay close to the paddock" — promising behind-the-scenes content, performance insights, and future releases from the partnership.'

That's exactly the right instinct. Turn a sponsorship into an owned audience. Capture that initial attention.

The problem is that the email capture is buried at the bottom of the page.

Most visitors will never scroll that far. The headline, product pitch, and stats are all above the fold.

The audience-building part is hidden.

Then I subscribed, hoping to receive a welcome email and what to expect.

These are the small details with digital partnership activations that fall short. The experience after someone opts in is unfinished.

A simple fix:

1. Move the email capture higher — after the first product section

2. Send a welcome email immediately — introduce the partnership, set expectations, deliver one piece of value

3. Build a short sequence — even 2-3 emails keep the subscriber warm

People are afraid of emailing their subscribers, thinking they’re annoying them, but in reality, if you actually give them value, they will welcome it.

Eight Sleep understands the value of building direct relationships with fans. The "Stay close to the paddock" framing is okay.

They just need to finish the job.

For brands activating sponsorships digitally through unsexy channels: the landing page is not the finish line. The email sequence is where the relationship actually starts.

More on this partnership in The Commercial Table tomorrow — https://lnkd.in/gCqNhzqU

credit: Aston Martin Aramco/Eight Sleep

Revolut x Audi F1 already has a head start on its partnership marketing.

To mark the launch of joint accounts: a new feature designed to simplify money management for any 2 people.

The campaign will offer customers the chance to win tickets to the Suzuka F1 Grand Prix, including VIP passes, autographed merchandise, and official merchandise.

It’s a smaller scale than The HEINEKEN Company x Full Time Formula season ticket holder activation, but the logic is the same: attach the activation to something fans already want.

What makes this one worth paying attention to is the sequencing.
Revolut started with a product moment - a joint account and used the partnership as a distribution channel for it, and made Audi F1 the vehicle to deliver the message.

That's a fundamentally different brief than most sponsor activations run off.

It shows in the output because the campaign feels coherent, there's a product, a reason to act, and a reward that's genuinely relevant to the audience receiving it.

Most activations get one of those three right.

For rights holders, there's a direct implication here.

You can’t always wait for sponsors to arrive with the activation ideas. 

The sponsors with creative energy and available budget are usually the ones with something happening on their product roadmap — a feature launch, a market expansion, a rebrand.

If you know what's coming before they've briefed their agency, you can walk in with a concept already framed around their business problem. 

That changes the conversation from media placement to commercial partnership.

One question worth asking every sponsor before the next race window: What product moments do you have in the next 60 days?

For brand managers, the lesson is about sequencing.

Start with what you need customers to do, along with what you have rights to.
Revolut needed people to try joint accounts, and the Audi Revolut F1 Team gave them a reason to pay attention.

Mind you, it’s always a bit easier for a B2C company to build these types of activations, but it still requires work to get it right.

It's easy to be negative about what Formula E is doing to grow their fanbase with events like the EVO sessions 

Most of the takes are negative, but the picture is more complicated than that.

For context: Formula E, in collaboration with Arcade Media, invited eight influential content creators to Jeddah to drive the GEN3 Evo — their current race car — around one of the most challenging street circuits on the calendar.

The internet had thoughts.

Let's start with what the critics are getting right.

The marketing timeline is too short. Announcing your creators a week out makes it tough to get mindshare for the casuals, unless you're closely following it. 

Despite that, the event got 5.8 million views.
 
The Sidemen Charity Match, also run by Arcade, gets promoted months in advance. 

Long-form storytelling ahead of the event is what makes it stick in people's minds. Formula E should be building the narrative weeks before anyone gets near a car.

The GP Explorer comparison is also fair. That event had training camps, coaching sessions, test days, and content at every stage of the journey. 

It drew millions of viewers, and French national TV broadcast it live. The key difference is that  GP Explorer was creator-led. EVO sessions are Formula E-led. 

And yes — the storytelling inside and before the event itself could be much richer. 

Show how difficult these cars actually are to drive ahead of time. Set benchmarks. 

Show the gap between creator lap times and professional lap times, and make that the story. The difficulty is the most compelling part of it.

The concept is right, but the execution will need to catch up.

In tomorrow's issue of The Commercial Table, I also cover:

→ Why the "sim racer" argument misses the point entirely 
→ The accessibility argument nobody is making about events like this
→ What the GP Explorer playbook actually looked like and what Formula E should steal from it 

Link in the comments.

Formula E is back with EVO Sessions 2.0 on February 15th—new format, team competition, live on YouTube. 

With the hopes of reaching new audiences and bringing new fans to the sport.

I love that they're taking these risks and iterating on last year. 

Because the challenge every new right-holder faces is the same: 

How do you build decade-long, geographical, family-level fandom in a sport that's still finding its feet?

Football clubs have decades and generational loyalty. 

This might not be the magic pill, but it's a necessary building block to the whole machine of growing an audience. 

Three things stand out to me about this year's approach:

- The format evolution from experience to competition
- Arcade's involvement
- The creator ecosystem is more connected

More about how Formula E is hoping to use these EVO sessions to build fandom is in my newsletter today: 

Subscriber here: https://lnkd.in/gCqNhzqU

Sports apps don't work like other digital products.

Your users are checking scores seconds before kickoff, reacting to a controversial call, or refreshing for transfer news while walking through a crowded concourse.

Design patterns that work for most apps fall apart under those specific conditions.

humbleteam put together a breakdown of what actually works for sports app UX. A few things stood out:

1/ Navigation for live events has to be built differently.

During a match, fans need instant access to scores, lineups, and highlights. Apps should prioritise matchday content dynamically; what matters right now surfaces first.

2/ One-handed use isn't optional.

Thumb-zone accessibility matters more here than in almost any other app category.

3/ Real-time data needs to be scannable in seconds.

Scores, stats, timelines should all be skimmable. Visual hierarchy, colour logic, and motion cues have to do the heavy lifting.

4/ Offline and low-connection modes are important.

Stadiums have notoriously unstable networks. Frustrating fans at the exact moments they want to engage will lose them.

5/ Push notifications need to respect context.

Goals, transfers, and breaking news are what fans want. But constant noise, and they'll turn notifications off entirely.

What I find interesting is how much of this comes down to understanding fan behaviour under pressure. You're designing for emotionally invested users making split-second decisions.

I spoke to humbleteam, where they shared a case study with me on how they worked with a top European football club on its OTT experience — benchmarking fan platforms, UX recommendations for TV interfaces, and opportunities for AI-powered personalisation.

When the natural instinct is to add more, sometimes the better approach is to remove friction from what already exists.

It's worth getting right.

#ad

Brand partnership • Helping people master the commercial playbooks in motorsport | Founder @ The Commercial Table

David Lee

Social Media Marketing Manager

David Lee Consulting LLC

With my experience with consulting 300+ brands/professionals/agencies, I help professionals/business owners with business improvement services in Digital Marketing, Website Design, SEO/SEM, and Creative Production in graphics, video, photos.

>Marketing Services
- Online/Digital Marketing
- Social Media Community Management
- Content Marketing
- Brand Marketing/PR
- Digital Assets: Photography/Video
- Digital Media/Ads
- SEO/SEM

>Social Media Marketing 
- Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, Google My Business Pages, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Reddit.
- Tools used NetBase, Sprinklr, Sprout Social, NUVI, SimplyMeasured, Loomly, Hubspot, Hootesuite, Buffer.
- Content Planning
Social Media Strategy
- Influencer Marketing / Management  
- Content Production & Design
- Social Copywriting
- Managed over 30 different brands in 10 years

>Management Services
- Business Strategy/Plan Writing
- Research and Analysis
- Operations Analysis
- Business Development

>Technology Services
- IT Software/Hardware Support
- Business Technology Implementation
- Website Building (Wordpress, Shopify, Squarespace, WIX)
- SEO Implementations (Keywords, Links, Meta, Content)

> Creative Services
- Production for online content for brands (director/producer)
- Content Strategy
- Content Production and Design.
- Photography (Canon, DJI, GoPro, OSMO)
- Videography
- Editing (Premier Pro, Canva)

Owner, Marketing/Tech Consultant

Helping small businesses with their management, strategy, operations, and team environment. 
I have a program called "Business Therapy" which is a way for a business owner to a business owner when clients can vent and talk about their business openly with someone who understands and can provide insights and coaching to help the client through their challenges.

Business Coach

Collectors Autowerks

Pursuit of Purpose and Passion. 

We offer services in auto detailing, dry ice cleaning, and vehicle consignment. 
We are located at 620 Deer Road, Suite 18, Cherry Hill, NJ - now accepting service appointments.

Business Owner

AutoFocus Studios

Photographer for events and special occasions. Studio in Cherry Hill to help foster creativity and capturing wonderful images of clients vision and portraits.

Professional Photographer

DM Digital

Manage paid media channel setup and optimizations. 
Analytical reporting on insights, content, performance. 
Increasing ad effectiveness and efficiency. 
Client liaison with platforms.

Paid Media Specialist

eBay Motors

Lead the development, execution, and day-to-day operation of digital & social (organic & paid) media programs to achieve eBay Motors Brand and Marketing objectives. Point of contact for various teams regarding digital and social media performance data and the insights pulled out from digital media partners.  Lead the digital and social media planning, strategy, execution, and creative development to achieve leading P&A platform on social media in 2023.  Lead the agency partners to develop and utilize analytics to drive strategies, demonstrate ROI, and implement program improvements to increase overall effectiveness.  Manage department staff, vendors, budgets, and processes as necessary to complete tasks.

Professionals used on this role include but not limited to:
1) Sprinklr 
2) AirTable 
3) SproutSocial
4) Meltwater
5) Office365 Apps and Google Docs
6) Monday.com 
7) BrandFolder

Social Media Lead

• Social media metrics and analysis 
• Staying current with social platform tech and trend developments and standard methodologies in an effort to push innovative concepts and test/learn campaigns
• Subject matter expert in social media channel best practices
• Making data-based decisions and continually looking for ways to optimize strategy and tactics
• Planning with content creators in the development of efficient assets to meet the speed of business
• Ideate and concept content that meets creative and paid media standard methodologies for priority social channels and lead production of all assets
• Integrating influencer content to improve traffic and revenue
• Partner with cross-functional teams including Marketing, Merchandising, Comms and Growth (among others) to extend cohesive brand messaging across social media channels

Social Media Strategist

USPAACC

Connecting underserved and unserved Pan Asian American/AAPI businesses to business technical assistance, financial service assistance, access to capital and business development advisory services.

Advisor to 20+ small businesses in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania areas through the Community Navigator Pilot Program (CNPP)

Helping business owners and teams with their marketing initiatives and programs. 

Training on digital marketing tactics and strategies to improve their online p and reach their customers through websites and social media channels.resence.

Development of webinars for Grow with Google program.

Marketing Consultant

BASF

• Distribution of social media content for BASF NA.
• Develop social content strategy
• Analyze social data and insights from listening tools
• Coordinating business unit and regional messaging to the corporate channels
• Design and produce creative assets for publishing
• Coordinating messaging and content plans with regional business units and sites
• Crisis management for the brand and business topics

Manager of Corp Comms, Social Media 

Recurrent Ventures

(Recurrent Ventures) +Brookline Media, media holding company for The Drive, The War Zone, Task & Purpose and Car Bibles. 

The Drive is the one-stop shop for all things automotive. See the latest in-car tech, global auto news and in-depth vehicle reviews.

Development of social media strategy 
Execution of tactical plans to increase traffic and engagement 
Social Media Marketing and Management 
Content Creation and Design
Project Management 
Technical implementation of content automated updates 
Management and launch of social media platform tool (Engage, Publish, Analytics, Listening)

Social Media Director

Scholz & Friends

- Developing strategy and content placement of car line communications content on social media channels Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. 
- Design content calendar plans for social media for weekly and monthly publishing
- Implemented time and cost-saving tool that automated news feed from multiple sources into Teams chat thread for the team to view in one centralize area daily. (saved 50-100 hours a year, adding no additional cost to payroll or tools)
- Car Line Comms Specialist 
- Assist with any other requests from the team regarding Hyundai Worldwide and Lifestyle Digital Marketing Content & Campaigns

FreeAgent CRM

Helping small business grow with the only small business CRM for better customer relationships. Creating a world where entrepreneurs and solopreneurs are empowered to reach the customers who need their products and services. A world where small business plays a bigger part.

Managing social media marketing campaigns and media ads. 
Marketing research on products and competitors.
Media production on photo/video/edits.
Exploring affiliate and lead generation channels for customer acquisitions.

Digital Marketing Manager

As the founder of David Lee Consulting LLC, I lead a team of digital marketing professionals dedicated to empowering businesses to succeed in the ever-evolving digital world. With a deep understanding of digital marketing, I specialize in creating customized strategies that enhance online visibility, drive customer engagement, and foster sustainable growth.

The services provided cover a wide range of digital marketing needs, including website design and development, SEO, social media management, and digital advertising. I work closely with clients to craft solutions that not only meet their immediate needs but also align with their long-term business objectives. By leveraging the latest technologies and industry best practices, I ensure that clients stand out in a crowded marketplace.

David Lee Consulting LLC takes pride in delivering more than just services; results are delivered. The approach is rooted in collaboration and transparency, building strong, lasting relationships with clients. Whether a small business looking to establish a strong online presence or a larger enterprise aiming to optimize digital marketing efforts, I am here to support the journey.

Innovation, creativity, and a commitment to excellence are at the core of everything done. My team and I are passionate about helping businesses navigate the digital landscape with confidence, turning challenges into opportunities for growth.
Connect with me for more information today!


With my experience with consulting 120+ brands/professionals/agencies, I help startups and small businesses in the New York Metro Area with business improvement services in Online Marketing, Digital Media, Social Media, Mobile Marketing, Photography/Videography, and Website SEO/SEM/Design.

>Marketing Services
- Online/Digital Marketing
- Social Media Community Management
- Content Marketing
- Brand Marketing/PR
- Digital Assets: Photography/Video
- Digital Media/Ads

>Management Services
- Business Strategy/Plan Writing
- Research and Analysis
- Operations Analysis
- Business Development

>Technology Services
- IT Software/Hardware Support
- Business Technology Implementation
- Website Building

Do you think marketing is an easy job?

From the outside, it can look like brainstorming ideas, posting on social, and watching campaigns go live.

But those inside the field know the truth:

👉 Marketing is one of the few roles where creativity meets revenue accountability.
👉 Where brand perception can shift overnight.
👉 Where one decision can influence millions — or cost millions.

So let’s open this up for discussion:

💬 Is marketing underestimated?
💬 Has it become harder in the AI-driven era?
💬 What do people outside the industry misunderstand most about what we do?

I’d love to hear from brand leaders, founders, agency teams, creatives, analysts, and operators.

Drop your perspective below 👇

⸻

🚨 What Marketing Actually Involves Today

Modern marketing isn’t one job — it’s an ecosystem of high-stakes responsibilities:

📊 Paid Media
	•	Managing multi-channel budgets across search, social, programmatic, and retail media
	•	Constant optimization against CAC, ROAS, and LTV
	•	Rapid testing cycles where performance is publicly measurable

📣 Promotions & Publications
	•	Coordinating launch calendars and seasonal pushes
	•	Aligning messaging across web, email, partners, and distribution channels
	•	Ensuring offers drive urgency without eroding brand value

🧭 PR & Reputation
	•	Protecting brand trust in a real-time news cycle
	•	Navigating crisis communications
	•	Building earned media that money can’t buy

🎯 Branding
	•	Defining positioning in crowded markets
	•	Maintaining consistency across hundreds of touchpoints
	•	Balancing short-term revenue with long-term equity

📱 Digital & Social
	•	Creating content that earns attention — not just impressions
	•	Understanding platform algorithms that constantly change
	•	Turning engagement into measurable business outcomes

🎬 Commercial & Creative Production
	•	Concepting campaigns that emotionally connect
	•	Managing production timelines, talent, and budgets
	•	Delivering work that represents the brand at the highest level

⸻

The best marketing is invisible.

When it works, it feels effortless.

When it doesn’t — everyone notices.

👉 So… is marketing actually one of the hardest business functions today?

Let’s chat about this in the comments.

And if you work in marketing, comment with the ONE skill people don’t realize you need to succeed.

Let’s give this profession the transparency it deserves.

Jack of all trades in digital services and master of enhancing brands using blue ocean type marketing strategies and leading the execution plan. MBA/Paralegal/Data Driven Marketer

A digital screen banner, with a crowd, looking at it reading: marketing is the hardest job that looks “easy” a futuristic robotic background. 

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The Battle

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