Emma kindly spoke to Fiercely Electric about her job, what's involved in a race weekend and gives us some tips for long distance travelling...
Emma with Dan Ticktum, Monaco 2022 (Photo kindly provided by Emma)
Hi Emma, could you please introduce yourself? What is your job title, and what does that involve?
I am the Marketing & Communications Manager at NIO 333 Formula E Team, overseeing all team communications including digital content, and our marketing departments including branding, video and photography, partner account management plus some elements of race team assistance such as drivers’ kit liaison. At the moment I am also acting as the team’s travelling press officer.
How did you get into this role? Do you need specific qualifications?
I was previously at NIO Formula E Team and so knew some of the remaining management when it was taken over and asked to re-join the team. I have experienced garnered from years in FE, F1, WEC, Euro formulae, personal driver PR and contracts with governing bodies and an IMSA race team in the USA. You do not need specific qualifications to get in to motorsport for a Marketing or Communications role, but experience does help enormously as there are so few jobs and demand is high. I started my motorsport career from a live music events and fashion background, so anything is possible.
Do you have any advice for anyone wanting to get involved in motorsport in a similar role?
Try to seek work placement or an internship with a local circuit, sponsorship agency, or team. Aiming directly for a top tier motorsport team or series can be demoralising when faced with rejection, so obtaining genuine motorsport experience, wherever and whatever that may be, is a big tick on a CV. I started my journey via an agency I was working at in London. They had MasterCard retained as a client who were partnering with Jordan Grand Prix at the time. I was asked if I wanted to assist leveraging the F1 sponsorship as I was already part of the team looking after its sport and music events portfolio (The BRITs, The MOBO’s and FIFA UEFA and World Cup). I got to know the Jordan team well, and the motorsport part of my career went on from there.
However, I have always kept my hand in working in other industries as it's good not to carry all your experience eggs in one basket.
What does a typical day look like for you when it’s not a race weekend?
Good question, but it is different every day. I could be liaising with our China team and social media content creator regarding our week’s digital media content calendar to ensure we are on track with production, generating PR ideas such as Driver and C-Suite Q&A’s and interviews and liaising with journalists, working on the next season’s branding and Gen3 launch, attending FE meetings regarding commercial/marketing/communications and hospitality topics, looking after our Partners in terms of contractual assets we need to provide or arranging their race event hospitality and planning schedules, replying to fan mail and arranging meetings in different countries where we can, participating in FIA Girls On Track events – basically being proactive in every area that I look after in the team. It’s a full on role!
How hectic are race weekends for you in comparison?
They are a walk in the park in comparison as it’s the same pattern each race weekend, so you get into a routine. You have probably seen social admins posting ‘eat, sleep, race, repeat’ during endurance events, but it’s true across all motorsport. The weekends are formulaic as the on track scheduling is fixed and the expectations on the drivers for media work etc is similar over every event. Unless we are hosting guests of course, then the weekend gets a great deal busier. We had over 80 guests on the Sunday of the 2022 London E-Prix and everyone wanted to meet the drivers and see the garage etc, so being organised, with an event background, certainly helps as we juggle this and our usual communications duties over a Partner attended weekend as we are a small team of two currently in NIO 333 FE Marketing.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to help with when dealing with drivers?
Now that I cannot divulge! There is trust between travelling PR’s/Comms Management etc and their drivers, and that would be telling 😊
What would be your top five items to take for a long flight?
1. PJ or jogging pants and a fleece/hoodie – comfort is key in aircon.
2. Ear plugs and sleep mask – to block out all the noise.
3. Flight socks – DVT is real, my father had it, so boosting your circulation during regular flying is a must!
4. Charging bank – in case your seat plug isn’t working and you have to go straight to work on landing or show travel documents on your phone.
5. Plug adapter – if you are travelling on a non-UK based carrier your charging cable wouldn’t plug in either, so I carry a multi adapter with me everywhere for use on the plane and in the airports, as well as a USB cable for charging ports.
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